My 1-Week Old Doesn't Sleep Well in Her Bassinet-any Advice?

Have you tried to swaddler her? My little ones always slept SOOO much better once they were swaddled. My 3 month old still likes to be swaddled. Also, the co-sleepers are awesome..they feel like they are in bed iwth you but in their own safe space.

Good Luck!

J.,

Get the Amazing Miracle Blanket! www.babycenter.com. Rush it overnight if you have to...it's worth every penny! Sleep is just around the corner for all of you...I was (to be corny)...amazed!

I agree that swaddling is the way to go. I used with my two kiddos miracle blanket and it was a saver for us!
Here is the website:
http://www.miracleblanket.com/

Little babies love to be swaddled. They are comforted by it and it feels to them just like in mommys belly :)

Oh do I know what you are going through! My daughter is now 10 weeks old and only gets up once (around 4:30) to eat and be changed, but she sleeps very soundly otherwise from 10:30 - 6:30 or even 7:30 so I promise relief is in sight for you.
In the beginning I thought I just might die of exhaustion because she would lay in her bassinet grunting and flailing about. The only thing that helped was swaddling. I looked at "The Miracle Blanket" some other moms mentioned and it does look like it would help keep their arms in the swaddle...but to me the legs still look too loose. Maybe my daughter was a particularly bad sleeper, but we had to swaddle her REALLY tight to make her happy. If you are having trouble wrapping her up, take her back to the hospital and have them show you how to do it properly. A good swaddle is a life saver. I used receiving blankets like the ones they used in the hospital that I got at Babies R Us. If I used stretchier ones it was harder to wrap her.
My daughter does not like to be swaddled anymore, but will always fall asleep pretty quickly now in her sleep sack (a sleep sack, BTW, is a must have).
I have a huge, mushy, pillow top bed so I am also way too afraid to let her sleep with me. I just worried that I would be so exhausted I would not wake up if I rolled over on her. I also have pets that sometimes get in bed with us and although they are great with her, a 12 pound cat could probably smoosh a 7 or 8 pound baby.

My only other piece of advice is to sleep during the day when she sleeps. I was running around trying to get stuff done when my daughter slept and I really regret it. I really should have let the laundry pile up and gotten in some quick cat naps.
Good luck. And from one first time mom to another...I promise it will get better.

I'll throw in another vote for swaddling. We used the SwaddleMe for a little while, but she outgrew it quickly. We then ordered a Miracle Blanket (www.babycenter.com has them), which I love and will now buy for all of my friends' baby showers....

That said, our peanut still didn't sleep so well in her bassinet, so one night (out of total desperation - she was about 4 weeks old) we put her swaddled in her crib. That was the first night she slept for 6 straight hours (as opposed to 3-4). She's been there every night since, and at 6 months, sleeps 11-12 hours straight. I know a lot of people don't agree with letting them sleep out of the parents' room that young, but if it gets her the sleep she needs, and keeps us sane, then it is a GOOD thing.

Congratulations on the new addition to your family!
My baby girl (7 weeks old) also falls asleep on me or with me.I noticed that she always buried her face in my chest right before she dozed off. I began to put her blanket on me to pick up my scent, then I swaddled her in it before I put her in her bassinet. Her bassinet is right next to my bed, which makes it easy for me to lay my hand on her and comfort her, if she were to wake up.
Good luck!

When my kids were newborns it helped to swaddle them. It gave them comfort to be able to sleep.

good luck and congrats!
N.

Oh, J., you have a long several weeks ahead of you! Congratulations on your brand new baby! My only advice is to try using a Swaddle Me blanket that velcros around your baby so she can't flail her arms around and wake herself up. But other than that, newborns don't sleep well at night and there isn't much you can do about it. No matter how much you try to mentally prepare for it, nothing can ever prepare you for the absolute physical exhaustion of being a new mom. I cried for about 5 weeks straight because I was so exhausted my emotions were uncontrollable. Have your hubby help out whenever he can so that you can catch up on even a little sleep. When you finally get the chance to sleep for 4 whole hours in a row, you are going to feel like you slept for a month!

Good luck! Try to keep your chin up. It will seem like an eternity, but it does get better.

L.

J.,
Swaddle and co-sleep. Remember, your daughter is making quite an adjustment to being "on the outside." I understand your reservations about your soft mattress. I have seen firm items that you put babies in to sleep. They have a few wedges to keep the baby on his/her back. You could put this in your bed. I keep making different arrangements with cribs, beds and everything as my baby grows. I really love co-sleeping. We all sleep better and breastfeeding is so much easier this way. Don't give up. 'Sorry, I never tried a co-sleeper. I would check it out, though, if I were you.
Amy

Swaddling, as many people suggested, might work. It didn't, however, for my son. He hated to be swaddled, and seemed to hate sleeping on his back at all too. He tended to fall asleep most commonly on his stomach on my chest and when we transferred him to his back at all he would wake up. He also seemed to only fall alseep if we were right there with him.

