moms of newborn....please help

I have a 7 week old and she will not sleep anywhere but my arms. Everytime she falls asleep i puther in her swing, crib, etc... and 5 minutes later she is screaming to get her. Anyone have suggestions or have experience where it gets better. Any help will be greatly appreciated?

TIA

Message edited 11/4/2009 5:15:52 PM.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

Have you tried the carseat? This is Colin's favorite place to sleep right now. He's 8 weeks old.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

I will take her on car rides to fall asleep sometimes. She will not jsut go to sleep in the carseat. I just can't have her sleep in my arms every night. I am exhausted and feel it is unsafe. I just hope she starts to sleep other places. Thanks for the suggestion.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

have you tried to swaddle her?

when DD was that young she still liked to be swaddled most of the day

Re: moms of newborn....please help

i try to swaddle her and she screams.. She is very active and likes her arms free when she sleeps.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

What about the bouncy or rocker - my DS loves to sleep in the FP rocker... Good Luck!

Re: moms of newborn....please help

Re: moms of newborn....please help

Re: moms of newborn....please help

2 things:

1. swaddle
2. happiest baby on the block soothing sounds CD

Re: moms of newborn....please help

my DS Is only 2weeks, wont sleep in his bassinet..he sleeps in his carseat. we swaddle him at nite and he likes that. just hates being in the bassinet. dont know why..

some nites he has to fall asleep on my chest and then i transfer him over.

but i totally feel your pain b/c most of the day i feel like all i do is hold DS b/c thats all he wants.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

Re: moms of newborn....please help

get a wrap (i have the moby). it was a lifesavor for me in the beginning and still a surefire way to get dd asleep now.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

i double swaddled DD and she slept in her carseat for the first two months. i live in an apt so i would literally walk her in the halls until she fell asleep and then "park" her in her room!

Re: moms of newborn....please help

swaddle or give her something like a blankie to "hold", or cuddle next to her face

Re: moms of newborn....please help

Thanks for all the replies. I'm gonna try swaddling her again. I let her fall asleep in my arms and transition her to her crib. I have a white noise (vacuum cd) cd playing. She seems to waken from the arm flalling. My ped told me to let her cry but I can't let a 7 week baby CIO doesn't seem right tro me but I don't want for her to get into the routine of sleeping all night in my arms.

Thanks so much

Re: moms of newborn....please help

My baby is 8 weeks old and he has random spurts of this as well, but only during naps. I find if I hold him as he falls asleep with his music on, then keep the music on when I transfer him from my arms to his bassinet he stays asleep longer. He's not the best napper, but this seems to help him nap a little longer.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

If she really doesn't like to be swaddled then don't do it. Trust me. My son didn't like to swaddled and hated the bassinet. Come to find out he was chlostophobic (sp?). We used to co-sleep (HUGE MSTAKE). What worked for us was real trial and error and a few sleepless nights. We started putting him in his swing or crib and everytime he would cry we would extend the time it took us to respond to him. Because we knew he was already fed, burped and changed, there was nothing wrong with him. He was so used to being carried that when it came time to sleep, he wouldn't without me or dh holding him. So we let him cry for 2 min, then extended it to 5min etc untill he learned to soothe himself. I read that in one of those parenting books and lo and behold it actually worked. Took about a week but it worked. We also practiced that during the day also. We only held him while feeding, and no more than 5 mins any other time. Just to get him out the thing of being held all the time.


hth

Message edited 11/4/2009 8:53:21 PM.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

DS was the same way. I held him in my arms for months. Around 6 weeks, he'd nap in the swing, but wouldn't sleep there at night. We tried to transition him to the crib many times, but it was a disaster. Holding him was the only way we'd all get some sleep. We co-slept for a long 10 months. I hope it gets better for you soon!

Re: moms of newborn....please help

Re: moms of newborn....please help

my DS is almost 4 weeks and likes to be held also. Im thinking its because he still likes to be close to me and hear my heartbeat. we started using the Sleep Sheep we got at my shower and it has a heartbeat sound that seems to soothe and relax him. maybe try that as well as the swaddling. good luck.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

My 5 week old DS flails his arms and wakes himself up all the time. Breaks out of swaddles because of it so that's not an option. I don't have too much experience but I found that making sure he's really well fed, slowly placing him down and keeping pressure on him (so he feels like he's still being held) and very slowly (ridiculously slowly) removing my arms/hands has worked pretty well. If he seems like he may stir I gently hold his hands down to keep him from smacking himself in the face. I read that the flailing is more of a "knee-jerk" type reaction than that they are actually awake. So if I can keep him from flailing in the first few minutes after placing him down he usually settles into more of a relaxed sleep we're ok!

Re: moms of newborn....please help

To add some more suggestions that may help...

If you do swaddle again, through out the day, or when you're home, take the blanket that you plan to swaddle with and stuff it in your bra/shirt. Yep, it looks strange but it worked for us (I walk around with DS's taggies and stuffed giraffes and bears in my bra!). Babies like the smell of their mommies.

When you do try to put DD in her crib, if you can (maybe use a small step stool), keep her as cradled as you can while you put her down. Keep her held for a few minutes, if you can. I have my upper body up and over the rail, not exactly leaning on the mattress with my weight but I am able to "get in there" on my tippy toes. Gradually slip your arms out and stay next to the crib for a little bit so she can "feel" you there.

DS would wake himself up with the arm flailing as well. I'm not sure when we stopped swaddling... but after that, I put a blanket on him, even over his arms. At first I started to tuck it under him like a top swaddle, like snug as a bug in a rug tuck. Now I just lay it over him. It was enough to keep him from flailing. Not everyone is in favor of blankets but we have no issues. Make sure it's a light, loose knit/crochetted type blanket that should it get over baby's face, she'll be able to breathe freely. Again, try to get your smell on the blanket.

Is there a binky involved? If you're not opposed, you could try a binky.

We watched a dvd of The Happiest Baby on the Block (check your local library) and the methods did help. Get her used to shushing in your arms and then you can shush her in her crib when she wakes up.

Try a different cd/white noise machine... rain, waterfall, ocean, heartbeat. All babies have different preferences and they could change at any time. We have a white noice machine from Bed Bath & Beyond and DS liked the ocean best, then the rain and now the cradle song and sometimes nothing lately.

Do you keep the nursery dark or night light? Some say that babies like a little light so that if they do wake up they can see familiar surroundings and not be lost and scared. Others say that babies sleep better in the dark and that if they cannot see, they'll go back to sleep. Either could matter or not so try both ways.

What is the temperature of the nursery? "They" say cooler is better. I read somewhere that no warmer than 70 is an ideal temp for a baby.

Just trying to give you multiple choices and hoping something helps! Good luck.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

Re: moms of newborn....please help

We went through this in the beginning with DS. Our peditrican told us to place a shirt of mine (with your scent on it) next to the baby so that when you put them down, they will still feel your presence. The first time we did it, we were amazed that DS stayed in his pack N play for 3 hours...Now at 8 weeks old, it is not necessary.

Re: moms of newborn....please help

I had this during DS's naps when he was younger. Such a pain! I'm convinced his nights were easier because I started a routine his 3rd night home. So if you don't have a nighttime routine (lullabye CD, womb sound, dimming the lights, bottle, rocking...) I would start that. When I had the nap problem I had to transition him. First I'd let him fall asleep on me then put him next to me on the couch (for example) so if he stirred he'd see me. Then it went to having him fall asleep on the couch next to me while I was holding his hand, rubbing his belly, etc. It was a transitional process. Sometimes I would use tricks like driving him around or going in the swing. Good luck!