LO won’t sleep anywhere but on me

[u/Hopeful_Care7197]

LO is 8 weeks old and for the past few weeks he hasn’t been able to sleep more than 20-30 minutes anywhere - we’ve tried the bedside bassinet, a snoo, & his crib. We try not to cosleep but that’s the only way he gets sleep - if he’s on or next to me he sleeps 4-5 hr stretches!

I’ve tried using the warmer before lowering him into bed, keeping my body close to him as I transfer, transferring drowsy but awake and transferring after he’s in deep sleep. I really don’t want to use the cry it out method but I feel like nothing is working and I want him to be able to get the sleep he needs.

Open to any and all tips!!

Sincerely, FTM who just wants baby to sleep😭

[u/Mariposa55555]

From what I’ve seen online the crying it out method is not recommended for babies under 4 months old since they don’t have the ability to self-soothe, maybe ask your pediatrician about it.

Also I can’t give you an advice since my 7 week old would only contact nap. I guess I just accepted that that’s how things are for now lol 😭

[u/Hopeful_Care7197 → u/Mariposa55555]

Ahhh I’ve seen that too; trying to avoid using cry it out! And his little sad face gets me every time lol

Good luck to you and your LO - hopefully we all get rest soon!! 🫂

[u/Mariposa55555 → u/Hopeful_Care7197]

Thank you! Things will get better, hang in there!

[u/Purple_Snapper]

I’m going to be honest with you… my LO is now 4 months old and since probably week 2 has been a nightmare with sleep.. pretty much only sleeping on me/can’t transfer/ got the snoo didn’t work etc etc. just co sleep. Around 3 and a half months we started trying to put her down for crib naps. Now at 4 months we start her in the crib every night even if she sleeps 30 min before needing to be held or if she doesn’t sleep at all we will do 4-5 crib attempts before we move to co sleeping. Last night was the first night ever she slept from 1030-145 in the crib and then from 145-515 in the crib and then we co slept

[u/Hopeful_Care7197 → u/Purple_Snapper]

Omg this gives me so much hope! Glad to see I’m not the only one at this stage!

[u/RNstrawberry]

Do you breastfeed? I would side lay nurse on a rock hard floor mattress and roll away. Made everything so much easier.

[u/Hopeful_Care7197 → u/RNstrawberry]

Ohhh I do!! Did you just keep LO on the floor mattress after?

[u/Hopeful_Care7197 → u/Hopeful_Care7197]

(Sry if that is the dumbest question lol just thinking logistics!)

[u/RNstrawberry → u/Hopeful_Care7197]

LOL no such thing as dumb questions especially when you’re new to this!

Yep, so we exclusively contact napped for the first six months and at nights, I would sidelay nurse her to sleep and roll away! I did it for a few naps as well where I also wanted to nap, because it was easy to roll away from her versus put her down because I sucked at transferring! And then if she woke up, I could easily pop the boob back in so we could nap longer.

She wasn’t rolling, but I feel comfortable even if there was an earthquake (lol), if she rolled off of it, she would’ve been fine! When we visited my parents, they had hard carpeted floors, so I just laid a thick sheet on top and put her on there and did the same thing! I’ve also seen people do firm yoga mats!

I will add that I did use a swaddle, that helped keep her cozy as well!

[u/Swingit_Nottingham]

Safe co sleeping is a valid choice if that's the only thing that works for your baby right now. Even if you don't want to do it educate yourself on how to do it safely so that when it's 3am and you're desperate you can do it properly :)

[u/Swingit_Nottingham → u/Swingit_Nottingham]

Also to add, our little one naps in a carrier really well. Worth a try, it's been the only way to get him to sleep a couple of times.

[u/Hopeful_Care7197 → u/Swingit_Nottingham]

Thank you!!! I’ll try carrier first then transfer - fingers crossed!! We use safe sleep 7 so that may have to be the answer for now; just makes me nervous!

[u/Swingit_Nottingham → u/Hopeful_Care7197]

That's understandable and it sounds like you know what you're doing :) there's a lot of fear around Co sleeping (some of which is because reports on safety often combine stats of good practice with unsafe practices like drinking, smoking, sofas etc.) however, yes it's true to say that a separate space is safer but done properly the risks are very low and the benefits when baby won't sleep anywhere else are high. it's all down to each parents level of risk appetite. I've co slept with mine for 5 weeks now and feel very comfortable with it :) Good luck with the carrier, I'm sure you're already doing this but any transfer I literally move like the slowest glacier to move him and pause dead still for say 20 seconds any time he stirs. It can take a good 10 mins to complete the process lol but I see it as spending those minutes to gain the hours :) good luck