Tips for laying down a baby?

[Bernadine]

I bugged ML with my breastfeeding woes yesterday, so you guys get this, lol.

Dd is only 4 days old, so I'm just not sure what to expect. She cries anytime we try to lay her down. We're still working on our swaddling technique, so that could be part of it. Anything else we can try?

[VillainV]

Try laying her down on a slight incline.

[Elsa]

We are using a rock n play and that is working well for us. It has a slight incline.
Lying her down also goes better when H does it. I'm sure she just likes being on me since I smell like milk, but he has a better shot at getting her to sleep and lying her down than I do.

[bananapancakes]

I tried all the tricks and nothing but time helped. He needed to be held constantly (awake and asleep) for 7 weeks. It helped to have him in a carrier so at least I had my hands free. If you don't have one, I suggest getting one. The k'tan and the Infantino mei tai were invaluable to me during the early days.

[bananapancakes]

Oh, and some things that work for others but not us: use a heating pad to warm the surface before trying to put her down (remove the heating pad first), wear something in your shirt so it smells like you and leave it close to her when you put her down, try putting her down on something that vibrates.

[bananapancakes]

And if all else fails, console yourself with the fact that the need to be constantly held is normal, serves an evolutionary purpose, and is really just a blip of time in the grand scheme of things. My midwife tried to make me feel better by telling me that if babies were put down thousands of years ago they would be eaten by a sabre tooth tiger so really my baby (and yours) are just really smart and protecting themselves.

[humpforfree]

My second wouldn't be put down from 2 weeks-2 months. Even at 2 months she would only be put down for 30 minutes at a time. We did a lot of baby wearing- ring sling & moby.

[Deleted]

We also had to my DS down in some kind of device that kept his head above his tummy to deal with the reflux. It went away by 4 weeks or so.

[boiler717]

My son loved the Boppy lounged. He didn't like laying in the swing or RnP though. And lots of baby wearing.

[Bernadine]

So, how did you sleep if you couldn't put them down?

[CheeringCharm]

Not sure what she's sleeping in but when ds1 was a newborn, he could tell that his bassinet mattress was cold (after having been rocked to sleep in warm arms) so we used to take it out and put it behind our backs while we rocked him to warm it up a little, lol. Not sure if it was just a coincidence or not but it worked!

Getting a RNP worked wonders with our third. And with all of them, I used to keep my hand on their body for about 20-30 seconds after setting them down so their startle relax wouldn't set in too bad and wake them up. 

[Muddled]

I don't even remember. She was nursing every hour, so she was never down for long. Hang in there. Attempt to maintain sanity.

[soozy87]

We did swaddled, white noise, vibrating, swinging. It worked okay, sometimes. Put her in a carrier during the day. With our first we slept on the couch with him on our chest, switching off every couple of hours.

I think that those first few weeks you just have to get through it however you can. What ever gets you and your H and the baby the most sleep is the way to go. Babies are strange and sometimes the weirdest combination of things will allow them and you to get more solitary sleep.

[polarbearfans]

I write this as a big 11.5 month girl is sleeping in my arms.... We couldn't put her down on her own until she was around 6 weeks old, but she had reflux which may have contributed to that. So my husband and I alternated holding her and sleep. I went out and bought a rock n play when his paternity leave ended. It wasn't perfect but gave me some sleep.

Google 4th trimester. It's very natural for baby to need to be close right now. Enjoy the snuggles and Netflix

[pooh8402]

I basically didn't. I parked my ass on the couch with my baby, my boppy, my water bottle, and the remote. E slept on me during the day, supported by the boppy, for the first few weeks. He slept on an incline at night.

[dancingirl21]

My 6 day old DS is sleeping in this thing so well. I'm not sure what it's called - my SIL gave it to us. We tried the flat bassinet the first 2 nights and he kept waking up so we put this inside the bassinet and last night we had to wake him twice to eat. We have been tightly swaddling him at night too so his arms can't fly.

[dottyblue]

Both of my kids needed to be swaddled and DEAD asleep before we could put them down. It lasted until they were 3 months old or so. It's normal and healthy for them to need to be with you.

I lived in my rocking chair with my Kindle and iPad and tried to enjoy the snuggles when I could stay awake myself. During the day, if I needed to be up and about, I popped them in the K'tan. We were all happier for it.

