I have a 6 week old and we are having difficulty with him napping in his bed during the day. At night he goes to sleep on his own and sleeps for 4-5 hours and wakes up for 1 feeding. During the day, he doesn't want to nap in his bed, he prefers the swing (in motion) or the bouncy seat. I would like to know if this is a bad thing. On one end, I think it is more important for him to get his sleep and shouldn't matter where, but I don't want him to develop a bad habit and get used to it. Do babies develop bad habits this early on??
Any suggestions or opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Where ever he wants to sleep, let him. Right now he needs more sleep than anything. Around 4 months or so is when they will develop a "where to sleep" habbit. You can worry about that then. right now it's important no matter where. My 7 year old would only sleep in his car seat.
You are right up till around 5 months I had my kids sleep wherever they would sleep. It's so important for their brain development and growth to get lots of sleep. Way more important than learning to sleep in a crib (that can come later). Trust your gut on this one let him sleep in the swing :)
For the first 3 months of my DD's life, she slept in her bouncy seat. Even at night. She had reflux, and during birth her collarbone was broken... so laying flat on her back wasn't a good thing for her.
It did take a little bit of gradual transition once she grew out of her reflux, but by the time she was 6 months old she slept all night and every nap in her crib.
Get her to sleep however you can, and later you can get her back into the crib. :)
The best place for baby to sleep is wherever baby will sleep.
Seriously, the swing is fine. Our youngest spent the first few months in his carseat, because he had swallowing issues and being elevated helped. I actually loved it, as he could fall asleep anywhere in the house and then I could just move him into another room if I needed to!
He transitioned out of it just fine!
Good luck with your little one :-)
Sometimes a crib is too big for a newborn. You can try white noise to cover up sounds of the house. You can't spoil a baby and let him sleep where he likes!
He's way to young to develop any kind of sleeping habit. If he likes the swing, great. I wish I had done that with my oldest. It took me 3 months to realize that letting him sleep in the swing would have saved my sanity!
My doctor even told me to let him sleep in his carseat (when he had a cold, especially), and I just was so afraid that it had to be the crib. Sometimes he would fall asleep in the car, and I would just carry him in and think I had to take him out of his carrier and put him in his crib. Now I'm asking myself why I couldn't just leave him alone and let him sleep!
Sleep is good. Don't worry about where he's sleeping. Just make sure it's safe - buckled in, no blankets over his face, etc.
At this age they usually sleep for about 18-20 hours of the day. I would think he'd be so tired he would go down anywhere.
I often let the kids sleep in their swings but after they went out we moved them to their bed or to the playpen which was in the same room as I often was.
I just felt they slept better, or at least their body was able to be spread out and looked like it was getting better rest...lol.
My son slept in his swing for every nap until about 7 months. Now he naps fine in his crib.
at that age, no it's not a bad thing. But in a month or so you should have him transitioned to sleeping in his bed more often, and more regularly.
The easiest way to transition him is to have the swing be in his bedroom, make sure his bedroom is DARK (I use black felt, the heaviest you can find, usually 2 layers, hang it up with the scratchy part of the velcro - stick scratchy part of velcro on top edges of the window, have felt at least 12 inches wider and 12 inches longer then window dimensions, hang up felt and push into corners of the window. Dark is good, makes the body sleep better. Also put on either a fan or music on continuous repeat so that it doesn't stop at all.
Another component is schedule. EASY - when the baby wakes up it Eats. After you feed it, then it has Activity - bouncy seat, tummy time, sitting up and playing with toys, swing, exersaucer, etc. When the baby gets fussy check the B's - boredom, butt or burp. If it's none of those then off to Sleep. Don't wait for the baby to do more than get the tiniest bit fussy, then see what is causing the fusses - if it's just that they needed their diaper change do that, but if it's not the activity is boring, the butt is dirty or they have to burp, then put them down. This may happen after as short as 45 minutes, don't freak, it really means they are tired.
Now, to get them to sleep use the 5 s's. Swaddle the baby, hold the baby on their side and sway as they suck on something (paci, your knuckle or their finger/thumb) and make a shush noise. This will calm your baby. When the baby is calm, but not asleep yet, keeping them swaddled lay them in the bed. I like to pat them instead of sway after a minute or two cause you can still pat after they are put down but you can't sway, so pat the baby and continue patting gradually decreasing it as you put them in the bed. Also continue the shushing as you put them down, again gradually getting quieter.
If you do these two you will find a well rested, easily managed baby in no time. If a baby wakes before 1 1/2 hours then wait ten minutes before going in, most babies settle in that time period and go right back to sleep on their own.
Okay, keep in mind that I'm not a 'cry it out' kind of Mom but I have fostered over 60 sick infants and raised my eight (five were some of my sick fosters). Anyway, I hate to be the lone dissenter if you let him sleep in the chair all the time now it's going to be so much harder to change his habit later. Not to mention the consistency factor which I think is pretty important at this point in his life. You can stand there and pat his back for a few minutes or have some quiet music but I really think the earlier he develops this habit the better off you'll both be. BTW, ALL my kids took naps right up until they went off to school.