We finally figured out that he didn't like laying flat. Since we didn't have a bassinette at the time, we picked up a car seat/carrier from a thrift store and put him in that in our bed between us. He was in a reclined position, instead of flat on his back, and there with us in the bed. It helped make things a lot easier until we reached the point when we transferred him to the crib at around three months.

With my daughter I had a bassinette, so we padded one end with blankets under the mattress and gave it a slight incline.

J.- Your daughter sounds just like my daughter when we brought her home from the hospital. Have you tried swaddling your daughter?
We ended up letting our daughter sleep with us, babies are not stupid, they want the connection with mom and dad! However, if you are afaid to let her sleep with you due to the softness of the bed you might consider one of those little beds that fits in the bed for co-sleeping so you are sure not to roll over her.

Good Luck!
Sara

First of all - congratulations!! I have a six week old so I am with you on sleep deprivation. :) Have you tried swaddling her with her arms at her sides? My son would continuously hit himself in the head with his arms and would wake himself up so we started swaddling his arms down and it really helped. Now he sleeps for 5 or 6 hours at a time - so there is light at the end of the tunnel! Here are instructions on swaddling: http://www.azcentral.com/health/kids/articles/0118swaddle...

Best of luck to you!

L.

swadle swadle swadle!
That helped us. Make sure her arms are in there nice and snug and then she will feel more secure and her startle reflex wont wake her. That is why her arms are flailing.

Grunts and whimpering, maybe she has gas. Try moving her legs like a bike and see if that helps get out the toots!

Good luck. I remember the first week. It's tough, BUT it DOES get better! I promise.

Hi J.,

I'll add my vote for swaddling your little sweetie. Both of my kids responded very well to it and, in fact, didn't sleep well if they weren't swaddled. We swaddled for about four months. They both got a little big and were wiggling out of the swaddle. They were also too big for the bassinet by that time.

We weren't comfortable having them sleeping in our bed, either. That made me nervous, too.

Good luck!

J.

I did have one of the Arm's Reach CoSleepers and it was a total waste of money in my case... my daughter still did the same things. I vote for swaddling as well, though some babies are just so darn wiggly that they can get out of the swaddling pretty quickly (mine did- we called her baby Houdini!)

I vote for sleeping with her. Check out some parenting sites that advocate for co-sleeping and AP (attachment parenting) in order to see the benefits and get more ideas on how to set things up. I slept with my daughter after getting no sleep for the first 6 weeks and I don't regret it a bit!

I actually slept with my daughter on my chest for the first few weeks we co-slept and then used one of the foam bumpers (they are covered in terry cloth and are like a wedge- you can get them at Target in the baby section usually.)

You sound like you are a good Mama to try and figure out what is wrong now and notice her disrupted sleep. My best advice is to go with your gut and your heart about your baby... no matter what the conventional wisdom might be!
And if you are nursing, join a local La Leche League group... they are WONDERFUL.

Take care,
Amanda

I can totally sympathize with you. Our little one would only sleep on us so we decided to swaddle. It was amazing. She started sleeping in about 4 to 6 hour blocks inn her crib as soon as we swaddled her. We had some trouble finding a blanket that she would not bust out of, but found a large (42 inch square) blanket at nordstroms and at The Right Start. Good luck!

M.

I would suggest that you try swaddling your daughter. Are you familiar with this technique? I'm sure she was probably swaddled while in the hospital nursery. I found with both of my children that this helped them to sleep better and longer at night. New babies are prone to the Moro Reflex which causes them to jerk and flail while sleeping. A good tight swaddle can help control this reflex. If you are not sure how to swaddle with a blanket (sqaure shape works better than rectangle)then I'm sure you can get a description on Google or another search engine. Target and Babies R Us sell swaddle blankets with velcro which make it so much easier than using a receiving blanket. Also the book The Happiest Baby On The Block describes it as well. Good luck. It's so much easier to enjoy your new baby when you've had a good nights sleep.

Hey J.,
Have you tried swaddling? It is suppossed to soothe newborns and make them feel all cozy and snug like they did in the womb. I think that the arm flailing is an involuntary and totally normal recation to getting used to life in the real world. They startle themselves and wake themselves up when they flail but if you swaddle them they can't move their arms. It seems constricting but they need that at such a young age. Some blankets work better than others, the tighter knit the material, the better. The ones from the hospital work great, if your baby can still fit into it. There is also a product called "swaddle me" that is like a fleece sleeping blanket for babies that works great. It has velcro to keep their arms snug and it stays in place, so no worrying about them covering their mouth or nose with it. Good luck and I hope you get some sleep.

