Transfer to cot

[basilflower]

Please could you all give me your tips of how you get your baby to sleep in their cot?

Ds is 4 weeks old and I'm struggling to sleep at night because he prefers (understandably) to be held than put down in his cot.

I've read up on 4th trimester etc, so am not looking for reasons why he wants to be held, I'm just looking for practical tips on what works for you.

For example we were in hospital recently and the nurse taught us to swaddle. So Ds is fed, happy, here is how I get him into his cot - lay down on swaddle,, wrap swaddle around him, lift upright to burp, lie on swaddled. Wrap one side over body and underneath other side (that's why it's handy to watch in this.) wrap other
Side of swaddle. Then carefully put Ds into sleepyhead in cot. Place one hand on his stomach, another on his head. Then go shhh whilst gently patting on tummy. This worked well in hospital.

How do you get your dc into the children/lifts etc! Thank you!

Cosleeping was the only thing that worked for both of mine. No special crib or anything, just lying on the mattress next to me or DH. It gave me a rather sore back from lying in one position, but plenty of sleep - and made night feeds so easy once we'd cracked feeding lying down.

Both went into cots in their own rooms at 6-7 months with minimal fuss, so it's not a case of if you start cosleeping you will be stuck with it for years.

And agree with dummy - no need for thumbsucker DD1, but it is a lifesaver for DD2. I wish I'd given one sooner! We use NUK dummies, they're as tooth-friendly as a dummy can be and blessedly plain, I can't be doing with all the bright/patterned ones.