Anyone's child refuse to sleep in cot as a newborn but went in a cot ok later?!

[Tinkjon]

DS is only 2.5 weeks old and refuses to sleep anywhere except other than on me or DH. He can be sound asleep but as soon as we put him in his moses basket or cot he wakes up and screams and won't settle until we pick him up again. I hadn't been worrying about this because I thought that 2 weeks old was too little to even think about sleep-training etc. and that he'd eventually settle down and go into his cot ok. But I'm now worrying because a friend said that her child was like this when he was born and is still like it a year on - argh, please tell me that this isn't always the case?! It won't be 'learn to sleep in a cot now or not at all', will it?!

Nope. My ds was the same. Hated his cot at first but we got him in it when he was a few months old, with some assistance from a sleep specialist. Admittedly we had a rather rocky journey after that, because of moving house / hot summers where it was too hot for him to be in his room but he's happy in his cot bed now at 2.3 years.

Don't think about sleep training now, but maybe try swaddling if you haven't already? Or making sure the cot isn't cold when you put him in / leaving something of yours in there so he still has the smell of you?

I think the thing my ds hated most about his cot was the sensation of being lowered down into it. I don't know what kind of cot you've got, does the side fold underneath or anything?

Congrats first of all on your nb!

A few things helped settle our first born into his cot: warming the cot beforehand with a hot water bottle and lying him on the tshirt dh had worn that day (not mine as he'd assoc it with food!) so he had warmth and a comforting smell as he drifted off.

Babies can take quite a few months to settle so don't worry.

DS wuoldn't sleep in his cot so he slept with me until about 9 months, and one night we just put him down in his cot and he was fine. I used to always play classic fm at night softly for him, so he had something that was the same and comforting. Just relax and don't worry about it, worry about the here and now rather than the future, you cannot predict how your child will react.

My dd was exactly like this. When she was 4 mths we did pickup/put down - it was hard work but after only a few days she started settling well in the cot and is now (touch wood) a brilliant sleeper.

Another tip we were given as well as the hot water bottle was to put an alarm clock in the corner of the cot or very nearby so he hears a rhythmic sound, rather like your heart. Not sure how much it helped my DD, but it can't have hurt!

mine was the same. think it is to be expected. enjoy those tiny baby snuggles. they pass so quickly

Thank you everyone - great, that's a real relief! I really didn't want to have to stress about cot-sleeping yet but was getting really worried that it was now or never, so it's very reassuring to read that it's not Anyway, he slept in his cot last night after all, the little angel!

ds 22 weeks hasd only just gone into his cot, having been in his moses basket until last week. I thought itwould be a nightmare but it was no problem. I rolledc a towel into a sausage shape, and then made an arch around his head so that wehen he put his hands out there was something there, also used the lining from the moses basket underneath him so that it was familiar.