You should really try swaddling. We did that with our little girl and it worked like a charm. I got a blanket called Swaddle Me from BabiesRUS it was only $10 and worth every penny. We also bought some little wedges to put on her sides so she felt like some one was there. Something else that might help is putting a heating pad in the bassinette for a couple minutes and then take it out right before you lay her down that way it is nice a warm too. I have learned that babies don't like the whole shock of going from something nice and warm to something cold.

Most of my friends have complained about noisy newborns- grunting etc. We had to boot our daughter out of our room because she was so noisy. She also might be waking herself up with the arm flailing, which she can't control. I eventually began swaddling my daughter at night and continued until she outgrew the large swaddle at 5 months. There are swaddling blankets with velcro that you can purchase. You also might want to read the book The Happiest Baby on the Block - I think they've made a video too. Keep up the good work!

Hi J.,
Looks like you've made the same mistake we did. Once your baby has slept close to you and your husband there's no turning back! It's amazing how quickly our tiny angels can determine what they like and dislike. Obviously, your angel likes sleeping on or with you and your husband. The good news is that she's still very young and you have time to make a change. This of course may be a challenge but at least you don't have a 4 year old that still tries to get in your bed like we do!

Good luck
M.

Hi J.,
I also have a newborn at home too. She's about 10 days old. She's my second daughter. Our first daughter we had a very similar problem. All she wanted to do was nurse and I was exhausted and horribly sore. We finally figured out that she was cold. I guess if you think about it she used to be in 98.6 degrees. With our second we've been much better about swaddling her and then using an additional fleece or very warm blanket and hat and little baby gloves. We also turned the heat up in our house. We tend to like it cool, especially at night, but when she's toasty warm she sleeps much much better and longer.

This time around I've actually been letting her sleep with us just because she will go down for 4 hour stretches at night when she's toasty warm and I'm getting much better sleep than I ever did with my first.

Also...she seems to really love sleeping in her car seat so if your daughter is the same there is nothing wrong with letting her sleep in there next to your bed.

Good luck and congratulations. Hope you get some rest soon!

J.

J. -

I've been there. My daughter couldn't sleep in the bassinet, and when I considered the quality of the mattress I wondered how any baby could!

I don't have advice on a co-sleeper, as I had my daughter in bed. The good news is that your baby really needs help falling asleep and closeness for the first few months and that she will be able to transition.

Do you not sleep because she is in bed? Some parents claim they get better sleep the first several weeks if they can wake briefly to nurse w/o getting out of bed and fall right back to sleep with the baby at their side.

One week is still not much time, and both of you will adjust.

Good luck.

Barbara

Hi J.,
Neither of my twins would sleep well. They both had to be on an incline, not flat on their back. At babies r us I found a pillow that put them on an incline and the other only slept in his car seat. We used the pillow for a month or so, and same with the car seat. Hopefully that will help! Good luck!

I second, or third the swaddle advice!! But also try to understand that your little one is still very young and still adjusting to life outside :)

The swaddle however most definatley helped my son from whacking himself and waking himself up!

Wishing you lots of luck!! I'd also like to recommend the book written by Dr. Weissbluth. I think the title is Happy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. He'll give you tid bits on what's ahead. (Such as approx. at 6 weeks of age, babies tend to sleep longer through the night).

I agree with the others about swaddling. While it seems counter intuitive to swaddle your baby tightly, that's exactly what she needs to feel safe like she did inside your womb. She flails her arms because she has the space to do so now, and she probably feels like she's falling when she's flat on her back. My daughter who is now six months and sleeps in her crib went through the exact same problem. We never had her sleep in bed with us. Instead, she was swaddled and slept in a cradle swing (like the Nature's Touch one or similar by Fisher Price) next to our bed. She even slept with it swinging all night. You don't think that you can sleep through the sound of the swing swinging, but you can -- and she does too. At 6 weeks, we moved her and her swing into her own room, and at about 2 1/2 - 3 months, she was finally able to sleep well in her bassinet. By 4 months, she was in her crib. My daughter happened to like the tight quarters of swaddling and being in the swing (we even tucked another light blanket around her over the swaddled one. Eventually, she became too big for swaddling and sleeping in the swing, but you'll know when it's time to move out. The pediatrican wasn't concerned that she was still swinging away at two months. He said as long as she was in her crib by 4 months (and didn't take her swing to college with her :), she was developing fine. Good luck! It worked for us, and all of us got lots of sleep!!!

I had the same problem with my daughter but she was in a cosleeper. It turns out that the pad was too hard. We wrapped it in a small blanket to add some extra padding and raised the head of the mattress by putting a folded towel underneath and that did the trick. We use a positioner so that she can't turn on her stomach. Now she atleast only wakes if she is hungry.

At one week they love to be tightly swaddled. Try swaddling her and putting her in one of this inclined to sleep pad in her bassinet.

When my daughter was that young, we secured her in her infant car seat and put it on the floor next to our bed. She seemed to sleep well in there for the first few weeks. Then we moved her to her crib.