New born refusing to sleep in crib

[Jonesie13]

5 days ago I delivered my gorgeous baby girl via a section at 37 weeks, 5lbs 4oz (I had a few medical issues during pregnancy).

She sleeps just fine if we hold her, but as soon as we put her in her crib (we do safe sleep with her feet at the bottom of the crib and a blanket curled around her.) she starts to wriggle, getting disturbed, kicking of the blankets and then screaming unconsolablely. She then takes a while to settle again.

She passed all of her checks in the hospital before we where discharged, some feeds well and doesn't fuss unless he needs winding.

She normally well fed and changed when she goes into the crib but that doesn't seem to help.

Has anyone else experienced this? If you have please share your experience and how you tackled it.

We are both feeling pretty helpless!

Congratulations on your newborn!
this is very normal. Honestly, my daughter (now 10!) never slept in her cot, ever. We eventually got her to sleep in a bassinet next to my bed, but from 4 months we bed shared. It was the only way we got any sleep.

It's really normal, have a Google of the fourth trimester. For the first two weeks with my second my husband and I slept in shifts until she got used to the next to me crib, with my first I found that swaddling helped, we didn't do full swaddle, as she settled better with arms out, our second preferred the sleep bags. Every baby is different, so it's a lot of trial and error in those early days. Congratulations:)

Perfectly normal. Your baby has just gone from a warm, cosy environment to the cold, bright outside world and will want to be held a LOT. Read up about the fourth trimester. Enjoy the cuddles and take turns with your partner so you both get some rest. It’s hard but it gets easier. Congratulations!

That's what most people experience I'm afraid. Be careful with the blanket - it's not a good idea to have one for the first six months

Congratulations on your daughter

my son would never sleep in his crib, wouldn’t go in the pram would only ever settle in the cot where he could see through the bars or in our bed.

when I say he wouldn’t go in the crib / pram I really mean it he would fling his arms out and scream. The midwife would wrap him up so he couldn’t move when in the hospital (this was 30 years ago) and he would scream until unwrapped.

hes 30 now and has terrible claustrophobia will not go in a lift ever, has to have the door open in a room and the window cracked open in the car. He just goes into a cold sweat and full panic if you shut him in

Congratulations on your new arrival. This is totally normal for babies. First you have to remember that up until a few days ago tiddler was all tucked up warm and cosy in you, she could hear your heartbeat, was nicely maintained at body temperature and didn't have any space around her to wriggle. Second, babies are hardwired to need their parents. They know and sense when you aren't close.

My DC didn't sleep in a crib or moses basket for the first few weeks, except for the odd short nap, and we slept in shifts throughout the night. Was tough, but we got better sleep overall like that. Do you swaddle? And do you use a sling? That can help in the very early days. i found I couldn't wear a sling due to my c section scar, but DH did and it meant he could nap while DC did.

We also used dummies up until 4 months. And co slept once our DCs were old enough. Babies haven't read the parenting books so to some extent all you can do is ask for ideas and work through them until you find the ones that work for you all. And you will get lots of contradictory advice. One of my DCs hated hats, another swaddling but loved the hat. Try not to panic though, they are all different and there is a huge amount of pressure on meeting expectations over the first 6 to 12 months and in my experience babies don't care - it is the parents that worry. Just remember this phase passes, it will feel tough while you are in it. But it works out OK in the end.

Congratulations!
As others have said this is normal, which I know doesn’t help when you’re sleep deprived - some tips that may help, put a hot water bottle in the crib before you lay her down to warm it up. Also wear a cami/vest top & put this underneath the sheet so the crib has your smell. Hopefully she settles for you soon

Firstly congratulations!

And same here! I've got a four month old who has just started sleeping in her next to me cot at night (and even then, it's only half the night where she gets restless and ends up in the bed!). She refuses to go in a cot during the day and will only fall asleep on one of us so I can empathise entirely!

It does get better, it's all so new at the moment and confusing for them - they're so used to being with you, so it's a hard transition to make.

My baby also kicked off the blanket which I think was half the issue on waking herself up, so she sleeps in a sleeping bag - she hated swaddling but likes the sleeping bag so maybe give that a go?

But like a previous poster said, we used to take shifts for the first few weeks, and then during the day introduced the cot a bit more so she got used to sleeping on her own and she eventually did. Good luck ❤️

We had this initially with our newborn but he has slept really well in his crib at night from c1 week in after we started using a sleeping bag. I think because it zips him in he feels secure and he sleeps with his legs folded on top of his tummy still like he’s still in the womb (now 10 weeks old).

Ours is the mamas and papas “welcome to the world” 2.5 tog sleeping bag for 0-6 months. I even bought a spare 2.5 tog one one and a 1 tog one to make sure we always have a clean one available and a lighter one if needed. He still won’t settle in the crib or pram with a blanket - even if I tuck it in under the mattress really tightly.

it might have just been luck with us but might be worth a try.

Totally normal. She should still be inside you right now if you think about it. She wants to be close. Look into safe cosleeping.

We found warming the moses basket with a hot water bottle helped with my first. Nothing worked with my others though! It will get better.

Read up on 4th trimester. It'll help a lot and it doesn't last

By rights your baby should still be in the womb!! No wonder your smell and feel seem preferable to a crib!
Congratulations on your new baby ... things will get easier...

Have you tried a baby sleeping bag? Tommee Tippee do some small ones which may fit her.

I used them and my baby always slept happily which could be a coincidence of course

It's a hard time! (Much as I loved the snuggles). But what you've described is a typical newborn. Have you tried swaddling? If you swaddle her and hold her initially, when you put her into the crib she'll still have that feeling of security from the swaddle pressure. We also used to put them in on their side and pat their bottom gently until we could see they were in a deep sleep, then roll them to their backs. Last resort we used a sling but I didn't like this as much as others seem to. Good luck - it gets easier.

Our bed is against the wall so the moses basket is wedged in the corner and can't fall out. He seems to consider that close enough to us. I think having it on the need makes it warmer too, otherwise it would be like a camp bed with a draft underneath. He sleeps much better if the room is slightly warmer too, maybe because feeds are less of a cold and nasty shock.

I think everyone who’s ever had a baby has experienced this, it’s so completely normal, please try not to worry too much. It’s a massive shock for a baby, being born and being away from you, all they’ve ever known. It takes some getting used to! My husband and I did shifts of being awake and holding baby while the other slept until about two weeks both times I think, then they started being a bit more comfortable being put down (for an hour or two!) in their Moses baskets, and that time just gets longer as they get older.
ps I’ve found baby sleeping bags are a million times better than a blanket. Can’t kick them off and they stay warm when baby’s lifted out to have a feed!

We found swaddle bags really helpful for the first month or 6 weeks. They come in newborn sizes and are really easy to use.

Babies just want to be held and close and I don't remember the moses basket being any use at all. In the end for the first two weeks we just did shifts so the other parent could get a few hours of unbroken sleep. I remember watching a lot of crappy TV at 3am.

Co sleeping if you can set it up or sleeping in shifts. Co sleeping got me more sleep.

Congratulations! My first baby is 9 weeks and she was exactly the same. We started swaddling her using the Velcro swaddles from Amazon (not too expensive) & it completely changed things for us. We also created ‘nighttime’ really early on - dimmed red lighting, white noise, not interacting and talking to her much during feeds overnight, quiet room to try and get her to distinguish between day and night. It’s really helped her & we’ve managed to get some sleep.

I should note, she sleeps well at night like this but even now just wants to be held in the day!