How do you get your baby to bed?

[jenfl]

This question is mostly aimed at non-co-sleepers. How do you get your baby to sleep in bed? Do you put them down awake, slightly asleep, or in deep sleep? Do you swaddle? Do they sleep on their back, side, or stomach? etc

I still haven't figured out what works for Sprout, so I'm looking for new ideas to try. Our best so far is to nurse, wait for deep sleep, swaddle, then into co-sleeper on his back. But it takes FOREVER and doesn't always work. He'd love to sleep on his stomach, but we can't bring ourselves to do that for anything but fairly monitored naps.

Off to try to get him down again....

[rhiOrion]

i'd love to know, too. L will only sleep on me, which is getting harder with every ounce she gains.

Can the baby sleeping on my boobs cause issues by compressing things?

We have a snuggle nest and a side-carred crib, and would love for her to use either one

[crazyeight]

I've found that starting out swaddling or if you need to change a dipe between boobs swaddle then is better. That way as they fall asleep nursing and eventually pop off they are all ready to just be put down. Sometimes though if its not time for a long nursing session i also swaddle and give him a paci and hold him like i was nursing and rock him. Tonight however...things aren't going well...

[ivymae]

Well, with my older kids bribery always works.

Things that work with my newborns (for naps, since I can't lay down 21 hours a day): make sure the bed is warm, use a heating pad to warm the area and then move it; have a white noise machine, or make the SHHHHHHHHHH noise before, during, and for a few seconds after you lay them down; lay a shirt you've slept in in the crib, so they smell you; make sure you don't trip on the cat on the way out of the room/avoid that squeaky board in the hallway/try not to sneeze.

[snoopy5386]

I wish I knew. We are cosleeping again because DD2 won't sleep anywhere besides my armpit with our bellies pressed together, just like DD1. I feel blessed because DD2 will let me have my nipple back, DD1 wouldn't. I know most of the US doesn't cosleep so there must be babies that will be put down, I just don't know any of those babies personally.

[jenfl]

Well, it makes me feel better that there's no magic trick I'm missing.

Last night I tried putting him on his side in a sleep sack -- no luck. I tried plain old back sleeping -- no luck. I swaddled him once he hit a deep sleep and put on white noise -- that got me 2 hours. But after the next waking, I couldn't get him back in the swaddle. So he came into bed with me and still woke up every 1.5-2 hours.

ivy, I need to try that idea about leaving a shirt in his co-sleeper. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Oliver's Mama]

the trick that worked for us was inclining the bassinet- he prefers to sleep at about a 30 degree angle!
I lay him down still kinda awake. Well, even if he falls asleep on my chest, he will wake up as soon as he touches the bassinet. He'll usually fall back asleep as long as he has a pacifier. If he gets upset, a good burping or a nose suctioning is usually all it takes. swaddling/unswaddling sometimes helps, and I got rid of that foam sleep positioner, he didn't like that.

oh, and unfortunately, bright lights are very helpful.. it gets him to close his eyes, and therefore fall asleep.

[jsh7809]

I've been wondering this too... we are having her sleep with/ on us but every night I try the cosleeper a few times after nursing/ her falling asleep/ a nice tight swaddle and it NEVER has worked for more then 3 minutes. I do the white noise machine and the shhhhing and a little comforting rocking, and I'm right there next to her, but still - no dice. I've been wondering if I'm missing something as well!
We're mostly happy with her sleeping with us, but I'd like to have at least SOME nights (or even hours) with her in the cosleeper and eventually crib in her room, in the long term, as she grows. Is it important to get her sleeping there now so she's used to it later? Cause I just don't see it happening unless we let her cry on her own for at least a few minutes, and god knows I don't need MORE hormones and milk let down from a crying baby left to herself!
I know that "some babies will only sleep on your chest", but I'm feeling more like some parents (i.e., ME) can only deal with having the baby sleep there because it is such stressful work getting them to drift off or stay asleep elsewhere... Right now the cosleeper does nothing but get in my way and make it more awkward for getting in and out of bed (ouchie on the stitches when I have to crawl around!) and serve as a bookcase/ place to toss dirty clothes.

[Carita]

jess - we did right to bed with ds cosleeping for about 5 months, then worked on getting him in his crib for a bit before bed. it wasn't fast - 10 min became 30 min became 1.5 hrs, etc, but cosleeping did not doom him forever . at this stage i find going to bed early with dd is what *I* really need too.

[SuzieQ3417]

My routine is usually feed, change diaper, re-swaddle, rock to sleep, and set down in his bassinet with a white noise machine. I also make sure the room is dark so that he knows it's nighttime. Sometimes he wakes up within a minute of setting him down, or his eyes start opening as I set him down because he's not really asleep yet - then I usually leave him in the crib and make the SHHHH noise while stroking his face or rubbing his back. Usually he falls asleep that way, other times he starts to melt down so I have to pick him up and rock him back to sleep.

If I'm really desperate I'll nurse him again after changing his diaper (and after he's re-swaddled) and let him fall asleep while feeding. Then I can usually move him to the bassinet without any problems.

I've also found a pacifier can sometimes come in handy - he's not always hungry but just wants something to suck on, and that can calm him down enough that he'll fall asleep...doesn't always work though, and you run the risk that he'll wake up when it falls out of his mouth, so I usually end up holding him until he's asleep or hanging out over the crib to make sure it doesn't fall out until he's completely passed out.

My "routine" doesn't always work so well in the early morning once it's light out (when I still want to sleep another hour or two but he is ready to face the day)...then I end up with him in bed next to me swaddled, and will nurse him in the side-lie position. I can usually buy myself an extra hour or two this way, but not always.

I'm not getting any miraculous amounts of sleep though - he eats every 3 hours (or less...with a few 4hr bouts if I'm lucky), so I'm only getting 2 hour chunks of sleep at a time.

ETA - I'm using those commercial swaddlers with velcro rather than just using a blanket (we have a halo fleece sleepsack/swaddle at night, and a cotton kiddopotamus swaddleme for the daytime). If I tried to just do the baby-burrito wrap with a blanket he would wriggle free and wake up. The halo one is nice because I can change his diaper without un-swaddling him since it zips open from the bottom.

[jenfl]

I think I'm the only one whose kid escapes from those velcro swaddlers more easily than the blanket! Of course, I cut out a HUGE piece of jersey cloth and I use an extra small piece to hold his arms down (like the Miracle Blanket).

I had some success with a morning nap today. DS had been awake for over 3 hours (really long for him) but just was NOT going down. So I swaddled him extra, extra tight and rocked him fairly vigourously until he stopped fighting the swaddle and calmed down. When he was out, I laid him down right near the white noise machine (set fairly loudly) and pushed a Boppy on one side of him and a rolled up towel on the other side (so he was held securely).

And he napped for 2.5 hours! That's a huge victory. Then he woke up, nursed, and I got him back down from a light sleep (extra-tight swaddle and then into crib) with no fuss or muss.

It'll be interesting to see if this works tonight....

[crazyeight]

another thing i didn't have time to mention was that i also think something that smells like you is a good idea AND having where the baby lays that's already warm. also something SOFT. baby beds are hard (although i know for good reason/cost reasons) but it just isn't right. when R slept in my bed it's soft and comfortable. i put down a handmade thickly crocheted blanket under him which seemed to at least get it much softer. also if he was in a certain hold when he fell asleep (laying on his side in the crook of my arm) i would also try to keep that same position to lay him down which INCLUDES a "pillow" to support his head if side laying, putting a blanket behind his back AND head to support him and making sure the side that was against my skin didn't get cold real fast. babies are tricky!