Five week old will only sleep on me

[Sycamore76]

My dd 2 is five weeks old and won't sleep in her cot , we purchased the sleepy head but this doesn't make a difference . She hates being on her back. She only settles sleeping on my chest , consequently I don't sleep all night as I am so scared I will squash her .Any tips ? My ds 1 was a nightmare sleeper and I can feel all the anxiety coming back xx

Congratulations on dd2. I have a dd of the same age, I understand how hard it is.

The only suggestions I can give you are putting an item of your clothing in the cot that you've worn for a night (over the mattress for example) so the baby can smell you, or putting the sleepyhead next to you in bed to introduce it before then gradually moving it further away into the cot.

I'm told six weeks is the peak for clinginess, there's no reason to believe she will be a bad sleeper in the long term. You have ages before any habits will form. Good luck and enjoy those cuddles if you can!

Thank you tell me more. Congratulations on your dd too. I will try the clothing in cot . I did try the sleepyhead next to me ( I have moved into nursery as we have a bed in there ) but she still want to be on me , she hates being flat as she has some reflux. I will keep trying , it's just so exhausting that I cave in and she sleeps on me ! Hope your dd is sleeping well xx

Have you looked at/tried something like the Cocoonababy? Currently expecting DC1 so no practical experience but have heard great things about it.

Congrats, my lo is 10 weeks now.
She wouldn't sleep on her side when she was smaller either and also had reflux, so I'd put her on her side to sleep, she'll sleep on her back now and I've managed to control the reflux amazingly by changing her milk.
This is just what worked for me personally, it's hard enough looking after a newborn as it is without being exhausted from no sleep

Hi, my 12 week old DS was/is the same. He has bad reflux and i bought a reflux wedge for his crib, so he sleeps on a slight incline. It worked wonders and I was able to put him down.

Sycamore76 I remember you from the thread I had in pregnancy, when I was moaning about being heavily pregnant!

My midwife suggested raising one end of the babies bed to help with reflux, maybe that would work for a while? I understand what you mean about being scared of squashing her and about bad sleep habits. Just remember they can be reversed!

My DD (finally had her!) has decided she can't bare to be put down for longer then 10 minutes, even when asleep. Its hard to get things done in 10 minute bursts but I'm sure there will be a new phase soon!

I had this with DD. She is now 18 months and has slept from 7-6ish from 6 months on her own in her cot so it really doesn't mean they will be a bad sleeper forever. However, she was a Velcro baby for those first six months. Things that helped were using one of my pillow cases as her sheet, so over the Moses basket mattress. A sling. Safe co-sleeping - no pillows or duvet for me. Raising the Moses basket at one end. And (sorry) accepting it and not getting an awful lot of sleep and having cuddles! Things got much easier when she could roll and would sleep on her side, think she just hated being on her back, as do I.

Thanks for all the advice , which is extremely helpful . I have cut out cows milk ( and chocolate :-( ) and this has def made a difference with the vomiting but when she is on her back she will put her tongue out and gag a little, is this a sign of reflux?

Yougotfastcar . Great to hear from you and congrats on your dd. how was your labour ? Sorry to hear you can't put your dd down also. I have started using my baby bjorn carrier to get house stuff done and play with toddler , this works but back is killing me and it winds toddler up if I have baby all day !

Also purchased a baby swing which she seems to like for about 20mins but doesn't like napping in it !

I went into labour the day I was due to be induced in the end, and it was only 4 hours. I was right about her being big though, she was 10lb 8oz!

I hope you managed to get some sleep last night

Sounds very normal for such a tiny baby - she's had 9 months of constant contact so already had the habit when born. If your back is hurting with the baby bjorn, I'd definitely recommend a different carrier, such as a stretchy wrap, which should be more comfortable for you and the baby. If you have a local slingmeet they should be able to help. As for night time, I'd recommend reading up on safe co-sleeping as doing it in a planned way is definitely safer than doing it accidentally and can really help you both get more sleep.