Sleep habits - 11 week old baby girl

[Kaz4755]

Hi, I have an 11 week old baby girl who I have only ever once managed to put down in her crib for one nap! I have tried her sleeping on her cocoon baby during the day, her cot, her crib but she won't sleep. Obviously she prefers to nap on us, and I want to break this habit so she can nap on her own. I can get her to sleep generally with minimum effort but the moment I put her down she is wide awake. I have tried leaving her, not to cry but to see if she will nod back off but she won't. Today I put her in her sleeping bag, put the blackout down and put on the white noise, but ping she was wide awake. I tried another couple of times but now she is fast asleep on me! Is she too young to let cry for a few minutes? This is my first baby and I'm sure I am doing it all wrong and creating bad habits. I have never found it easy to put her down while I try and do a few things...like brush my teeth! Should I be being tougher? Worried letting her nap on me is making a rod for my own back....help! Any advice gratefully received! Thank you in advance.

Hi
She is very young still so don't worry about making a rod for your own back/bad habits/doing it wrong. You are doing the right thing by ensuring she naps and also by keeping trying to put her down. She will eventually 'get it' but in the meantime you could invest in a sling so your hands are free and you can brush your teeth etc!
I personally think it's too young to cry especially if she doesn't know how to nap. As they get older and start to understand more they do cry before sleeping as a kind of wind down cry rather than a screaming 'somebody help me cry'.
One thing you could do is start a consistent nap routine (Even if she ends up sleeping on you) so she learns napping sleep cues. Eg upstairs, gro bag on, close blinds, read book, song, cot and ssshhhing/white noise.
Not sure if that was helpful - main thing is that you aren't doing anything wrong, just keep giving her the chance to learn but don't stress if it doesn't work just now...

I am having the same issue and yet to find a solution. I think it's too young for sleep training as well really.. I tried with my boy doing pick up put down and he became inconsolable.

I am hoping in a couple of months he'll learn to be a bit more independent e.g. not always wanting to be cuddled. But for now we might as well enjoy that our babies love cuddles as they won't forever! That's what I'm telling myself anyway rather than worrying about it anymore.

But I know it is so hard when you can't get anything done and are glued to the sofa!

Will she fall asleep if you take her for a walk in the pushchair? Sometimes the movement helps? Have you tried using a sling? At least then you have your hands free to have a drink whilst she sleeps (however don't try and brush your teeth...made that mistake once!)

Sounds totally normal! Occassionally (v occassionally!) warming a blanket helped my dd. If I felt she might want a bigger nap aftet a feed, I'd sit on a blanket then when she'd fed and dozed off I'd manouvre her and the blanket to the basket, throw the toasty blanket in first and her on it. I had a nice big shawl I could wrap snugly around her. But don't fret, in a few weeks time it will get easier. Enjoy the cuddles now!

Firstly forget the bad habits and rod for your own back stuff.

She's 11 weeks. She needs you. Don't worry if all you do is cuddle her, she'll grow out of it eventually.

If you want some hands free time try slings or walking in the pram/ car drive.

My first would only nap on me. I just set myself up for the day with snacks and tv and went with it. Walked to the local shops to get out, she'd often fall asleep and I'd get 10 mins in a cafe.

She's 8 now and has slept fine on her own since I stopped breastfeeding about 1.

Also- "training" them to nap in a cot/in the dark/quiet can be a PITA. Means you have to be home at certain times in the day. Getting mine used to the pushchair/carrycot meant they could nap at the same times, whether I was in or out, or needed to go out...

With ds (21 months now) I let him sleep on me for naps until 7/8 months then spent every nap, every day for a week getting him to settle in his cot (just kept going back to resettle him every 2 minutes!). Dd is 9 weeks now and more or less has to sleep wherever she happens to be! She sleeps in the sling (always) and the buggy (sometimes) but mainly I've been loosely following the EASY routine so she has a feed then a play and when she's been awake for 45 minutes-1 hour max I pop her in her bouncy chair with a blanket under her, vibrations on and dummy in and rock her with my foot for a few minutes until she's asleep. I quite liked having ds sleep on me, I used to bf him to sleep then just watch tv and mn! I only changed it in an attempt to get him to sleep better at night.

Enjoy it. Mine still naps on me at 14 weeks but she's getting longer and is starting to get annoyed with it as she's basically too big. I've found the warm thing helps too to get her to sleep anywhere else, nice warm blanket. I have yet to get her to go to sleep in a crib though, she always has to fall asleep on me and then be transferred.

Second the sling idea though, a godsend!

We had the exact same problem with my DD....it felt like she didn't sleep at all from the moment she was born
You say she will sleep on you...I'm assuming you mean she will sleep lying on your chest?? My LO would only sleep like that and then scream bloody murder when I put her down in her moses basket. Then my mum came up with the solution....
I'm probably going to get hung, drawn and quartered for even suggesting this, but we figured out (with my mum's help) that DD wanted to sleep on her tummy! I always stuck to the NHS "safe sleep" guidelines, with DD put on her back, at the bottom of the cot etc. And she did not sleep!!! As soon as I put her on her tummy, she slept for 6 hours between bedtime and her first night-feed. She is 5 months old and still sleeps on her tummy. We've tried putting her on her back again, but she isn't having any of it, and just rolls straight back onto her tummy!!

Hope you find a solution to your LO's sleep problems, and get some well-deserved rest!!

Forgot to mention, she sleeps with white noise blaring on an iPad in the room too....Washing machine sounds are the current favourite!