When and how to start putting baby down in crib?

[SpringOne]

Hello, looking for some advice as finding it all a bit confusing looking online.
Baby is a week old, she only sleeps when being held or lying on one of us. Totally normal (and lovely!) at this stage and I understand about the 4th trimester.
What I want to understand is when and how we would approach starting getting her used to sleeping in the Moses basket or bedside crib?
Any suggestions for books or resources also greatly appreciated.
Thanks

We started using the moses basket as soon as we were home with DD (so at 3 days old). I'm sure that according to MN that makes me cold and unfeeling and they'll tell me I've given her lifelong attachment issues (in fact that's what the HV said, thankfully I ignored her) and she has always been a pretty good sleeper. She went in to a cot in our room when she outgrew the moses basket and in to her own room at 6 months (again, something that horrified a lot of people but we all slept better for it! Babies are noisy little things).

Congratulations on your new baby!

Totally agree. Used Moses basket from the beginning. I’m sorry but you can’t spend your life sitting holding a baby. It’s easier if they get used to being put down from the beginning. Just imagine what you would do if you had three more to look after. Ours went I. Their own room after a few weeks. Shock horror. They grew up big and strong.

From birth.

Thanks for input so far... we have been putting her down in the basket both day and night hoping that she'll gradually get used to it and be able to stay in there longer - so far she's just had a couple of short naps in there or laid there happy when awake. But sounds like if we keep going she will naturally start to get used to it and stay content there/sleep there for longer?

DS napped in the crib for the first couple of weeks when he was still in the 'sleepy' phase, however then 'woke up' and became more alert and basically only ever napped well in the sling. I went with this because it was less stressful to me than fighting him to sleep in the crib and I could still get on about the house with him in the sling. he napped in there until 12 weeks old and we started then working on putting down for naps. started at one sleep cycle length (30 mins) then he would wake and need to be resettled. It was a very gradual process of supporting sleep in the cot until about 5.5 months when he learned to consolidate naps and link sleep cycles, so napped for longer than 30 mins without needing to be resettled.

night sleep the was actually quite good from day one but appreciate not all babies are the same, I would just keep trying to put down if you can, they will get there eventually. DS became alot easier to go down at night when he learnt day and night at 10 weeks.

he's 13 months now and a great independent sleeper day and night. do what works for you but what I'm trying to say don't worry about 'bad habits' etc. as I say DS napped every nap in the sling until 12 weeks and now puts him self to sleep for naps in his cot and I have to wake him 9/10 times!

Yes OP, if this is important to you then all my advise is keep trying! I will say don't worry about putting them down in it awake to fall asleep though. I know people say oh they won't learn to fall asleep themselves if you do that but ours did, just they were a bit older (12 months DC1 and 9 months DC2). But our first was a mostly pretty great sleeper and our second wasn't as good but also not bad either. Our third so far is the worst sleeper we've had but as thehre only 2 months old who knows what the future holds and it's still nowhere near as bad as it could be. We put them in their cot bed in our room for all nighttime sleep once I go to bed myself until I get up in the morning.

From day 1! Although I will say it took us a few attempts to find something she'd sleep in. The next 2 me was a flat out no, it was too roomy for her and she hated the space. The carry cot of our pram was safety tested for over night sleeping so she slept in there for the first few nights with the hood up until we got a Noah pod (like a Moses basket but with a hood, like the carry cot) and she slept much more soundly in that. After about 4 months she transitioned to the next to me and then into the cot. At first she only slept 2-3 hours solo but it got longer over time and she started sleeping through at about 6 weeks. If it's something you want or need, don't feel guilty about putting the baby down. I felt guilty for ages about being so rigid about sleep but I needed rest and there was a 0% chance I was sleeping with the baby on so I ended up very sleep deprived to the point of delirium!

Thanks everyone this is really helpful! Think I just needed some reassurance that it's worth persevering and seeing how we get on. She also hates the next to me crib and prefers the moses basket so will keep going with that and hopefully she'll get the idea.

We used the next to me from the first night home, just with a lot of settling the first 6-8 weeks. She liked a hand on her chest to help her off to sleep & shhhh-ing. When that didn't work she also settled well with bum-pats (then rolled onto her back once she drifted off). It was really hard work those first few weeks but she soon adjusted & has settled well in her next to me/cot since (now 16mo). I'm so glad we persevered as I have a few Mum friends who, for various reasons, didn't and they had months (12+ in a couple of cases) of sleepless nights.

And just chucking it out there, if it is too stressful for you, please be kind to yourself and get sleep however you can.

We are pack animals and it is a very western ideology to sleep separately to our babies. Potentially try safe co-sleeping if your persistence doesn't go to plan.

I have tried with both babies to put them in separate places to where I sleep and they didn't like it. I then did alot of research into safe co sleeping and found what worked FOR ME.

Our nearly 7 year old sleeps soundly through the night and still likes cuddle to get to sleep. I personally do not mind this as they're only little once and soon those little bodies won't want to be anywhere near me for a cuddle!

Take care and be kind to yourself. Sleep of any kind is the most important thing right now! Mumsnet on the whole detests co-sleeping and obviously no offence taken whatsoever if it isn't for you and this post is a waste of time - just felt like it may be approved to provide an alternative.

All I will say is, if you are interested, do your own research and don't believe all of the bashing co-sleeping gets on here. Obviously consider it to weigh up pros and cons but if you follow Sleep 7 guidance it's no less dangerous than any other method of sleeping.

I had winter babies too and found that the baby woke because the mattress was a bit chilly and the change in temp woke them up. After a few weeks of this driving me mad I started to breastfeed my baby and used the thin Moses basket mattress held under him, sort of cuddles him while on the mattress. Then I carried him (like an unexploded bomb) and put him back in the Moses. Worked a treat

I bedshare with my 4 week old and did with my first DD as well as neither could stand to stay in a moses basket or cot when very little (totally normal). We sleep trained our DD around 5 months of age and it worked really well but did feel odd given I went from bed sharing to something similar to cry it out sleep training. But it worked for our daughter and for us. I say do what works for your child and you. If something isn't working, don't drive yourself crazy trying to force it. Both of my children would scream until blue if I'd tried to persist with a cot or moses basket when they were newborns. If something feels too hard, it's probably not right at that time. Try things out but be flexible and willing to adapt as needed or if something isn't working x

If you persevere, they will get there. It can just take some time.

Co-sleeping wasn’t an option for me so they were in a basket from day 1 and I just kept putting them down over and over again until the stints of sleep got longer. It worked eventually but consistency was very important.

It's not totally normal that your baby hasn't napped alone. It's not very fair to baby because you're showing them what to expect. A bit like bringing a new puppy home and having in bed with you, knowing that in a month it will be expected to be somewhere else. The little creature involved is adjusting to whatever you do and they won't like it if you mess with something they are used to. Speaking from puppy and child rearing experience!

I held baby lots and lots but tried to put them down awake for naps so it was a familiar thing from day one. They weren't initially impressed but nor were they overly bothered and in time they came to demand the peace and space of their cot.