Forum home Babies Baby

How do you get your LO to sleep in their moses basket?

Hi,
My LO is almost 4wks old and is progressively getting worse at being put in his moses basket. You certainly can't put him in it awake-he immediately starts to cry. So i wait till he's asleep, then put him in but he generally wakes up max 20 mins later. Last night i resorted to co sleeping just to get some sleep cos by 1.30am, and several attempts of putting him down only for him to wake up again, i was shattered.

I've tried a hot water bottle in the basket before putting him in, swaddling, letting him suck my finger (he doesn't have a dummy), he sleeps on his side, i have tilted the basket at the head end and have let him cry for a bit but he ends up hysterical. Any other ideas.

I'm worried about going down a slippery slope of him only sleeping with me and actually as a short term measure i don't mind but i don't want him to still be doing it in a few months time. Do they ever just get to a point whwre they accept it or if i start letting him sleep with me now, will that be it?

Are there any self settling/sleep training techniques appropriate for a 4week old?

Help?!!

mummaJ
xXx

Replies

  • Hi there

    Persoanlly I think your lo is too young for any sleep training/ techniques (others might disagree!). I think at that age they need a LOT of comfort and closeness but this will become less as they feel more confident in their new surroundings and get older.

    I know it is not easy when you're exhausted and desperate for sleep though. Our lo wouldn't sleep in her moses basket until she was about 10 weeks old. She would only sleep on mine or hubby's chest and we had to take it in turns 24 hours a day to hold her! (I was too paranoid to co-sleep especially as she was premature and very tiny). We kept trying her in her moses basket and crib but didn't push it when she got upset but eventually, when she felt ready, she started to sleep in there during the day and then at night.

    We also found that she was most comfortable sleeping on her side (she did suffer slightly from silent reflux) so we bought a sleep positioner and a wedge for the crib and this helped loads. We also took her for cranial osteopathy and her ability to sleep 'alone' improved greatly after this too - whether that was a coincidence or not I don't know!

    Others might disagree but I don't think you're on a slippery slope by giving your baby the comfort he needs at this young age. I am a firm believer that you should follow their lead and do things when they're ready.

    But I do understand it's not easy when you're so exhausted and it's 2am! Just keep in mind that it won't be forever. Not long after our lo began to sleep in her moses basket and crib she actually stopped being able to fall asleep on us and needed the space and peace of being 'alone' - it made me feel so sad!! They grow up so quickly.

    Hang in there :\)

    Love NN xx
  • There's no such thing as a slippery slope. Babies have different developmental needs at different times and your baby won't want to sleep in your bed for the rest of his life. Your baby may not sleep in the moses basket at the moment at all, no matter what you do or don't do. I'd say give up and respond to what your baby is telling you he needs. Try the moses basket again in a couple of weeks (a long time in baby world) and just keep offering it until he takes it, one day he will when the time is right for him, not necessarily for you. I say stop winding yourself up trying to get him to do what you want on this, he's too young. Look up safe co-sleeping though/talk to your HV to find out how to be safe. Enjoy it!!!! My most beautiful memories are of baby asleep in our bed and I think how sad some people never get those memories because they're trying to train their babies.
  • Hi, my ds1 was very similar - I did co-sleep otherwise I would have gone mad from sleep-deprivation! A good swaddle, and laying him slightly on his side, rather than back, did keep him asleep in his moses basket for a few hours when he was a few weeks old - but once he woke in the night I would just bring him into our bed and bf him back off to sleep.

    I think he is too young for any sort of sleep training - this kind of thing is more for 6mths and above. At 4wks he just wants to be with mummy image

    I co-slept a lot with ds1 in the early weeks, but a few months on he was sleeping in his cot nicely! I think some babies just naturally don't want to be put down and I remember it's hard work!

    xx
  • I agree with Natty that its too early to worry about bad habits and instilling any real routine etc. I was persist with the basket for now (unless you prefer co-sleeping of course).

    During the day I quite often let lo sleep on a blanket on the floor or in a little rocker I had for her (that doesn't really rock much lol) - as long as she had sleep I didn't really mind! lol. At night she always went to bed in the moses basket and yep she certainly woke up a lot but then I put that down to her being so young and needing comfort/feeding regularly - when she's a bit older you come to recognise what they want (to a point - I'm still learning 15 weeks on!! lol) x

    xx
  • My daughter is 7 weeks and no matter how asleep she is on me as son as I put her on her moses basket she wakes up - she doesn't like swaddling so I lay my hand on her belly with light pressure then the other hand I place on her head and stroke her temple with my thumb most of the time she'll settle back to sleep again ( as long as she's not too worked up) If he doesn't like head stroking my hv had suggested the otherhand be on babies chest.
  • I haven't read the other replies but we used a slumberland bear, well the music part anyway. It plays different tunes, including the womb noise and this worked a treat for us. Also using a sleeping bag instead of blankets helps too. Sorry if I'm repeating previous advice but HTH xx
  • I find tapping the side of the basket in the rythm of a heart beat helps him calm down. He loves his dummy too. Can I ask why he doesn''t have one? The World Health Organisation recomend one when sleeping from 4 weeks to 6 months to help prevent cot death and my baby certainly enjoys it and it helps him settle. He is like a different baby at bed time since we gave him one.
  • Hi
    My baby is 8 weeks old and he has slept in his moses basket every night since he came home with no problems apart from the first couple of nights. I think it is a bit of a shock sometimes for babies to be 'out' and they like the feeling of being inside the womb, have you tried wedging the baby in at either side? We swaddle LO and then roll up a cellular blanket at each side and put that over him from the shoulders down, so that there is no space between baby and the edges of the basket. It definitely helps our LO feel comfortable and safe, he rarely wakes up since we started doing this after we couldn get him to sleep in it for long periods. Might be worth a try hun. I know you can get actual 'wedges' for the cot/basket but blankets work just as good.
    Hope you manage to sort something out for you and LO X
  • Thanks for the tips ladies. He actually slept well in his moses last night so just going to keep persevering cos i know he can do it!!
    xXx
  • My ds hated his i gave up after 4 weeks and put him in his pram to sleep in the day and his cot to sleep at night and he has been fine since doing that! Some babys just dont like them i guess x
  • none of my 4 lo's have ever slept in a moses basket, i dont think any of them liked the movement in it. my older 2 slept in a silver cross pram body on the floor, and my younger 2 both had wooden cribs. my third lo i did buy a moses basket for him but he just wouldn't settle in it, so went and bought the crib, and the first night we put him in it he settled nicely, xxx
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions