Tips on how to get my 8 week old to have a Daytime nap in his basket/cot rather than on someone?

[Laney79]

Hi all.

My little boy is almost 8 weeks old. He's a star at night sleeping for approx 4 hour chunks in his Moses basket in between us on the bed...but daytime is a bit of a nightmare. He won't settle (awake or asleep) anywhere other than on a person!

Suspect it's my own fault as I had a section so as I couldn't do much for the first couple of weeks I just held him...I've tried getting him to sleep in my arms then putting him down but at most it lasts 10mins and then he's awake again but if I let him sleep on me or someone else he'll sleep for an hour plus.

If I could just get him to go in his basket or cot or even bouncy chair for a couple of short chunks in the day I could do things like let the dog out and clean his paws, have a wee, eat something and maybe even a little house work or dinner prep! At the mo the only way I can do those things is either one handed or by letting him cry in his basket (but he quickly gets so upset I cave and pick him up- weak first time mama). We have a baby bjorn which I can put him on but obviously it's only useful for some things. I just really need to get him to lie/sit for a little bit without screaming.

Any tips?

Congratulations on your baby! Please don’t blame yourself - it’s totally normal for young babies to only want to be held. I could have written this a year ago - my son stopped being put downable for daytime naps at about 6 weeks. He’d fall asleep BFeeding or being rocked in my arms, I’d wait 20+ min til he was in a deep sleep, and still 9 times out of 10 he’d be awake, as you say, within 10 min (if I even managed to get him down asleep at all). He was, and still is, a light sleeper - I watch in awe as friends’ babies/children stay asleep in noisy places or can be lifted out the car and into the house still asleep. My son is awake when the door opens.

Have you tried:

• Placing a blanket on the baby’s back when asleep on you, so when you place him down he doesn’t hit a cold sheet and wake up? Or even a hot water bottle to heat the cot mattress a bit before putting him down? We did this at night.
• will he fall asleep in his pram? I could get my son asleep on a walk in the park then smuggle him back in. He’d still often wake up as soon as we got in the house but sometimes would sleep another 30 min+.
• we borrowed a sleepyhead from a friend when he was about 12 weeks and he tolerated being put down in that better than a flat Moses basket. (Still often woke up though)
• sling is useful to get stuff done. I still had a sore pelvis from PGP in pregnancy though so it wasn’t very comfy.
• safe co sleeping can be an option: I’d feed him to sleep in our bed, then either have a doze myself or listen to a podcast lying next to him. I wasn’t getting much sleep at night so lying down felt like a proper rest. When he got a bit older (but still not mobile, he couldn’t roll til late) I’d sometimes be able to roll away and go and do stuff too.
• final option which I ended up taking most of the time was surrender. When he was due a feed and a nap I’d go to the loo, get a tea in a travel mug, snacks, tv remotes, phone etc in reach, sit on the sofa and let him sleep on me as long as he wanted. I remember feeling very trapped a lot of the time though, wanting to get up and tidy up/ sort stuff out. I didn’t enjoy it really, but I think it was more just the massive adjustment to motherhood in general and being so sleep deprived that made it seem so bad. I watched a lot of great tv whilst it poured it down outside!

I know how meaningless it can sound when you’re in the midst of newborn madness, but it won’t last forever. If nothing else he’ll need to sleep less often soon and you’ll have longer to be up between naps!