3week old won't settle at night in Moses basket

[ElsieTanner14]

My DD is 3 weeks old. We've had a lot - though not all- of nights where she won't sleep in her Moses basket at night. (Some nights she'll sleep in it for several chunks of 3-4 hours between feeds)

Last night I spent 11pm - 4.30am trying to get her to settle in her basket. I BF her, she falls asleep, I let her sleep a bit on me then transfer her to the basket at which point she wakes up, gets restless and starts thrashing her arms and legs. She starts to cry, I lift her out, she starts head bobbing and eating her hands, I feed her and the whole process gets repeated. The feeds end up being so frequent - every 30 mins or so - that I think they must be comfort rather than milk.

She was yawning several times last night so clearly was tired. She'd had lots of naps in the day so I don't think she was overtired. She usually sleeps in the morning in the basket but today will only sleep on me.

Can anyone suggest why she won't settle or what we can do to settle her? I know she's tiny and will feel more secure on me but I physically can't stay awake all night holding her. DH can't help as he needs to sleep in order to work.

We've rolled towels in the basket to make it feel more snug. I've tried white noise and a t shirt smelling of me. She won't take a dummy.

I don't really feel confident co sleeping as we've no way to block the sides of the bed and I doubt I'd be able to relax.

Any suggestions?

Have you tried swaddling? This often really helps.
Other than that, yes it's really normal, exhausting I know when you want your space. It's not the answer you want I'm sure but I think cosleeping for at least part of the night will help you feel more human. Could the bed go up against the wall?

When my DD was this small she had really bad wind, that seemed even worse at night, we propped her up at night with books under the head end of her crib. We also made sure we winded her really thoroughly, and started on infacol. The thrashing arms and legs sounds like it could be wind...

for my dd it was wind, at 1month gripe water worked miracles straight away

She is still cluster feeding to ensure her milk supply is adequate. It was surprising for me. If she is getting some 3-4 hour stretches of sleep overnight you are both doing really well. It is early days. She is still figuring out night and day. Congratulations on your baby

I would consider reflux, have a look and see if the symptoms fit. My DD would not be put on her back and eventually started vomiting etc. We switched to a reflux formula which has sorted her out, keep her upright and then swaddle her(she has a sensitive startle reflex). She was getting heartburn when put down flat after a feed, it wouldn't always be straight after a feed either.

we had the same problem and we put a hot water bottle in the basket for a couple of minutes before we put her down to warm the sheet up so it wasn't a shock to go from my warm chest to a cool basket. Also my health visitor advised against a t-shirt smelling of me as she would associate it with milk and feeding , we put a t shirt smelling of my partner.

I did the hot water bottle thing too - still do sometimes. Mine has slept in her moses basket for maximum 20 minutes - I think she did that ONCE. I gave up and co-slept.

Thanks all - we're trying Infacol and keeping her upright for longer. Unfortunately she detests being swaddled so that's not an option. Onwards...

I think she is doing very well for a 3 week old!

Following with interest....DS2 is 2 days old today, and a bit of a shock to the system. DS1 went straight in his basket and slept solidly between 4 hour feeds from birth....I think this little chap is going to be more "typical" .

He will go down in the basket when he's sleepy, then wake with a shout soon afterwards. There's a lot of grimacing and red- facedness going on too....I'm wondering if it's wind. Am burping him religiously and have sent DP out for Infacol.....I'm also wondering if he's hungry- I don't think my milk has come in yet.

I really wish there was an actual "babies" or "newborns" topic on here too, because I think this whole thing is a multi-pronged problem- sleep, breastfeeding, mental health (bawls).