changing sleeping location

[cjansen]

We have a 6week old who from the day we brought her home, would not sleep in her bassinet at night which is in our bedroom. We,perhaps mistakenly, didn't push the issue and instead let her sleep where she wanted which is in a reclining vibrating chair beside our bed.She naps in another vibrating chair in the living room during the day(we never have either chair on vibrate mode). Never has she gone to sleep, day or night, without being rocked to sleep, then laid down gently in the chair.
How do we go from this situation to having her sleep in her bassinet at night and nap in her crib during the day or should we bypass the bassinet altogether and use her crib day and night?  Should it be a gradual change, maybe getting her used to her room first but still napping there in her chair and then moving to the crib or should we change everything all at once? I'm at a loss.
She also seems to be a bit colicky, but i'm starting to wonder if she's just overtired and cranky alot of the time during the day because she's not napping well in a chair in the living room. We also need to tackle the issue of her being able to fall asleep on her own but do we do that at the same time as changing her sleeping locations or should we deal with one issue at a time.
Please help!!!!!!!!!

Corinne

[Mom to M&M]

Believe me, it can be done! We too made the mistake for the first 6 weeks or so of rocking and holding DD to sleep and laying her down in her bassinet or infant seat that way. We just started out slowly - we would rock or hold her until very drowsy and then lay her down only barely awake. At this point she still also had a pacifier, but we got rid of that at 12 weeks when she found her thumb and never looked back. Every few days we would put her down slightly more awake and help soothe her to sleep until now we can put her down fully awake (well at night she's so tired that she's already half out of it).

At this point, you might want to ditch the bassinet and go straight to the crib so you don't get DD accustomed to a basinet and then have to make another change.

Do you swaddle? Use white noise? Use a sleep positioner? These can all be very helpful.

[cjansen]

Thanks for your suggestions, we'll give it a go! When crying, she has been calmed by the sound of a hairdryer, so white noise might be of help. Any suggestions of what to use?

[Mom to M&M]

We have a sound machine from Brookstones (but First Years makes one too) that has differents sounds - our DD likes the waterfall sound (which sounds like static) - it drowns out the outside noises and helps her focus on something and fall asleep.

Good luck - let us know how it goes and if you have other questions!

[cjansen]

Thanks, i'll see if i can find one somewhere. I think it would really help!

[annas mum]

For other white noise ideas - we used a cd called babysooth - you can actually download the mp3 version from their website -         http://www.babysooth.com - i ve used it for both my little ones and it worked  like a dream! We just put a portable cd player under the cot - was great for settling them whilst traveling too!!

HTH

Clare

mum to anna 28 months and nathan 30 weeks

[BabyBsMommy]

We were nervous to move our son to his crib in the nursury after sleeping in his basinet in our room for 12 weeks.  We just did it cold turkey one day and it didn't make a difference to him at all - all that worrying on our part for nothing ! lol!

[Mom2katiebug]

Could it be reflux that makes your LO want to sleep on an incline?  There could be medical reason that she likes the incline.

I also recommend white noise (I downloaded rain sounds from iTunes and burned a 60 min CD that we play on repeat), swaddle, pat/shh, paci and raising the end of the crib to mimick the incline of the chair she's used to.  There are also ways to make the crib feel smaller/more cozy by putting rolled up towels under the sheets. 

Does your DD ever spend time in the crib/bassinet?  You might want to get her comfortable with the space before you pop her in there.  Set her in there with some toys while you fold laundry or put clothes away - or just play with her in there - to help her get used to it.