My 2nd child is 9 days old and will only sleep well when laying with me in the bed right after nursing. I have tried putting him in bassinet after nursing, but he always fusses. I am careful to make sure it is not cold in the bassinet, and have even tried putting a wedge in to elevate his head so he is not completely on his back... nothing seems to be working! I also know its not gas or needing a diaper change because I change him right before a feeding, and burp him right after... he sleeps FINE in my bed with me but the minute he goes into that bassinet.... he might give me a good 15 minutes in there before he starts fussing!
How long did it take for your newborn to transition well to the bassinet for sleep? I remember this happening with my first, but dont remember how long it lasted!
Are you swaddling your baby nice and snug, because he will drift right back to sleep if he wakes himself by moving and won't startle. Also be mindful of gently putting him down so he won't feel like he's falling, I noticed sometimes I would and my kids would wake. My husband to this day is better at transferring the kids from our bed to theirs. Congratulations on your newborn!
I swaddled babies 2&3 & they slept MUCH better than my first (I knew nothing of swaddling until a few weeks into baby #2's life--when he developed colic/aka prolonged evening crying/screaming.)
This book is particularly helpful: "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp.
M., do you want to co-sleep for the next year or more? If you do, than let him sleep with you. Many families co-sleep.
However, if you really don't like co-sleeping, if you want your bed back and only share it with your husband, then stop doing this. I think that you feel that you cannot allow your baby to fuss. That's not true.
Keep a warm blanket under him while you nurse. The blanket will be warm from his body. Put him down in the bassinet along with that warm blanket so that his sleepy body doesn't touch the cold bassinet. Don't wait to put him down totally asleep. He NEEDS to know that you put him down. He needs to get used to falling asleep without laying on you.
Plenty of babies do this. But their moms actually teach them to do it by not tip-toeing around during their daytime naps. They make noise, play music have the TV going in another room, have lights on. They even flush the toilet. That helps baby know the difference between day and night. At night time, things are quiet, the room is dark, you don't come in and play and talk and enjoy. You feed, you put him down, you leave. (Or get back in your bed while he is in the bassinet.)
The way you do this is to put him down still groggily awake and let him cry and fuss. You can stand there a little bit and pat him and quietly "shhhh" so that he knows you are there. But let him learn to "work it out". Letting a baby cry is not the wrong thing to do. You can soothe him a way DIFFERENT than letting him learn that he can make you keep him in bed with you.
You just have to decide if you are willing to train him by expecting him to stay in the bassinet. You can take the time to come in and pat him, leave for a few minutes, pat him again, NOT picking him up at ALL, and let him figure out that he can drop off to sleep in the bassinet, or you can end up co-sleeping. In a year, you'll be on here begging people to help you get our baby out of your bed, and it will 10 times harder to do.
Do it now. It is so much easier now than it will be a year from now.
Dawn
I would never elevate a new born in a bed or bassinet. If you have to try something other than the bed strap him in the car seat. I never had this issue as I put all my kids right into their own beds, they slept most of the night early and only got in my bed to nurse and then back to bed. Some people think if they cry some going to their bed you should keep them with you. I don't believe that myself and they just have to learn to be away from you for short times to sleep. Who wouldn't prefer to be by someone in a nice cozy warm bed? But they sleep better and you sleep better in separate beds. Just start putting him in before you go to bed and during the day and he'll catch on very quickly.
I agree with the swaddling. My daughter slept great when swaddled. She was born very large and very long, so the blanket never really held her and she'd always bust out. We bought a Halo swaddle sleepsack. This was such a lifesaver! Also, the BEST purchase I made for my daughter (really wish I had done this with my twins) was to get a sound machine. I actually was looking for a new cool mist humidifier when my daughter was a newborn. I found one by Homedics that is also a sound machine. We've always been able to put her in the crib (we never did bassinet even though I am breastfeeding), turn on the white noise, and she puts herself to sleep. She's now six months old and goes down fairly easily.
