HELP! My 8 Week Old HATES His Crib!!

T. for the time being he may feel lost in his crib we must remember that newborns had a nice tight cozy home until they are seemingly riped out of it cozy little home lol you may want to hold off a few monthes on the crib as lon as he's not getting in the habit of sleeping with you i dont see the problem

My daughter was the same way. When I noticed she really liked her Infant Stim-Mobile, that hung over her changing table. I moved it over her crib. We all so used a sleep sheep. It plays heart beat, ocean waves, ect. We even put books under one end of the crib to make it at a slant. Hang in there he will get past this phase. Just keep trying things until you find what works for you. Have you thought of letting him sleep in the Amby bed? I haven't used one before. I have heard good things though.

i had the same problem with my son. it seems to me that your son is just like mine, and doesn't like the size of the crib. you say he sleeps great in all of these smaller, confined places, and that may be all it is. with my son i just had to wait it out. i would keep trying to put him in his crib while he was sound asleep to see when he was ready for it. (i tried doing it maybe once a week or so...) it took awhile, but when he was around 4 or 5 months old he was finally ready to spread out and sleep in his crib. until then he slept no problem in his bassinet at night. so my advice would be to just wait it out if nothing else works. good luck!

Just to add one more idea. My son would only nap on the boppy pillow for the first 3.5 months of his life. I know, there is a big tag on it saying it isn't for sleep! I never had a problem and was always checking on him. I would put it in his crib or pack and play and he would sleep away. I also saw the carset in the crib suggestion and that is how my son slept when he was sick and congested. It wasn't necessarily the crib he hated, but laying flat. Then, he was a little too big for it and was more comfortable laying flat, that was when I started to use his crib for naps. Go ahead and let him sleep where he sleeps best. you should eventually get him use to his crib, but you have a few more moths before you should worry about that. When he gets more comfortable in this world, things will get easier. I never let my son CIO either, so don't feel pressured to do so.

I also have an 8-week-old who isn't very fond of her crib. She usually naps in her car seat and I've started putting the car seat in the crib, just to get her used to the surroundings. At night she sleeps in our bedroom in a bassinette. It's actually a pack-n-play that has a bassinette feature. The only way she will go to sleep in it is if she's already asleep and swaddled when I put her down. What I do is nurse her on one side for about 10 minutes and then I swaddle her and start to nurse her on the other side. Usually she dozes off within a couple minutes. Once she's asleep, I can usually put her down without a problem. Sometimes she grunts for a little while, trying to move her arms, but eventually she falls off to sleep again. If she starts crying, I pick her up and nurse for a couple more minutes, and she's asleep again.

Oh, a very important part of this is the way she's swaddled. I used techniques from a video called "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and it keeps her from being able to break out of her swaddle.

Good luck!

Hello. I wrote a more specfic response and I thought I may have sent it to you, but I am unsure. I would be hapy to write more or what I wrote before again to you, but I will wait and see if for some reason you did get it. I just want to say that you may want to read NightTime Parenting by William Sears. This book was a blessing to me and a life saver! I explained more about the book in my first response. If for some reason you did not get it, please reply and I will explain in more detail. A.

Hi T.--First I want to say that every kid is different. My little girl didn't sleep through the night until she was 11 months and my little boy slept 8 hours straight by 3 weeks. That said, some things that worked for me (I didn't want to do cry it out either) were to 1) put the baby in the car seat (strapped in to create that swaddled effect) and then put the car seat in the crib, 2) play with the baby while he's in the crib to let him see that it's a good place, but make sure to take him out as soon as he cries 3) pay attention to when and how he sleeps during the day and try different positions/times/etc. in the crib.

Good luck! And remember, this too shall pass--in a few months, you'll wish for those times when he would only sleep while you held him!

I used a heating pad to warm up the sheets first. I remove it right before I laid both my daughters down...it worked really well. Just be sure to use the lowest setting and don't leave it on underneath them. Just long enought to warm the sheets.

Good luck!

I know this sounds hard, but a little crying never hurt anyone. I got over it. But if your still squimish about crying then try a scheduled bath everyday beofre night time sleep. Or you can try anything with Lavender. My daughter loves Chamomeill (sp). What he's missing is your warmth and a consistancy. A bed doesn't move. I got a heating pad, and put it on very low. Hope some of these might work for you. Good luck.

Have you considered co-sleeping? As a parent, the best thing you can do is listen to your baby's cues. I never considered co-sleeping when I was pregnant the first time. So, I never bothered to do the research and find out about the benefits and the safety of co-sleeping. When I had a daughter that is like your little 8 week old, who HATES the crib and won't sleep...I decided to try something new. Co-Sleeping was the best thing for our family. She slept great (because of being so close next to me) and I slept great too. Funny the things that worked for me that I never would have considered before.
There is a lot of good research out there on the benefits of co-sleeping as well as the safe way to do it. You can check it out on one of my fave sites www.askdrsears.com
Best of luck!
Take Care,
S.

Another mom suggested the bear with the heartbeat noise in it. My daughter LOVED this and I have bought it for every pregnant women I know! My daughter was in her crib, sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. But every night, she had the bear on. It is not battery operated, so it will never die. You can get them at Babies R Us. Hope this helps :)

I had the same issue with my son. He hated laying flat on his back. For the first 2 months, he would only sleep in his car seat. Our pediatrician said to let him sleep in the car seat and put the car seat in his crib. He is now almost 7 months old and is just now sleeping through the night in his crib. When people say that you have to let your baby lay in the crib and cry themselves to sleep, it seems easy enough. It was so hard for me. I could not sit and listen to him scream. I let him cry himself to sleep in his crib one night and he has slept through the night since. I have also heard that you not supposed to let the baby sleep in the car seat because their head can fall forward and cut off their air supply. I would check with your doctor but it was the only way my son wuld sleep at all!! Good luck!

