Trying to settle 4 week old in crib or basket

[Leicfox1]

Hi everyone, I'm desperate for some help with my 4 week old boy's sleep habits. I appreciate that he is still very young but am terrified of sids and introducing bad habits. Up until last week he was breastfed, and would fall asleep in my arms during the day and on the bed while being fed lying down at night. In all cases, he then would wake up if we moved him, so I would hold him during the day and cosleep at night, with him lying on his side (he would wake or curl up and resist if I tried to get him on his back). From this weekend, he has been on formula due to issues with breastfeeding latch and tongue tie. He is much happier and fuller on formula and sleeps more during the day, so it was the right decision for us. However, sleeping is now an even bigger issue, because he can't be fed to sleep due to being held fairly upright and needing to be winded (he has issues with trapped wind and we are using infacol). So now, he only falls asleep while being held upright on our chests whole we are sitting or lying. I can usually transfer him onto his back and onto my lap after 20 minutes or so, but putting him down in the crib in the bedroom or the moses basket in the lounge is still impossible, he wakes up every time. He has twice let me transfer him to the bed and has slept for 2 x 4 hour blocks on the bed between us like he used to when bf, but the other times I have had lie down with him on my chest (and him on his front). Him sleeping on his front terrifies me even more than he slept on his side, as does the fact that I fall asleep that way with him on top of me.

The problem is that he is such a light sleeper and wants to be held all the time. The health visitor just says to keep trying to settle him in the crib or basket. We have tried white noise, rolled up towel around him, my shirt in there with my smell, hot water bottle to warm sheet, feeding him on muslin and lowering him in with that so that it is warm and smells of me...

I would be so grateful for any other suggestions!

I know people like the sleepyhead but as the rolled up towel isn't working I don't think that will either. Am considering a bedside crib, but I want to see if we'll be able to wean him off sleeping on us first.

Thank you

Just wanted to give an update for anyone going through a similar experience. DS is now 12 weeks. He needs to be rocked to sleep and with a dummy, but at night will easily go down in the sleepyhead after 30 mins rocking for 5-6 hours. I have even seen him wake and self-soothe a few times, other times a minute of shush-patting without picking up is all it takes. Up until last night, the sleepyhead has been between me and dh in bed so that ds sees us if he wakes and can be resettled easily. Last night we put the sleepyhead into the crib and pushed up next to my side of the bed, and it didn't affect ds's sleep at all. It was so wonderful to have our bed back!

Daytime naps are still difficult, he falls asleep upright on my chest while being rocked. This week and last week I am trying to limit myself to holding him for 30 min max for naps and then putting him into the sleepyhead on the sofa, with mixed success. 4 out of 5 times he will wake as soon as I put him down, but the other 1 time he will continue sleeping for anyyhing between 15 min to 2 hours. He still catnaps occasionally for 5 min or less while in my arms, which is annoying as I have to restart the soothing or let him play for a bit and try again later.

I wanted to update this thread because some of the popular responses didn't work for me (swaddling, white noise, warming mattress, clothes smelling of me, bouncer, sling etc), and what did work for me might be useful to others. DS has no problems sleeping on his back now as long as he is rocked while upright into a deep sleep. I am currently experimenting with YouTube videos after revisiting many different types of white noise - "rain on a tent" (!) sometimes helps the transition from my arms to sleepyhead for naps, and I'm hoping it might be a sleep aid to reduce rocking time in the future.

I visited a sling library, but no success, ds hated being trapped in a carrier that I rented for a few weeks. He does however like to play on his playmat and bouncer for longer these days and even stays awake in the sleepyhead playing with his hands, so I have more time to do things now. Hope this thread will be useful to others :)