staying in the basket.....

[jennywren]

how can I get LO to stay in his basket, or should I say settle himself to sleep in his basket?

the first week he would not go in it at all and slept on me most of the time as it was easier as he was breast feeding every 1.5 hours and least I got some dozing done when he was asleep on me. Now he will go in it and sleep in it when he is in a deep sleep but he has to fall asleep on me (or whoever is feeding him) first, we then have to wait about 15-20 mins to make sure he is in a deep sleep (easy to tell as when he is asleep but not deeply he sleeps with both or one eye half open which is scarey lol) then put him down and he will stay asleep then. However if say we feed him at 1 or 2am we cant put him straight in the basket as he stress and winges but if I put him on my chest he goes off to sleep.

I want him to settle himself to sleep as I dont want him to get used to being held till he sleeps as its making a rod for our own back.

we have tried the usual, swaddling, item of clothing in the basket, leaving him etc

 

[Charlotte & Emily]

Emily never used to like her basket either
I think it was because she couldnt see anything, now we've put her in a travel cot and shes alot better.
He might grow out of this phase, if not maybe your HV will have some advice

 

[Gemma & Jake]

Jake never used to go down to sleep unless he fell asleep on me first and was in a deep sleep. I did try to get him to go down but he wouldn't so I carried on letting him fall asleep on me. I thought that I may have made a rod for my own back but when Jake was about 3 1/2 months old I started a proper routine of bath, bottle then down to fall asleep on his own. Jake took to it really well and now he goes down in between 6.30pm and 7.00pm and sleeps through until 6am. I wouldn't stress too much if you can't get him to go down on his own but maybe just try putting him down on his own every couple of weeks and see if her will do it. Has your LO got a dummy as it might help him to fall asleep and go back to sleep if he wakes up.

 

[jennywren]

hi, yeah he has a dummy, sucks it till he is asleep in a deep sleep and then spits it out - if he spits it out before he is in a proper sleep he wakes up!

After speaking to my mum Gemma and looking on the net it seems what you say is the case, that right now, he is so young that it can be quite normal for him not to go down in his basket but from a few months old when I start a proper routine like bath, feed, cuddle then lay down he should start to go down.

Saying that though, after tonights feed he rested on me for a bit and I put him down semi awake (eyes open half way lol) with his dummy in and he drifted off after about 10 mins but I think it was a one off, but we shall see ha ha

thanks for the reples