Sleepyhead / Sleep Nest

[WatersBroken]

Hi everyone,

I've just written a post about newborn not sleeping in his crib. He's asleep in there now but so far I've had to put his dummy back in 4 times in the space of 40 minutes to keep him asleep. Obviously this is not going to work long term or even short term as I'll be too tired to even look after him..

I really don't want to co sleep and was previously against the idea of a nest but wondering if this would help?

My understanding is they are deemed not safe due to risk of overheating? However in my head the risk of his blanket riding up and covering his face is greater.

Just wondering if anyone else had experience with baby not settling whatsoever in a crib and a sleepyhead helping?

Thanks

Sleepyheads may help with sleep but the risk is there as you have identified. You have to evaluate the risk. I think it's important though to manage your expectations about what is normal sleep behaviour for newborns and whether anything realistically changes this

I do think snuggle pods are helpful personally, my ds felt a bit lost in his crib I think.

We used a sleepyhead for the first few weeks with dd2. They are not approved in the UK for overnight sleeping so it was a last resort when, like your baby, she absolutely refused to sleep in her crib.

My husband works long night shifts so was unable to help and I decided on balance that the risk of me falling asleep holding her or becoming too tired to safely function was greater than the risk posed by the sleepyhead. She did settle better in the sleepyhead but I always worried about her being in it overnight and did subsequently manage to get her out of it and settling in her crib when she was about 8 weeks old.

It is totally normal for new babies to not want to be put down to begin with. If you can I would recommend sharing the nights with your partner so you both get some sleep and to keep working on getting her used to her crib. The sleepyhead did help us, but I always worried about it and it was a last resort when every other trick to get her sleeping independently in her crib failed in those early weeks.

@IncyWincySpiderOnRepeat this is the same conversation I've had with myself, what's safer being so sleep deprived I cannot function to look after him or the sleepyhead.. last night was so frantic of us trying to get him to settle he must of cried for about 5 hours as nothing worked and we were getting more and more stressed . Tonight we are doing shifts but can't do this forever and we don't have time to sleep in the day at the moment due to our circumstances. I think there must be something about the snuz pod he isn't a fan of as he will sleep on a pillow on the bed, on our flat bed mattress, in his car seat, in his pram bassinet but just will not sleep on the snuz pod.

What is the mattress like in the Snuzpod? We had a Next to Me and the mattress was quite thin and very firm, almost like I was putting her to sleep on a board! We eventually removed some furniture from our bedroom to make space for her cot and after a few nights she did settle much better again on the cot mattress, might be worth a try?

If he was refusing to settle at all lying flat I would wonder about reflux but it doesn’t sound as though that’s the case given that he will sleep on your bed.

Your little one is still very new and getting used to their surroundings so very likely to just be needing the reassurance of being close to you. They change extremely quickly in the beginning so you may find that within a week or two things are very different again.

Have you tried warming the crib with a hot water bottle before placing him in it? (Remove the bottle before putting him down) Also if he is big enough a sleeping bag may help instead of blankets as they stay warm in the bag on the transfer to the crib.

A sleepyhead may help but I would try all other safety approved options first as you may find something else that works without the potential additional risk a sleepyhead could pose.

The first few weeks are tough but it will get better. Dd2 is 20 weeks now and things are so much easier, hang in there!

We have an 9 week old and we bought a sleepyhead at about 4 weeks as we were also struggling to get him to sleep in the snuzzpod. He just looked so tiny and lost in it! He is now big enough for a sleeping bag too and that has really changed things as he definitely feels more secure in there and there is no risk of the blankets riding up plus he is warm enough going from me in to the crib. We also have some rain noise on too to try and help as our bed creaks when moving him from it to his! I know the sleepyheads aren't recommended but it definitely worked for us

Have you tried swaddling ?

I feel for you - have been there!!

purflo.com/sleep-tight-baby-bed-soft-white/ is certified for overnight sleeping.

We were given one of these - www.babymoov.co.uk/flat-head-pillows-cocoons/48-cosydream-3661276143050.html (isn't certified but our baby likes it)

If he will sleep in the pram bassinet and it’s safe for over night sleeping he can sleep in that. Mine dd is still in the pram carrycot (big old silver cross one) at 7 months.
I put dd on a sheepskin to sleep and have always warmed whatever she is sleeping in up with a hot water bottle.
If he’s constantly waking after being put down is it wind? If you don’t get the wind up they do wake.
I always transfer to crib/basket when baby is asleep. Make sure they are well asleep not just closed their eyes

Our baby would only sleep when held for the first couple of months so we bought a sleepyhead - we were both falling asleep holding him which just seemed much less safe. They are not approved but when we discussed it with parents we know it seemed like many many people had used them for this exact reason. I also agree that being able to transition to his sleeping bag was then the game changer.

How old is your baby?

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Yes we tried swaddling but that didn't work and then his back got really sweaty despite the packaging from tommee tippee suggesting we needed a 2.5 tog and we only had a 1.0 tog. So will need to look at what he's wearing when he's in that and see if we can get that to work.

Thank you @newmumfeb21 I had no idea there was one that was certified for safe sleep overnight. I've purchased a cheaper one with good reviews on Amazon prime today to try but if it works I will invest for the peace of mind.

We did shifts last night but woke up and my partner had literally just drifted off with him on his chest so I really don't think we will have any option moving forwards. In between using the pod I will try other options still and look to get him out of it ASAP.

The other thing I completely forgot to mention @WatersBroken is that if you can persuade baby to fall asleep on top of this you can move them without them realising, it's been really useful for DH (he uses it to get DS back in his Moses basket whereas I just rely on the CosyMoov!)

www.snugglebundl.co.uk/about_us/what-is-a-snugglebundl/

Hope something works for you and you and your DP get a bit more rest!

Be careful with the purflo - they say it's certified but it seems impossible to find out who certified it and for what, exactly. I wrote to the company asking this question and was ignored. As someone else said, this is a risk assessment you need to make.

@Fullofthejoysofspring oh that is disappointing - none the less it does sound a lot safer - solid base etc so still think I would be more inclined to use this rather than what I have got coming today

,@Fullofthejoysofspring

It says on the website if you have a look. Its UKAS who test and certify moses baskets and cribs. It is not classified as a 'nest' but a baby bed.

I asked the lullaby trust and they said they could not comment or argue it is holds a certificate.