8 week old co-sleeper into cot HELP!

[Becky77]

Hi there,

I'm looking for some advice on how to get my co-sleeping 8 week-old daughter into her cot as painlessly as possible... From what I've read she's too young for any of the CC, CIO techinques would you say that was true for pick up, put down as well?

She currently is either fed asleep or falls asleep on my chest or when she's out in the carseat/buggy... Often with the aid of a dummy or a finger to suck on. We've always thought of her as a good sleeper as she only used to wake once or twice in the night but this last week that's gone up to about 3 times a night... I know that's still pretty lucky... But my partner has taken to sleeping in the spare room and won't come back until our baby is in the cot

All advice welcome!

Oh and I want to add that I feel sure putting her in the cot will result in her waking more often... Is that the case?

Hiya
Is there any reason you can't let her fall asleep on you and then transfer her into cot?PUPD supposed to be for over 4 months old. Most sleep training methods are for 6months and over and also are supposed to get them to get themselves to sleep on their own, but this isn't really necessary at 8 weeks old eh? We moved our co-sleeping dd into a cot when she was 4 months and we still put her in there fast asleep, so have not used any sleep training methods. At the start she often spent the second part of the night in our bed (often with DP in spare room too) and sometimes spent the whole night there. 5 weeks later she is spending most nights in her cot, though we still have problems getting her to stay asleep in the evening, though not in the night. She is on average up about 3 times a night. We have used some techniques from the No Cry Sleep Solution, such as letting her play in there during the day so that when she wakes up at night she is used to it. Also have put in a soft toy which I put between her and me while bf so she still has the smell of it in her cot. Our DD wakes less in her cot than when we co-slept though obviously it is more disruptive. Good luck!

Thanks for the help... She does play really well in her cot during the day as she loves her mobile and will lie staring at it for over half an hour so that's something we're really pleased about.

Is it really no advisable to put he down awake so they can put themselves to sleep before they are 4 months?

Looks like DP has another 2 months in the spare room then!

If they can put themselves to sleep awake then great, but I think they suggest that you don't do any sleep training before 6 months as developmentally they cannot grasp wat is going on, and therefore don't "learn" what you are trying to teach them. For some reason the PUPD is recommended after 4 months. Not sure why, guess it's cos you never leave them crying at any point. Before 4 months, most people use the shush/pat methis whereby you sit by the cot and sooth them to sleep so they are not falling asleep by themselves but are one step nearer by at least falling asleep in their cot. We tried this at 4 months, but she just got hysterical. Some people say that the earlier you teach them to fall asleep on their own the easier it is, but on the other hand it is a developmental milestone, which they will reach in their own time. I have lots of friends who never used any sleep training, and just waited until their little ones were ready to do it themselves. That is what I am going to do. As long as you are happy to feed/rock/pat them to sleep them I don't think you shoudl feel under pressure to get them to sleep on their own, they're only little, and most of them need help getting to sleep in the first few months.

Sorry about all the typos. I meant the shush/pat method of course!!!

We got DD to go down awake in her basket (from about 3/4 wks) by watching out really carefully for her 'I need to sleep' cues (yawning, getting grumpy, rubbing eyes) and putting her in her basket immediately with the dummy in her mouth. it took a bit of time as she cried when she drifted off and the dummy fell out. We would put it back in. After a while, it fell out and she carried on sleeping. Most of the time, this still works (although we have had a few blips as we are trying to move her into her cot and she is not amused!).
I suppose it depends how much it bothers you whether she falls asleep on you (and if you are then able to transfer her into the cot without her waking). I did not want DD to only be able to fall asleep on me/ when feeding.
I also did not want to have to leave her to cry at all-hence the dummy.

It sounds like you should just keep doing what you are doing then, if it works! If she is more fussy going into the cot then you could always rock her till she's nearly asleep then put her in with the dummy and let her fall asleep in the cot and then gradually reduce the amount of time rocking so she is more and more awake when you are putting her in the cot, that might work!

She went from 7pm until 11.30pm in her cot last night... Well with a little re-settling from DP at 8pm... Let's hope she does as well tonight!

Excellent! That's fantastic

My 8 week old dd sleeps in bed with me in a snuggle nest this page It is fab! She didnt used to go to sleep on her own but does in this. Dp sleeps downstairs and will return when dd is in her cot!! At the moment I am happy to share my bed with dd as I love the closeness.

The great thing about the snuggle nest is that its safe and you can put it in her cot when she is ready and she wont feel 'lost'. Once she is used to being in the cot you can take her out of her snuggle nest.

Hi i have a 20 mnth old and he doesnt putm himsdelf 2 sleep. He never got attached to a cuddly toy/blanket,never liked his thumb or a pacifier. When i put him him in his crib he cries histerically and when i go and tell him everything is ok and mommy is here 4 u and tell him its bedtime every 5-10 minutes. I dont like to listening to him cry and im stuck on what to do next and after 30 min of cryin i go in there and sit with him and hold his hand and then he goes to sleep PLEASE I NEED SOME HELP!!!!!

laura325630 - does it happen to say how long your baby can stay in this for (the snuggle). Our LO is co-sleeping which is lovely but won't have a nap in the cot.

We have exactly the same dilema. If we put DS down asleep he wakes up after precisely 20 minutes every time... We tried the PUPD method ( the baby whisperer advice) today but it was terribly distressing and went on for so long that we aren't sure we can face it again with our DS only being 8 weeks. He will only sleep now in the sling which means no rest and I also find my back hurting. Am desperate to get him sleeping in his cot as it's impacting on family life (looking after older child etc). Very interested in this thread as we are so unsure what to do. We didn't have this with our first child as he went in the moses basket from the start but things just went differently this time...Tracey Hogg suggests that you try her method under 3 months as much harder after that time but it's heart breaking (even though you never let them cry and always pick them up) but everyone baby, mum, dad are shattered and it seems a little crazy... (sorry everyone for such a long rant! )

waking threee times a night at 8 weeks is entirely normal. she is maybe having a little growth spurt and so needs feeding more often so is waking a little more often.

yep becky, 3 times a night is about where we are and I would agree with the janitor, very normal.

laura325630. had a look at the snugglenest - do the sides flap down to allow for night-time lying down feeds ?

I have a snugglenest. The sides dont come down on mine but you can easily move your lo out of it. It says you can use it until they are 4 months old, DD is 4 months old next week and will be in for much longer.