baby won't stay asleep in co-sleeper

[rakishchick]

our 1 week old baby will fall asleep in our arms but sometimes when we put her in the co-sleeper, she will wake up and not go back to sleep unless we hold her again. any tips on getting her to stay sleeping???

[cileag]

Two things that I found essential for the "transfer process:
1. Swaddle tightly! We used the miracle blanket when she was a bit bigger, but that keeps the startle reflex WAY down.
2. Put a prefold/burp cloth under her head/neck before she falls asleep, then as you transfer her, lay that down with her---the heat helped her a lot.

Congrats and good luck!

[Maluhia]

or keep her in your bed?
She wants to be close/safe so swaddling MAY do it, but she wants to be warm and lovingly held - yay cosleeping to the rescue!

[Comtessa]

A big strong to swaddling. Seriously, it saved our sleeping for the first six months. We had to download youtube videos to learn how to swaddle properly. You should have seen us practicing with the blanket and the baby, huddled in front of the computer!!! Seriously, a swaddle will help a LOT. Just don't worry if it seems too tight at first, or if she screams bloody murder while you're getting her into it. Wait about 2 minutes and she'll likely calm right down and love it... and you'll be able to get her in and out of the co-sleeper without as much trouble.

Also, if you have something that smells like you, like a t-shirt you slept in the night before, you can lay the baby on top of that and the smell might soothe her.

[TushasAmi]

I had the same problem. With DD2 I had big plans for her to sleep in the co-sleeper. By the third or so night it was clear that she would sleep for about 30 min in the co-sleeper, but 3 hours in the bed with me. Guess where she is still sleeping?

[Mackenzie]

Originally Posted by Maluhia

or keep her in your bed?
She wants to be close/safe so swaddling MAY do it, but she wants to be warm and lovingly held - yay cosleeping to the rescue!

[BlackSheepPDX]

With DD1, we tried to put her down to sleep, and she wouldn't have it. She was a snuggler, and made that EXCEEDINGLY clear from day 1, requiring significant bodily contact to sleep, and though swaddling helped, it didn't solve the issue. DD2 is almost 3 weeks old, and sleeps completely differently. We are freely cosleeping, but she doesn't need to be SNUGGED up against someone to sleep. She nurses, pops off, and sleeps contentedly in her space, with me free to roll over and change positions. DD1 is STILL a snuggler at 3. Part of the trick is just reading their personality and deciding what you are willing to do to meet their needs.

[Tway]

I slept with DD on my chest for 5 weeks, after a week of pure hell trying to get her to sleep in her moses basket. I got lots of tsk-tsk about it, but I was finally getting some sleep, and DD was out like a light for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Fast forward to 10 months later, and DD spends half the night in her crib, and half in bed. Progress!

[lach]

IME, for the first week or so, babies like to sleep upright. With both of mine, I slept sitting up for the first 10 days or so. Yes, it sucked... but it was better than getting no sleep! If you have a glider or a recliner or any kind of comfortable high-backed chair, you may just resort to that.

My DD HATED the cosleeper. I have no explanation why. She could be totally and completely asleep, and the second her back hit that thing she'd wake up and start screaming. We even had a mattress from the same company as in the cradle we had downstairs, and she had no problem sleeping in that. The cosleeper may have been too big or something? I have no idea.

She ended up sleeping either in our bed, between DH and I, or in the swing until we transitioned her to her crib. But yes, definitely swaddled. Make sure she's wrapped up nice and tight.

[JudiAU]

The matress on the cosleeper is really really thin. You can buy a comfier insert or very carefully try to pad it. Have you tried putting her to sleep on your bed or somewhere else. My little weasels were always trying to get into my bed.

Considering swaddling too if you are not. I was a lousy swaddler and found the miracle blanket or the velcro ones pretty genius.

[Laurski]

nak

I am reading this thread with interest, b/c my 2 week old sounds very similar--she'll sleep like an angel in our arms but freaks out the second we try to put her in the cosleeper. Swaddling doesn't work either; she grunts and strains against the swaddling the entire time she's swaddled and no matter how tightly we swaddle her in the miracle blanket, she works at least one hand free and gets all worked up about that.

We're going to try sleeping w/her unswaddled on my chest tonight...hopefully we'll have some success.

[Lilygoose]

My DD would only sleep on my chest for several months. We were able to transition her to a co-sleeper at some point, can't remember exactly when (3-4 months maybe?), but she was getting up on her hands and knees a couple of months after and she went back on my chest. At around 8 months we brought her into the bed. She's now transitioning to sleeping in her toddler bed in our room and spends the first half of the night in there. She'll be 2 next month.

[rakishchick]

on DH's shift, she will sleep mostly on his chest either swaddled up or in a wrap... i have been successful some of the time, with swaddling her, then putting her to bed with us.
during the day for some reason, she will sometimes sleep in the cosleeper. either way, it is getting a little bit better...!

[WindyCityMom]

I would get a wool blanket from the thrift store (the felted kind), cut it to the size of the co-sleeper, and place it under the sheet. That worked for my DD (she's in a sidecarred crib and we had similar issues). Wool feels a bit more "living" than cotton or whatever the plasticy stuff the co-sleeper mattress may be made out of.. hard to explain but that helped us.

[Marissamom]

My DD would not sleep unless she was touching someone for the first 2 months of her life. If we were all in be together and she reached out with a hand in her sleep and didn't come into contact with one of us she would wake up and freak out, even if there was someone snuggled up to her on the other side. the only way she wouldn't sleep that wasn't in someone's arms was in her carseat, other then that it was napping while being held or sleeping in our bed. she started being able to nap by herself if I nursed her down at about 2 months. now she's a good sleeper, sleeping through the night in her own room, and we just read her goodnight moon and tuck her in and she's out. I think some kids just need the security of knowing someone's there when they are tiny.