New mom needs advice -- baby hates the bassinet!

[Anonymous]

Our ped told us it was totally fine to let our baby sleep in the car seat starting at our 10-day appointment (if he would) for a few hours here and there per day. He wouldn't sleep anywhere but on people, and the car seat is safer than that, IME. We rotated between being held, car seat, and sleep positioner to get through weeks 3-8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DON'T PUT YOUR BABY TO SLEEP IN THE CAR SEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! car seats are for THE CAR!!!

It's too tight to keep them there for long stretches of time so their lungs can't expand as much as if they were only swaddled.

OP try raising the head of the mattress a little, try using sleep positioners so she will have the impression she's being held.

This doesn't make any sense to me. Their lungs can't expand? My kid happens to hate his car seat, but if yours will sleep there, I'm sure it's fine. I know tons of people that have had their kids sleep in car seats and they are all now happy, healthy, fully breathing toddlers. Do what you have to do the first 8 weeks and don't feel bad about it.

How do you know what their lung capacity would be if they were not strapped in the car seat? Not only that but when they're that young their head can flop forward or sideways constricting their airways. 9% of such accidents happened in the car while 91% happened when the infant was asleep in the car seat at home.

And I would rather stick to research instead of listen to an anonymous person in a online forum who has observed half dozen of babies with no research purposes.

Everybody is so scared of SIDS but they stick to the "I know it all" and forget to look into new things.

Is your anonymous study any better than the PP's anecdoatal evidence or what people's pediatricians' are telling them? If it was me, I'd listen to my doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here
I major in early childhood development and the way to deal with a baby who don't sleep or has trouble sleeping is by swaddling,swaying, and then sucking. So you want to swaddle her and rock her and then if she takes a pacifier or anything use that. Also, babies sleep better on their side because in the womb they are constantly in a ball pretty much! They say with these methods any baby can sleep perfectly.

I agree with this. Also OP, you might want to read Happiest Baby on the Block which talks about a lot of these things - the 5 S's -swaddling, shushing, sucking, swaddling and swaying. It was suggested as a must read by our pediatrician.

Also, invest in a miracle blanket!

[Anonymous]

oops, 14:50 here. I think instead of swaying it was supposed to be side. It has been a while since I read it

[Anonymous]

diminished lung capacity in a car seat?! FIVE different pediatricians told me it was fine (saw different docs as we rotated around the practice during baby's first month). I'll take the doctors' advice over yours, thanks. That's where our baby wanted to sleep, they never sleep more than 2 to 4 hours at a stretch at that age anyway. After his first six weeks of carseat sleeping (or sleeping on my chest), he is completely healthy and fine months later. Lose the hysteria, PP.

OP - see what works for your baby, get the OK from your doctor, and go from there. Enjoy the time with your newborn!

[Anonymous]

Here is an article on carseat sleeping. I would talk to your ped and then decide together.

http://www.parentdish.com/2009/09/05/infants-shouldnt-sleep-in-car-seats-study-says/

[Anonymous]

Mine never liked the bassinet -- did like the car seat in the early weeks...and then at 4 weeks I put him in his crib and he did much better there. Go figure.

[Anonymous]

All babies are different. My baby loved the battery-opp swing. That was her #1 daytime sleep locale. Nighttime was for cribs. She did not sleep well in a co-sleep arrangement (and neither did I).

Them's just the breaks!

[Anonymous]

My daughter wouldn't sleep anywhere but on me (or dad) or in her carseat or bouncy chair for the first 6 weeks. at 6 weeks we were finally able to put her in the bassinet, but she had to sleep on a wedge for several months. at 3 mos we moved her to a crib and kept the wedge for a couple more months. your baby is still so young - she's probably still adjusting to being out of the womb, and lying flat on her back is still foreign to her.

[Anonymous]

Hang in there OP! Our DD was the same way... we spent many nights on the couch holding her all night long. She hated the bassinet. Actually she just hated being put down. Around 4 weeks we started to get her into the bassinet for a few hours at a time at night. We used the SwaddleMe blankets and a sleep positioner. I think the positioner makes them feel like they are tight and cozy. When she cried we would pick her up, rock her back to sleep and put her back down. It was tiring but after a few days she got the hang of it.
She is now 10 weeks old and sleeps swaddled in her crib with no positioner for 4-7 hour stretches at night. There were nights in the beginning I thought I couldn't stand another sleepless night and feared I would never get her in the bassinet or crib. So hang in there! Sleep will come for you both!!

[Anonymous]

My niece was the same way, hated the bassinet. She did like the bassinet feature of her pack-n-play though, and that is where she ended up sleeping for awhile. Do you have a crib or pack-n-play she could try out?

[Anonymous]

My DD liked the crib better than the bassinet at that age. Maybe the mattress was more comfortable?

About the car seats -- my ped told me to have DD sleep in the car seat at night when she was really congested and sick. It kept her head elevated. However, there is a danger associated with loose straps and strangulation, so you've got to make sure that's not a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DON'T PUT YOUR BABY TO SLEEP IN THE CAR SEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! car seats are for THE CAR!!!

It's too tight to keep them there for long stretches of time so their lungs can't expand as much as if they were only swaddled.

OP try raising the head of the mattress a little, try using sleep positioners so she will have the impression she's being held.

I second the PP who stated that this makes no sense. How is a car seat too tight?! Puhleez! My first slept in a car seat and had no problems. I put the handle down so it didn't rock and it was pure heaven for both of us! But they do have a newer sleep positioner call the Nap Nanny, that is shaped like a car seat, but a bit expensive.

If it's at night, and you're comfortable with the idea, I say lay the baby on your chest. All of my babies slept like little angels there. I barely had to move to nurse at night.

Good luck! Trust your gut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DON'T PUT YOUR BABY TO SLEEP IN THE CAR SEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! car seats are for THE CAR!!!

It's too tight to keep them there for long stretches of time so their lungs can't expand as much as if they were only swaddled.

OP try raising the head of the mattress a little, try using sleep positioners so she will have the impression she's being held.

Okay....If a babies lungs couldn't expand in their carseat I would think that carseats would be illegal? Or at the very least there would be time limits set for how long a baby could be in a carseat because of the lack of oxygen....sorry I'm laughing as I'm typing this. Okay, my DD had some gas issues so we would swaddle her and put her in a very reclined car seat. It worked great and she slept very well. I know many people who have done this. We would sit the carseat in the cosleeper that was right up next to my bed and we didn't fasten her into the seat.

[Anonymous]

Nanny here again!

I believe I have the perfect solution... THE NAP NANNY! If you need to, google it. I've heard major success stories from a few different moms and they have said it was a life saver. One family I know used it and their 4month old baby would sleep pretty much all night. At 4months old some babies do sleep all night but he was just going through a stage where he would wake up every 2 1/2 hours and she would have to rock him back to sleep. He slept like 5hrs at a time with the nap nanny.