Sleep

[Annruth01]

I have a 6 week old who sleeps in a Moses basket in our bedroom at night, during the day he naps in a sleepy head in the room I’m in around the house, at the moment he goes to bed with us at 11.00pm I’d like to put him upstairs in his Moses basket on his own from 7/8pm with a baby monitor while we stay downstairs, is it ok for him to be alone for a few hours? Trying to establish some time for myself and husband and also perhaps the start of a sleep routine

No not until six months because of the SIDS risk

Even if it’s only for an hour or two with a monitor we would be joining him to go to bed ourselves after

Yes there is a risk of SIDS, but theres a risk when doing anything and the risk is so small.

We did from around 4 months and it was lovely as we got an hour or two back to ourselves

I keep reading that you should bath, change nappy and prepare for bed in a dark room without stimulation around 7pm for a 6 week old, but then it seems strange to put him back downstairs with us in the same environment with the TV on, it looks like the only other option is to go to bed at 7.00pm with him! Or continue to put him to bed with us at 11

6 weeks is so tiny, I wouldn't take the risk. We started to (reluctantly) leave DD upstairs with the monitor on from 4.5 months but by this point she wanted to go to sleep at 6:30pm and wouldn't tolerate any light or noise and so we had absolutely no evening whatsoever if one or both of us stayed in the same room as her. At 6 weeks she had no idea if it was night or day and happily slept through tv and chatting. 6 week is- in my opinion- far too early to start a sleep routine as well, baby is in the fourth trimester and just wants and needs to be close to you :)

I wouldn't - you're just about to enter the highest risk period for SIDS (3/4 months). We started putting DS to bed a little before us from about 5 months and now he goes to bed happily at 7pm despite him spending most of the evenings for the first few months of his life in front of the TV.

Get a video monitor and position it so you can see his chest moving up and down while breathing. We have the BT 6000 video monitor I think it's called? It's amazing and you can see him breathing at pretty much any angle. I just put in in front of us while we watch tv and look at it every few mins. I feel that's more safe than me being in there tbh because if I was in the room I wouldn't be checking his breathing every. 5 mins! It also has a temperature monitor so you know if the rooms too hot or cold. Oh and have done this since 2.5 months, should have done it sooner x

Thanks for the messages will stick to him being with us, he sleeps happily In front of the tv so no bother at all or will start having early nights

@yoyoyo5678

Get a video monitor and position it so you can see his chest moving up and down while breathing. We have the BT 6000 video monitor I think it's called? It's amazing and you can see him breathing at pretty much any angle. I just put in in front of us while we watch tv and look at it every few mins. I feel that's more safe than me being in there tbh because if I was in the room I wouldn't be checking his breathing every. 5 mins! It also has a temperature monitor so you know if the rooms too hot or cold. Oh and have done this since 2.5 months, should have done it sooner x

Being in the same room as them isn't about you being able to check whether they're breathing or not - it's about the sound of you and your breathing helping to regulate the baby's breathing. A video monitor just isn't the same.

@Annruth01

I keep reading that you should bath, change nappy and prepare for bed in a dark room without stimulation around 7pm for a 6 week old, but then it seems strange to put him back downstairs with us in the same environment with the TV on, it looks like the only other option is to go to bed at 7.00pm with him! Or continue to put him to bed with us at 11

You should do lots of things. But motherhood will quickly teach you that what you should do and what you actually do are two very different things

I have got a video monitor but think I’ll wait it out it’s my first so reading everything online which just leaves me more confused

Honestly he can sleep with you downstairs, it’s fine. You have all your lives to have evenings just you and your partner, keep your newborn close.

@Annruth01

I have got a video monitor but think I’ll wait it out it’s my first so reading everything online which just leaves me more confused

The best advice anyone gave me was that if you're happy with something, don't change it just because you think you should or a book tells you to.

@mynameiscalypso I know that, knew someone would be excited to tell me that 😂 as a compromise to having a tiny bit of sanity and retaining a relationship with my partner, checking his breathing instead of being in the room breathing next to him for a couple of hours a night didn't seem the biggest issue. So many unrealistic standards are pressured onto new mums instilling the fear of SIDS into them when in reality it's incredibly rare, you can enjoy having a baby so much more if you just chill out