Middle of the night feedings - how to get him back to sleep!!!

[busymama77]

DS#2 will doze off while nursing or taking a bottle. When he's finished, we burp him and then lay him down in his crib. Shortly after - say a few minutes or so - he wakes up and fusses. He was just asleep in my arms and his eyes were closed when I laid him down - he was snoring for goodness sake!!! Does he not like his crib? Is there something else going on? When we lay him down, he's swaddled and sometimes takes his paci, completely burp, maybe a little spit up, too.

What are you doing to get your little one back to sleep when something like this happens??

[jenfl]

New babies fall asleep differently than older babies; they go through about a 20-30 minute period of light sleep (dreaming, movements) before deep sleep. Try holding him a while longer before putting him down (watch for no movement, limp arms, etc).

It makes night feedings longer, but means no re-settling.

I feed DS one side, DH changes him, feed other side, hold for a while, swaddle when deep sleep hits, into the crib with no waking. It takes a while, but.... that's typical newborn, and better than my DD!

[LadyCatherine185]

I couldn't lay DS down asleep until he was maybe 4-5 months old, and then I would have to lay him on his belly and he would stir and I'd pat his back and he'd go back to sleep. The only way I could lay him on his back (when he was much older) was if there were pillows on either sides of him, I think he needed to feel safe/secure/like someone was there. For these reasons, we never used our crib.

[karika]

he wakes up because of thousands of years of evolution. The baby can feel the momma is not there and that is dangerous for him in his mind, by instinct if you will. Babies are most comfortable and only feel safe in arms according to some experts and mothers. (and lay persons that have studied other ways of being) http://www.continuum-concept.org/cc_defined.html Have you tried sleeping with your baby? Mine stayed asleep as long as I am touching them, waking to nurse every few hours. Cosleeping is a way to meet everyone's needs with little fuss. We ended up using our crib to hold baby supplies, but no baby.... both of them slept with me, on my chest or cuddled beside.

[tzs]

mine was the same way as a newborn.
i tried all the tricks:
having a warmed blanket under her
sticking a small blanket in my shirt and placing it with her in the crib
making the crib area "smaller" with rolled up blankets
swaddle was a given!
i would leave my hands there under her for a while and then try to slide out
i even stuck her in the boppy (feet end...so that it was "snuggling" her)
i thought about getting one of those sleep nests but didn't end up trying it

nothing worked, so she ended up in my bed. i hated it...i still hate co-sleeping. but it was a temporary thing for a small babe. we worked on getting her in the crib when she was a little past 2 months. i wanted her out by 3 months when she could theoretically sleep for longer stretches without convenience nursing. now at 7 months she sleeps there all the time, i even remember the time at around 4 months she started putting herself to sleep in there.