I had the same with my son at that age i found he needed a warm sheet that was like impossable then i found a box fan that vibrated the crib with it leaning up agansit it worked for him and he is a stomach sleeper i know they say that is a cause of sids but they said that sleeping on their back with was the same way when my teenage daughters were his age what keeps him happy i say but i also have the crib in my room and check on him every hr
hope some or all of this helped u
L.

Try putting a clock in the crib with him, one that you can hear ticking. Wrap him up in a thin birthing blanket, nice a tight like they do in the hospital when they are first born. They love it snug because they feel safe and it is a lot like when they are in the womb. The ticking of the clock will sound like your heart and I would always have music on in another room so it would drown out other noise you might make in the house. By now he is also use to your warm body or the movement in the swing. So try this and give it some time, let him cry. He will get use to it.
Good Luck

Do you have a bassinet? At 8 weeks old, they are still pretty small to be in a crib. Both my kids were 4-5 months old before going in their crib. They were really tightly confined in the womb and a bassinet can simulate that closeness. My bassinet had a vibrating feature, which I would turn on right before laying them in it. It gives them that feeling of you, when you're breathing. I've never used these, but I know others swear by them - they have Mama Bear's which is a stuffed teddy bear that sounds like a heartbeat - i.e. your heartbeat. Good luck! He seems like a pretty good sleeper though! 4-6 hours is great at 8 weeks. Where is he sleeping now?

Oh, another thing I always did was play lullabyes on repeat on a CD player quitely. They make baby lullaby CD's that are soothing, and it helps any background noises drown out to the baby.

Hi T.,

I agree with Sita. We co-sleep after thinking our daughter would sleep in her crib. It didn't happen very easily, and I realized it was because she needed to feel more secure at night. I've read the first two years of a baby's life are all about trust vs. distrust, and at night they feel especially vulnerable. I think it's our job as parents to show them trust & security at night in the best way we're capable. And you're right, crying it out is something I'll never try either. It's not the best way for us.

I only put my son in his crib for daytime naps for the first few months because he was waking every two hours and I couldn't stand the fact of him being so far away at night until recently he now six months and sleeps in his crib very well at night and day but I was told once that the space in a crib is just too big for young babies and it scares them I know for a while during the day even my sun starled anytime we put in the crib swaddled or not, do you have a bassinet?maybe the smaller area will help. Or they make what they call co-sleepers my son loves his he too big for it now but it will fit almost anywhere and maybe that in the crib will make hime feel more secure. Hope this helps. Good Luck and congratulations. Yeah we co-slept with him for first five months bassinet only lasted about three weeks and then we put him in our bed in his co-sleeper it gave us all sense of security.

Most newborns miss the comfort of the womb. I would suggest a bassinet or a snuggle nest. It the a neborn a more intimate snuggly feeling. Also, you should try putting him to bed JUST BEFORE he falls asleep. We didn't do that with my son and for over a year we had to swaddle and rock him to sleep.

Hear is a link for a snuggle nest @ Babies-R-Us

http://www.toysrus.com/family/index.jsp?cp=2255986.###-##....

Good Luck!

Have you tried a cradle? Since he is still so little, he might do better in a smaller space. This might sound silly, but my mother's intuition told me to put my newborn in a cradle next to our bed until was too big for the cradle. I think the smaller space and him being close to me made a difference. When he was about 3 months I put him in the crib in his own room. It was a fairly easy transition. I hope this helps.
Becky

Hello T., If your little one is sleepin well, don'tworry about the crib. he is only 8 weeks. My three slept with me for the longest time and all three eventually wanted their crib. I know everyone says they need to learn how to sleepp in their own beds, but you two are still in the bonding stage.give it time... he will eventually go to his crib... around six months. enjoy him desiring you... trust me... he will grow up like mine have and not want to even hug you any more. I have thre teenagers(18,16,15) I am 38 years old. so far from you have said you are doing fine. He just wants to be close to you.Cherish it.

What is wrong with using the Amby hammock? I didn’t use one with my son. I didn’t even hear of them until after he was born, but if you have it use it. And don’t let him cry it out at this age. They don’t really recommend it until 6 months and then it is about learning to self-sooth. There is nothing he can do at this point to sooth himself. Not to say it is bad to let him cry every once in a wile. My son slept in a rocking bassinet until he was 3 months old then we transitioned over to a crib. Once he is to the age that he needs to be in a crib then worry about it. They are changing so much at this point. Fight that battle when you get there. For now just enjoy your baby!

hi!

try putting a pillow UNDER the top half of his mattress. he may be burping up, mild reflux, which is exacerbated when yoou are flat. hope it works. when he starts roling over you'll have to remove it or he will end up at the bottom of the crib. good luck!!

M., sahm of an 8y.o. and a 3 y.o. boys.

He may want to sleep on his tummy. I have an 8 week old as well and she will not sleep unless i put her on her tummy. The first few times i was nervous, but she takes a pacifier and she can lift her head and move it from side to side so i'm not too worried. My 2 year old was the same way. They were/are both had issues with gas and lying on your back causes more intestinal gas to build up. Good Luck