2 week Baby only sleeps on my chest!

[chickaboo]

For the life of me, I cannot get my 2 week old baby to settle in her basinette. I've tried wrapping her, and in a gro bag, but the only place she sleeps is on my chest, (I stretch out on the couch and try to get some sleep that way) or in the baby bjorn sling. She will sleep or lay awake in a rocker for approx 20 minutes each morning without crying which gives me a chance to shower, but apart from that we are never seperated unless my partner is home and can take her and put her in my chest. If I put her in the basinette she won't settle, or awakens and just screams:hissy::hissy::hissy:

Anyone have any suggestions of getting her down in the basinette. I know it is only 16 days, but I'm worried that she will never (well - for the next 12 months ) want to leave my chest to go to sleep
Any ideas??
Cheers, R

[mollymoosmum]

Honestly don't worry about your little girl not being able to sleep on her own down the track, it's such a huge adjustment for her, she sounds like she just needs to be with mum at the moment.

We had the same problem with our DD for the first 3mths, and now she selfsettles in her cot (has so since 6mths!), If it's the only way she can sleep just enbrace it hon! It will be benifical for you and her!

I'm sure someone will be along with some co-sleeping info!

[mollymoosmum]

I forgot to add, do you think she has tummy pain at all??

I say that because our DD has huge wind issues and the only way she would settle was on our chests because she was on her tummy and it was relieving some of the wind cramps..... just an idea??

[chickaboo]

It could be wind I guess, though I'm not sure how to tell if it is.

Thanks for your advice. One minute I'm all set to just sleep with her on my chest and so be it for the next couple of months, and then I get all 'thingy' and feel like there must be something I should or could be doing to get her to sleep in her basinette or otherwise I'm failing as a mum. Both my partner and I have never had anything to do with babies until our beautiful little gir arrived 2 weeks ago.

[metalhead713]

maybe wrap her in a top/blanket that smells like you? If you bf put a tiny bit of milk on it so she can smell you. Its recomended they sleep on her back but maybe just try her on her stomach and see how she goes, get an angel care monitor (it monitors breathing movement) if your worried about sids.

[mollymoosmum]

. One minute I'm all set to just sleep with her on my chest and so be it for the next couple of months, and then I get all 'thingy' and feel like there must be something I should or could be doing to get her to sleep in her basinette or otherwise I'm failing as a mum. Both my partner and I have never had anything to do with babies until our beautiful little gir arrived 2 weeks ago.

This sounds exactally how I felt! It didn't help when people would make me feel guilty about it too!

Just think of it this way.... If it works, than it's right!!! There is no right way when it comes to sleeping & settling, some bubs are perfect sleepers from day one, others need a bit of help and time.

I was constantly worrying about getting bub into 'bad habits' , but there is no such thing as bad habits at that age!

There are some great threads in co-sleeping in the attachment parenting sect worth taking a look if your interested.

Don't doubt yourself, it sounds like your a fabulous Mummy! :)

[purplefairy]

Get yourself a sling so you can move around while she is sleeping. Shes only 2 weeks old and your heart beat calms her and makes her feel safe. This is normal and will pass. No one said parenting was easy, here is where it all starts.:D
Try wrapping her in a blanket that smells like you.

[b&bsmummy]

oh, i know for you at the moment it is a bit confusing and comforting at the same time, but honestly, its perfectly normal, and enjoy it. They are only that little for such a small period of time and it is the bonding experience that you never can get again. I miss my kids doing that sooooo much.

both my kids did exactly what your little one is doing to both me and my husband. And once they were a couple of months older, never had sleep problems.

Wrap bub up really tight in a blanket and hold her till she is asleep and really comfortable slowly place her in her bassinett and just keep your hand on her back gently rubbing just for a few seconds till she settles, and then put another blanket over the top of her so she is nice and warm and very snug. Sometimes even saying "sh sh" in her eye till she settles.

Also my paeditrician told me, not to put my kids in the bassinet during the day, to keep them in any room, with the tv on, or with girlfriends talking and having a cuppa, keep bub in a rocker, and eventually when they were tired enough they would go to sleep... not to move them from one place to another too much. I did this and it was great. My kids will sleep anywhere and through any noise. When they were asleep in the rocker, I never shifted them while they were sleeping to their bassinet.....i think it is a great idea. they need to learn to sleep and stay asleep, if you move them too much they get use to waking and up and they are too young to know how to get back to sleep. Its up to us to teach them....

Let me know how you go.

[punkbaby]

You are not failing as a mum!! Some babies just like that closeness some dont...please dont think that at all ok we are all a new mum at some stage and it takes time to adjust its not like these books we read on mother hood actually work for everyone, we all learn as we go along!

Have you tried co sleeping? even get yourself a snuggle bed for peace of mind so you cant roll on bubs etc what about a pram would she settle in that? A swing? Ds was a very unsettled baby and i did much like you did, laying there always having a semi concsious sleep as i was constantly holding him. He was very windy as well too but around 4 weeks he settled, it was like heaven!
iTs a horrible thing to do but with him his the only baby that i really let cry if you have to do something you have to do it and it doesnt hurt to put bubs down for 5 minutes i cant stand crying babies but with ds i was beside myself there was nothing i could do and i really had no choice, he did eventually learn that i wasnt far away and never left him for more than a few minutes if he was upset.
I was also thinking those hammocks are great as well i havent used one personally but my sisters little boy is so unsettled eratic etc and she finds its a life saver for her.

I think bubs just wanted mummy time and misses the closeness to you if you can cope enjoy it why you can
I dont think i have helped much but just giving you a few ideas you can try

Your not failing though dont even doubt yourself! if you need to talk to someone you can always ring the health nurses they are great just for advice or just for a chat if you need it, sometimes that helps as well :) good luck i hope bubs settles soon

[chickaboo]

thanks everyone for the great advice. DD slept in the rocker for 2 hours this morn. So i got to sleep for an hour in my bed :yes:.
See what rest of the day and tomorrow brings . cheers R

[motherlylove]

there is also teddy bears available that have a heart beat

[chickaboo]

I just wanted to say i've had some success today!
I bought a sleep positioner for about $29.00 and today my little angel has slept in her basinette instead of on my chest. The positioner allows her to sleep on her back but I think because it has sides that she can feel, it must feel cosy for her. So far she has had a sleep at 11.30am for 2 hours, then another sleep this afternoon for 2.5 hours and she has again gone down in her basinette and has been down since about 7.30pm. Even if tomorrow comes and she won't sleep like that, I reckon it was $29.00 well spent, just so that today I could get a bit of sleep and do a couple of jobs.
Yay!!:sunshine:

[TJ]

Fabtastic - glad you found something that looks like its working.
Hope tomorrow is as good for you :)

[0BleSseD0]

My DS had this.. For the first week or so after birth he spant almost 24/7 on my chest.

I didnt mind. It is fairly normal.. A bit restrictive though!

I used a wheat pack.
Instead of the typical 2 minutes, I would put it in for about 45 seconds, and then cuddle with it between me and bub. He was happy to go by himself then. The warmth was enough.

If you find that bub needs a beating noise, a loud clock is a good choice. Believe it or not that is what my DD preferred!

I found that I didnt need to spend any money at all to find solutions that suited my bub.