5 week old won't sleep in cot anymore

[Usedtobechilled]

Is this normal? At the beginning baby would sleep in cot where we'd get a 3 hour chunk followed by some 2 hour chunks (BFing) which was fine with me (thought this was pretty good tbh!)
All of a sudden baby will now not sleep in cot, the minute his back touches the mattress he's awake no matter what stage of sleep he was in.
We put him down feet first, we wait til his arm will drop 3 times, we've played music/white noise and nothing is working.
We are now sleeping in shifts which is absolutely unsustainable (and is why I'm posting at 3 in the morning).
Please help!

Have you tried a Swaddle?

I haven't but only because a midwife told us swaddling isn't recommended anymore and that the sleeping bags are the best way to go

My child was like this initially. It was hell for 6-8 weeks.

Once they were able to lift themselves and hold head up, we tested sleeping on the front in moses basket whilst we supervised and it was like a different baby.

Of course, this is heavily advised against, but I did a lot of research and found the risks weren't as extreme as is often purported. DC is almost 8 months, still sleeps on front.

Anyway bottom line is your experience is normal.

Normal

You can still swaddle, there are some that are basically like a sleep sack. I liked the groaning ones

Oh and my solution to this is safe bedsharing. 3 hours then 2 hour chunks would have being incredible for the first 2 years of DC1s life 🥴

The change of thought on swaddling is to do with their hips, so only relevant when you do it with a sheet and do it too tight. Your midwife probably should have explained this but I’m not overly surprised that they didn’t. You can get swaddle sleeping bags e.g. the Tommee Tippee Gro Snuggle which is just like a regular sleeping bag but with poppers on the arm holes that give the option to fold in the arms. Or the love to dream one which is another zip up bag style. Small babies can have a very strong startle reflex - swaddling really helps. Remember that once they are rolling you have to stop and it’s fine!

Also does baby take a dummy? Sucking is a huge comfort them.

I'm a midwife myself and Swaddle my 4 month old 🤷🏻‍♀️ now he's starting to roll we're looking to ditch it in favour of sleep bags.

Sleep bags are obviously more convenient but where I work (UK) we don't advise against. In fact it was my own midwife when I was postnatal who suggested I Swaddle when breastfeeding to help my latch.

It definitely helped to settle my baby but completely understand if you would rather not.

I think I might give the swaddle bags a shot then, I'll try anything at this point!
He does take a dummy but it doesn't seem to make a difference, when his eyes open that's it. We have a wee routine too which is super frustrating when you do everything you're suppose to do and it doesn't work 😑
Thanks for the advice, might also be a case of just having to ride this out 🤦‍♀️

Before you buy a swaddle maybe try it out with a sheet first...as my lo hates being swaddled and we have wasted a lot of money on various types of swaddles. We had the same experience as you. In the end the only way we can get some sleep is by co sleeping with her on her side...not advised but it was the only way! She now does a couple of 2 hour stints in the next to me crib on a good night, but overall it is pretty dire. She is nearly 4 months .You may want to consider reflux/silent reflux and/or cmpa.

Fuck that midwife. Swaddling is amazing. Get a swaddle bag (ergo cocoon or tommee Tippee swaddle bag). Zip up, arms in. Fab. No faffing around with a blanket. Mine was swaddled until 4.5 months. Otherwise it was constant Windmill arms!

My baby kept startling himself awake with his arms because he had a super strong moro reflex.
I got him a love to dream swaddle bag, which lets them sleep with their arms held up, and he napped in his cot for 3 hours straight away. Before then he'd only contact nap on me for 90 mins.

This is exactly the same as my four week old, did swaddling help?

Hey, tbh I ended up not swaddling, kept using the sleeping bags.
What worked was me deciding us sleeping in shifts was unsustainable and just persevering one night. I think also warming his mattress before he went in helped a bit so he wasn't going into a cold cot.

What did you use to warm the bed? I’m in the throes of my 12WO refusing her cot. I tried one of those warm up in the microwave teddies (and removing it fully from her bed when she’s in it) to warm her cot but by the time she’s fallen asleep for me to transfer her the teddy is cold so was pointless.

Have you tried tilting the cot /crib so the head end is elevated slightly , you can get special feet/plastic bits to do this . Some babies get reflux and don’t like to be flat . Also I have put babies on their side , stayed with them and once asleep turned them onto their back.

I would take the whole mattress out and lean it against the radiator for 5 mins just to put a wee bit of heat in it. Made sure it wasn't roasting mind, seemed to work although now I have a baby that our of the blue wants to be awake for hours in the night. Slowly losing my mind. This is after following a routine, watching wake windows etc. Think it's just your absolute luck if you get a good sleeper.