What's happening is that he is starting to settle into sleep, the light sleep phase, and once you put him down during this phase, the weight of his body wakes him up. When he's in your arms, he feels weightless.
The key is to catch him before he enters the sleep phase, and to lie him down before it. So, when he's looking drowsy, sucking away on his soother, but his eyes are open (you know that heavy, staring off into space look), that's when you gently lie him down. Keep your hands on him, and shield his eyes from visual stimulation. You will need to stay with him for the first 20 mins.. as newborns and young infants learning how to fall asleep, will wake up at the 10 min. mark and jolt at the 20 min. mark.
Take a look at Tracy's sleep interview at the top of the Nap board menu. She discusses it.
If pat shush is working for you, then continue to pat shush in the crib.. to be successful (and comfortable) with this, lower the crib rail down and stand up (or kneel) on a stool or chair. (I removed the crib rail and lowered the mattress as far as possible, so that I could kneel on the ground and be comfortable-- Brendan wasn't going any where.. he was tightly swaddled, side sleeping and had a sleep positioner on his belly and back! He wasn't moving!) Swaddling is very important as it helps minimize the body jolts, which tend to wake up a newborn from falling into a deep sleep. Keep working on it, if he wakes up at the 10 min. and 20 min. mark.. that's typical for a newborn learning how to fall asleep. He'll get used to these jolts/partial awakenings and learn how to continue to fall asleep past it.
It does take time.. so be patient.
Hope this helps!
