To get baby to sleep in moses

[Arwen7]

My lovely first baby is 6 weeks old and I am struggling with the night time sleep. We have a moses basket however baby will not stay on her own anywhere for more than 5min. Ive tried putting her down for naps and at night drowsy, tried in deep sleep, swaddling, white noise, rocking, shushing, patting, warming up the basket, you name it. She will fall asleep very easily especially after a feed (exclusively bf) but will wake up and start crying within minutes of me putting her down. I try to soothe her and put her back to sleep but the same thing will happen again and again until we are both very tired and frustrated. The only way she and me get some sleep is if she co-sleeps (while maintaining contact) - so in the end we have been doing that every night. It's been great as she really sleeps well like that and only wakes up for feeds but I did not want to co-sleep and I keep trying the basket whenever I have energy but it only leads to her back in my bed after trying all methods. During the day is the same, won't chill anywhere but in the sling with me or DP. She loves it and falls asleep straight away.
Thinking of introducing a pacifier for naps/nighttime. Anyone has experience with a similar baby?
I know all about the 4th trimester and that this is just normal newborn behaviour AND that she is teeny tiny still but all the other babies I know were able to sleep in the moses so kind of feel like Im doing something wrong and maybe creating habits which will be difficult to break. While I enjoy all the cuddles and meeting her needs with all this contact, I just don't want to be in this situation months down the line...
Any advice welcome. Thanks x

Hi @Arwen7 i had a similar situation, my bubba coslept with me, there were days she'd only sleep in my arms.
I started giving her a bath in the evening, fresh new clothes, bottle / breastfeed, no tv in the bedroom, dim light and i do this by 9pm to keep to a routine then i put her in the cot and she slept! The cot has to be right next to my bed and it's one of those where the side is lowered so she can still see me.
Hope the above helps x

My DD never slept in her cot for the first few months.
None of what you are doing is bad habits, some babies just prefer to be close for longer.
I definitely had/have a barnacle baby so I just went with it. Co-sleeping was my friend throughout her first yet and tbh, she's 16 months now and pretty much sleeps through in her cot most nights but will still come for a cuddle in the night if she needs one.
We did everything that people tell you not to do (bf to sleep, rock, cuddle etc) but it's all completely normal.
Check out the following instagrams as they have some great advice on normal sleep and tips you can try to change things if you want (with no CIO):
Little nest sleep
Hey sleepy baby
Fox and the moon infant sleep
Second star to the right

My 12 week old is/was like this. We are also co sleeping, but she has been managing the odd 2 hour stretch in the next to me crib. I usually lie down to feed, but for her 1am feed I have been sitting up then she'll feed to sleep and i transfer her in. I always put her on her side first then gently roll back when she's settled. She has always hated the moses basket, I think we've got much more chance with the bedside crib. I'll be interested in any other tips from others here...

She'll get there. My DD was exactly the same. It's really hard work then all of a sudden they'll do it. Keep trying. Do you swaddle? The love to dream swaddles worked best here x

@Summer2424 @kernowpicklepie @Richtea67 thank you all for your replies, it makes me feel like I'm not the only one in this situation.

@Summer2424 good idea i will try to move bath time closer to when we will be settling to bed, makes sense that a nice warm bath helps to calm them down. I haven't started a routine yet as she is too young but I think I will slowly so it becomes easier later on.

@kernowpicklepie barnacle baby made me chuckle! I guess we just end up doing what works for us and baby. I certainly didn't plan to cosleep and here I am. Also very attached to bf to sleep but she is just so difficult to settle 🙈 thanks for the insta recommendations I will check them out.

@Richtea67 Sounds like you are doing great. Even though against advice, I did also try a sleepyhead on top of moses so she was snuggled and could see me. But she just opened one eye and looked at me as if saying 'I know what you are doing' followed by crying!

@Blendandmix thanks for the hope! I do swaddle but it's a hit and miss. Sometimes it seems to work and then other times if she wakes up and realises she really hates it so not too sure.

Oh another tip i read that I found worked was to put something that smelt like you in the cot before you put her down. I used to put my top I'd slept in in the cot in the morning and take it out at night x

Twins, this black and white type video was recommended. Weirdly it worked. Somehow babies knew that it was night time when the music and video came on.

That worked for me too

This is very relaxing

@justasking111 that will definitely put ME to sleep. Very calming will try x

A sling is great for getting stuff done in the day whilst they sleep.

Once they are in a deep sleep you can warm the basket with a hot water bottle, take it out and place baby in. Sometimes it tricks them.

Just lots of practice in the day. We went from 20 seonds to 15 mins to 30 mins plus etc.

Around 9 weeks old I could get mine to day nap in the Sleeyhead or crib. Lots of cuddles and holding before then and through the night. Think it is just the way it goes for a bit but I remember it being a bit annoying by 6 weeks xxx

@serialplanner do you feel that the practice with the moses basket helped? Like they were able to learn and get used to it over time? Not asking to be goady, genuine question as I assumed they were too young to 'train'. Because of that we've abandoned the moses basket but I worry if that's the right approach!

I do feel it helped but kids are so random. If I had a second one, they could love something else.

We were more inclined not to co sleep so the practice was an long term investment. My little one has always slept in her cot save for bad random nights (now 21mo)

If we were less bothered I think we would have co slept earlier. No judgement on co sleepers it just isn't for us.

I think too much focus on sleep is wasted pre 4-6 months as their little bodies are still working so many things out. I was a fan of a rhythm rather than a routine and I started my little one's day at the same time everyday from about 6 weeks. If I did it again I would probably just roll with it until 3 months and then start that. It's all about doing what makes you feel better. For some people that would stress them out so it is not worth it. For others like me it gives you a focus.

Xx