[baconbritches]

New here, my baby is currently 3 months old. We had to swaddle good and tight, rock & pat his back, and cross our fingers! We spent most days with him napping on our chest. He did go down in the bassinet at night fairly well, but I had too much anxiety at that stage to co-sleep, so we didn't have many other options. He was so-so on the rock & play, some days it would work, others it would not. And anything that vibrated really helped - our swing and our bassinet both vibrated. Our bouncy seat was also a hit for naps, but that's not the safest sleeping option.  

This portable baby vibrator thing was a great help, too link 

ETA: Baby carriers were helpful, too. Something soft and snuggly, like the moby or boba wrap, was great in the early days. I went to a baby wearing meeting to learn how to wear it. I believe the k'tan is more user friendly that way, no wrapping involved, just have to size it right. I also have a pikkalo carrier (by catbird baby) that works well with newbies too. He still loves his carrier naps. 

[motzie]

Swaddled well and we used the swing for farrrrr too long for naps. It worked so we ran with it, and got lucky that she transitioned well when it was time to move to the crib.

DD1 was a far better sleeper in her crib from early on, but we swaddled, did white noise, and when I put her down I kept my hands on her, and then slowly lessened the pressure and snuck away.

[mskitkat]

DD was a baby that couldn't be put down. I pretty much didn't sleep except for when I passed out in the rocking chair. I would sort of lock DD in with the boppy and hope she didn't move. It wasn't the safest thing ever, but it worked.

[gibbinator]

Time helps mostly and of course all babies are different. I really couldn't lay ds1 down for his first 2 weeks of life and then suddenly bam, he was fine with it. Ds2 on the other hand was like "put me down I hate being carried!" so strange.

With ds1 I had to sleep in the recliner with him for those 2 weeks because otherwise he just woke up every 10mins. Not exactly a recommended solution.

[Raggedeannie]

DD is 9 days old and so far swaddling, white noise machine, and putting her down at an incline have all helped (both the RnP and our cosleeper are at inclines). She gets mad when we put her somewhere completely flat. She also gets mad if we try to swaddle her arms down if she is not completely asleep, so striking that balance has been a bit touch and go.

[bananapancakes]

Jun 24, 2016 6:59:16 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

So, how did you sleep if you couldn't put them down?

We slept in shifts. I would go to bed right after dinner while H held him (and brought him to me to nurse when necessary) and then around 1:00 I would get up while he got a stretch of sleep. When I couldn't stay awake any longer, I'd wake him up so I could get another stretch of sleep in. So basically I slept 7-1 (with wake ups for nursing), H would sleep 1-8, and then I'd sleep again 8-10. Not ideal but it didn't last forever.

[Yankees21]

Do you have the SwaddleMes? We loved those because especially MOTN we didn't have to worry about having to do the swaddle ourselves. DS also slept in the Rock n' Play, and actually the first shift of the night (while we were still awake) he slept in the swing and it helped him. He had acid reflux though, but it might be worth a shot.

[midwest07]

Is it at all times of the day? Our DD didn't want to be put down in the evening, from around 5-9pm, but that started when she was more like 3-4 weeks old and lasted for a few weeks after that.

Otherwise, I would put her down and really slowly take away one hand and then the other, so she was really asleep before both hands (and the warmth and pressure) were away.

We could lay her flat to sleep at night, but during the day, it only worked to put her in the RNP or swing.

[cheeseandcrackers]

go to youtube and look up superswaddle.. it worked great for us. she slept in her swing A LOT and also the boopy lounge

[ringstrue]

DD was super hard to lay down. I had to make sure she was all the way asleep and I think tilted her a bit to the side. White noise from fan. I really wished I had a rocking crib to give her a bit of motion.  They both slept in the swing a lot.

[jeaniebueller]

Jun 24, 2016 6:59:16 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

So, how did you sleep if you couldn't put them down?

We took turns.

[Bernadine]

I really appreciate the feedback! We picked up a rock and play.

[picksthemusic]

We swaddled tightly (tighter than you think could be comfortable), and used our swing (the bunny one). Both kids loved the swing. I also wore them a lot and they loved it as teenies.

The first few weeks are the hardest - hang in there!

ETA: Watch/read Happiest Baby on the Block if you haven't yet.