6 week old advice please?

[notsureifimbeingur]

I have a 6wo DD. She currently co-sleeps with me but I am keep to stop this before it gets to be every night for months and she won’t then go to sleep any other way. I have a next to me crib, which I have been trying to get her to use. She sleeps in a sleeping bag type thing and I lie next to her in a single bed. We have established a night time routine for the last 3 weeks, and this is working really well. After a bath and massage I breast feed her to sleep and I try to move her across into the crib, by pulling the sleeping bag gently over, and she appears to be asleep still, but will wake after 10mins when it seems she realises she is not directly next to me any more. This also happens during the day, she will only nap when next to me, and as soon as I go out of the room for toilet/food she wakes and howls, instantly calming when I return.
At night she will sleep in my bed from 9/10ish-1/2 ish, and then wakes at 3 and 5 for a 15 dream feed, so her sleep is really good, I think. I’d just like her to sleep in her own crib!
My questions are:

Is it too early to start a sleep training routine for her? Which routine would work best?

Should I still sleep next to her in the bed, or should I just put her in her crib asleep and leave the room? (We have baby monitor for the master bedroom)

Why is she waking up as soon as I leave?( how does she know I have gone, I have tried putting my top next to her, no good)

I have tried one dummy, she gagged, so I have ordered another, as I suspect she is comfort sucking on me some of the time, instead of actually feeding.

Could I just try feeding her to sleep, pulling her across into crib, putting dummy in and leave the room, or is she too young for this?

Thanks for any advice, much appreciated, sorry for long post.

Sleep training is a sensitive subject on here, and you’ll a lot of different opinions. Most would only recommend it for older babies. Personally, I think 6 weeks if FAR too young for any sort of sleep training, and I think most would agree with me. She’s so tiny she doesn’t even understand she’s not a part of you yet. Have a google of the 4th trimester, it explains a lot. Some babies just need to be close to mummy in the beginning, it’s her way of feeling secure in this new world and it’s totally normal!

If you want to try getting her in her cot you could try tips like swaddling her, warming up the cot with a hot water bottle, playing white noise, using a sleepyhead etc. However, if you find nothing works I’d just go with what you are doing, if you’re both getting plenty sleep. Sometimes trying to get baby sleep on their own in the beginning just ends up with less sleep and more stress for all involved! Then try again in a few months when she’s that bit older.

It’s hard but you are doing the best job and she will be more independent before you know it!

Comfort suckling is completely normal. Dummies are boob substitutes to allow ff babies to do that. Although my bf baby does use one.

Please read safe sleep guidelines re not leaving to sleep alone before 6 months, although given you say she has to be beside you, no idea how you think you'll even get out of the room with monitor on before having to go back.

I think your expectations are unreasonable. I'd kill for that amount of sleep, even now at 6mo. And my baby who used to only sleep on me, now sleeps in his cot mostly. I haven't sleep trained and don't intend do

Sleep training is not recommended before 1 years old but there are a number of people who say it is never acceptable.

Please google the fourth trimester to understand your baby’s behaviour.

You all seem to be saying the same thing, I guess I should just enjoy my wee night time snuggles for a little bit longer then.

To be honest, I was fine with it, but was talking to 2 different people I say who told me I shouldn’t be letting my DD sleep next to me or it would be very difficult to get her or if that habit later, and that panicked me a bit.

Babies’ sleep changes all the time. Cuddling your baby is never a bad habit.

I will offer a different opinion. As soon as the baby becomes more aware of the world around her and learns to smile (which usually happens around 6 weeks), you can start teaching her to love her sleep. Here is an article that I have found useful (it is a great blog recommended by one of the posters here on Mumsnet):

www.babysleepscience.com/single-post/2017/07/18/Newborns-and-Sleep-Part-2-Weeks-7-16

What an interesting article thank you, something to think about. I guess what I am wondering is how hard is it to transition from co-sleeping in the same bed into own crib/cot, and what age is best to do this at?

Obviously every baby and every parent is different but personally we were asking the same questions about our DS at that age (he's now 4 months old). We just persevered with swaddling in his Moses basket at the start of the night, then when he woke I BF him in our bed, where we would then co-sleep. That first stint of sleep has just lengthened out so that now he's going down for about 7.5-8 hours before waking and coming in with us. I figure as long as he's going down for the night in his basket/cot, there'll be no need (hopefully) to 'transition' from our bed IYSWIM.

It honestly gets easier. And what you've described sounds normal for a 6 week old. Personally I wouldn't consider sleep training at this age. Just stick with it and before long you'll notice she's not quite so quick to start crying, and going for longer stretches once you've put her in her crib.

After her bath, she lies next to me in bed in her sleeping bag thing, and I feed her to sleep. Then I fall asleep too, and she wakes me at approx 1ish I’m the morning. She doesn’t go down to sleep in her crib.

So do I feed her sitting up in the rocking chair and transfer her to crib when she falls asleep at the start of the night, or do I feed her in bed as I’ve been doing and then pull her in her sleeping bag into the open sided next-to-me crib when she is asleep (which I have tried to do previously and she will remain asleep in crib for 10 mins and then wake.) I think I’ve only once had her sleep in the crib for more than half an hour.
I even wait for her to fall properly floppy-arm asleep, before moving her and she still wakes. She will only remain asleep whilst lying directly next to me.

I wouldn't worry just go with the flow! Definitely try a dummy I breastfed and honestly it saved me! Dd was crying every time I put her down because she was using me as a dummy a lot of the time... she hated tommee tippee dummies, we used avent right from the start... mam are also good

Whatever works best for you. You might like to try swaddling, some babies really take to it. I definitely agree with the 4th trimester thing, it will all get easier before you know it.

I’ve tried a tiggy dummy... slowly getting used to it. She almost fell asleep with it tonight.

Fed her to sleep in bed and then gently lifted her across into crib..... fingers crossed for more than 10 mins! I’m off to sleep now, thank you for all your advice, it is very helpful to talk to someone who has gone through it before.

She managed one and a half hours in the crib before waking up!! Yippee!! I’ll keep going with that then.

Hooray! That's great news, hope things continue to improve for you.

I remembered actually that around 6 weeks when I was feeding DS right before bed, each time he dropped off I would swap sides, move him around a bit to see if he'd wake and take on more milk. Then when I really couldn't wake him, that's when I'd put him down for the night. Just an idea, but it worked well for us.

Good luck! 😴

Ah so maybe my wee girl was asleep but not sound asleep and wakes up easily. Yes maybe if I try to move her a bit and if she still is sound asleep then pull her across into the crib. Good idea, thank you!

It will change and keep changing anyway

Best advice is ignore others' advice!

Also a sleepyhead in the next to me might help you get a bit longer before wakings?

Yeyy!!

I also second the sleepyhead... I didn't buy one before birth due to the cost and thought I'd see how we got on,,, dp was exhausted one day and took him self to mothercare and bought one, they really are fantastic!