When to move into cot?

[MichelleM]

My 4 week old is a very long baby and is a real wriggler - he keeps hitting his flailing arms and legs on the sides of his Moses basket, and looks like he needs more space already. I had read somewhere that babies normally stay in Moses baskets until they are around 6 mths before moving to a cot. Does anyone know if there are risks if put into cot alot earlier than 6 mths?

My dd moved to her cot at around 3 months I think. She was swaddled so that stopped her arms hitting the side of the basket (and made her sleep better, no wriggling!)

I don't think there are risks associated with cots vs moses baskets, I just think that they are better for the first short while - they look so small and lost in the cot when they're new and also they are used to being snug in a womb, the cot will feel very big after that.

One tip (if you haven't already) it's worth putting the moses basket in the cot for a few nights first so your baby is used to the environment before tranferring him, worked well for my daughter.

I put ds in his cot at 5 weeks as he too was long, and a real wriggler and he didn't like being swaddled. I also put his moses basket in teh cot for the first night, then transferred him straight to his cot and we had no problems whatsoever. Good luck!

Hi MichelleM

You could have a look at this thread

here

I put my third into his cot earlier than the previous two and found the Air-Flow sleep positioner (and a baby sleep bag) to be very useful. Also, as with Northerner, we put his carry cot inside the big cot for first few nights.

HTH

i put both ds's in cot at 5 weeks. Didn't bother with moses basket inside 1st, just did it. they both slept miles better in cot (massive cot bed at that) than in carry cot. And so did I. And mine weren't particularly big or long, but kept thrashing about/hitting the sides & generally desturbing themselves & me.

Congratulations btw.

I put mine into the cot at about 5 weeks or so. For the very first night I put Moses basket into cot, but 2nd night didn't bother. She's been a fab sleeper and never had any problems. I can't imagine her, or any of the babies I know still being in Moses baskets at 6 months. Go for the cot and bet you both sleep a lot better for it!

thanks all - going to go and buy cot this weekend...will keep you posted

I put DD is a bedside cot at 2 weeks. She hated the crib we had borrowed from day one and would stay in it no longer than 2 or 3 minutes, even if fast asleep when placed there. I am glad we hadn't paid for it!

We got a nice thick mattress too and it seemed mch more comfortable to the crib. She went in it really well, with no problems.

DS was in his cot from day 1. He was swaddled and he never had any problems whatsoever. Also, he slept though from 2 weeks, and I had to wake him up for night feeds!

MBB - 2 weeks & sleeping through......you lucky thing!! Any tips on how to swaddle a baby? I was unsure if DS would be too warm if swaddled, and also havent yet got the knack of getting him all wrapped up properly.

we tucked cellular blankets over the sides of the cot when we first put ds in to make it feel more enclosed and snuggly. Seemed to work fine. If I have another baby I won't be having a moses basket - waste of money for us!

We put dd into her cot from 6 weeks with no probs used just a normal sheet and blanket rather than swaddling her.

We put DS who was very long (59cms) at birth into a cot at 8 weeks. With hindsight we should have done it much earlier, he didn't like his crib one little bit and slept 100% better once in his cot-bed.

We did swaddle DS until he was about 5 months I think - and then progressed onto a sleeping bag without any problems.

MichelleM - re swaddling, I just copied what they'd done in the hospital and made sure the only bit sticking out was his head! He was a June baby and to begin with was just wrapped in a sheet, rather than a blanket.

re Swaddling, I learned how to do it really well from a book called the Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, you can buy on amazon. It's written for parents of colicky or fussy babies but is great for general calming techniques and swaddling.

We swaddled ds till he was big enough to go in a baby sleeping bag (about 3 weeks). Apparently you shouldn't swaddle beyond a month, something to do with restricting mobility.
THis is useful. \linkwww.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/140777/103-0505279-1520622{} Guide to swaddling}

doh! That's Guide to swaddling

I started putting dd into a cot when she started sleeping through, otherwise it was a pain to have to keep going into her room and getting her out to feed her. I think this was around 4 or 5 months old. I didn't know there was any kind of guideline.

Put DS into his cot for the first time last night (5 1/2 wks) and he had the best night sleep so far......happy days!!! He is just so much more content with all the extra space to kick around in, and he happily got over to sleep himself after each feed. I feel on top of the world today after such a good nights sleep, so thanks a million to you all for your advice.