Transition to crib from sleeping on mom

[owensmommy]

Hi there,

My LO is 11 weeks old today.  Our daily routine is up at 7am, followed by a feeding (breastfed exclusively - every 2-2.5 hours for 10 minutes) and then activity time.  A time usually lasts 45 mins, then we have wind-down time in his room, diaper change and shh-pat to sleep.  His naps are 45 minutes in length and I'm working on extending them but no progress yet.  It's difficult as he is suddenly very inquisitive and he doesn't like to be swaddled. This routine is new to us this week - we just stopped accidental parenting.

Last night I started a bedtime routine, as I am also trying to get my LO to stop sleeping on me at night.  At 3 weeks he began to struggle, we thought it was colic and the only thing that got him to sleep ever, was if he napped and slept on me.  So, that's what we did, until last week.

So last night we had a bath, then quite time in his room for about 30 more minutes before bed.  We listened to music, changed his diaper, rocked in his chair and then swaddled.  He fell asleep at 9pm and woke after 45 mins - I used shh-pat to get him back to sleep.  He woke in another 45 minutes, this time he was fed and put back to sleep.  He is fairly calm when he wakes to feed, that is once I pick him up, and rarely opens his eyes.

After that feed he slept for 2 hours straight and woke at 2am - frantic and struggling to get out of his swaddle.  He often stirs then raises and drops his legs onto the mattress, until he I fully awake.  Once he starts there is little that will stop him unless I pick him up and shh-pat him back to sleep.  I've tried rolling him on his side but he freaks out  Anyways I used shh-pat and he went back to bed.  He continued to wake every 45 minutes for the next 3 hours.  Each time I stay with him the 20 minutes until he's fully asleep, he jolts a lot and wriggles - I apply pressure to him torso so he feels more secure.  At 4am I gave up exhausted and let him sleep on me.  When he slept on me he passed a lot of gas.

I'm not sure what to do to try to extend his sleeping at night.  When he sleeps on me he usually wakes twice to feed at night.  I don't let him cry but I pick him up once he switches from a soft fuss to a louder grunt/snort on the way to cry.  He uses a soother to fall asleep but it falls out once he's dreaming away.  He also really likes to suck on his hands right now.

I guess I am just looking for some advice as to how to proceed tonight.  I am exhausted from last night but I want to do what is best for my son.

[Colin Macs Mom]

Don't worry, you're doing the right thing! Having a bedtime routine and teaching independent sleep will be soooo worth the work it takes to get there. EASY isn't very easy sometimes, but it really does pay off, I promise. Just keep at it, and don't give in. He will get it and adjust, but it might make for a tough couple/few days. You might also check out the props board as well - there's some great info and success stories in there for former AP folks.

[Karin3]

I totally understand where you're coming from.  I switched Miette from sleeping on me at 10 wks.  It took about 2-3 wks for her to really get it.  We did ALOT of sh-pat.  We had to modify it just a little bit though.  She doesn't like the shhh very much... Yours sounds like he's already doing better than she did.  Stick with it though.  It will be so nice to have your bed back.  Try to take shifts with another person so you can get a break.  DH really had to step-up and help during those few wks because I couldn't do it alone. 

Eventhough he doesn't like the swaddle, I would keep it for now.  Mimi never really liked it but she couldn't sleep without it.  Eventhough she was really going for her hands, I couldn't let them out of the swaddle at the time or else she'd keep whacking herself in the face.  For the raising and the dropping of the legs, I take another blanket and tuck it under the mattress really tight.  (I think there's a diagram on the 'Props' FAQ)  I put it only over her legs.  Eventhough I just weaned from the swaddle, I still hold her legs down that way.  For gas, we usually used Gripe Water and that seemed to help alot.  I recently started using a little bit of Malox for non-severe reflux type issues (just a 1/8 tsp 2-3 times a day).

I hope that helped some.  I am by no means an expert though.  I'm sure some of the mods have all sorts of little tricks up their sleeves.