Newborn and sleep

Well, our guy is now 1 month old. Here is a question. Getting him to
go to sleep. Sometimes he'll go to sleep when putting him in his crib
at night, but othertimes he doesn't so usually what we've found that
works very well is a sitting him on the dryer (in his car seat) and
he'll slowly go to sleep. The sound and vibration seem to soothe him.


Is this okay, or are we setting ourselves up for problems down the
road?

In general, anything that gets you by in the first few months is okay, and
you can work on setting up better sleep routines later.

At one month old, you can't be expecting him to fall asleep on his own, or
to know exactly when to sleep or for how long, etc. He's a newborn.
Personally speaking, I would try to swaddle him up and lay him in his
crib/bassinet and let him coo or whatever until he fell asleep. But
whatever gets the job done at this point is just fine. At a certain point,
you're going to have to do something different, and you certainly could be
setting him up to only fall asleep with rumbling and tumbling and vibrating,
which may be hard to reproduce later...
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys -- 01/03/03
Addison Grace -- 09/30/04


wrote in message
oups.com...
Well, our guy is now 1 month old. Here is a question. Getting him to
go to sleep. Sometimes he'll go to sleep when putting him in his crib
at night, but othertimes he doesn't so usually what we've found that
works very well is a sitting him on the dryer (in his car seat) and
he'll slowly go to sleep. The sound and vibration seem to soothe him.


Is this okay, or are we setting ourselves up for problems down the
road?

I agree with Jamie, as long as you don't just keep doing the same thing
because it's what you've always done and at least give a brief try to
what you ultimately want before trying other tricks, I don't think at
this age you are making a rod for your own back. I know plenty of people
who've not intended to co sleep, ended up doing so for the first 6
weeks, but not having any long term issues.

Swaddling can be good, but I would be cautious just now depending on
where you are, if you have air conditioning it would be fine, but here
in WA we're having a heat wave and not many people have air con -
swaddling a baby in these conditions would be dangerous.

Cheers
Anne

On Jul 10, 3:23 pm, "Jamie Clark" wrote:
In general, anything that gets you by in the first few months is okay, and
you can work on setting up better sleep routines later.

At one month old, you can't be expecting him to fall asleep on his own, or
to know exactly when to sleep or for how long, etc. He's a newborn.
Personally speaking, I would try to swaddle him up and lay him in his
crib/bassinet and let him coo or whatever until he fell asleep. But
whatever gets the job done at this point is just fine. At a certain point,
you're going to have to do something different, and you certainly could be
setting him up to only fall asleep with rumbling and tumbling and vibrating,
which may be hard to reproduce later...
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys -- 01/03/03
Addison Grace -- 09/30/04

wrote in message

oups.com...



Well, our guy is now 1 month old. Here is a question. Getting him to
go to sleep. Sometimes he'll go to sleep when putting him in his crib
at night, but othertimes he doesn't so usually what we've found that
works very well is a sitting him on the dryer (in his car seat) and
he'll slowly go to sleep. The sound and vibration seem to soothe him.

Is this okay, or are we setting ourselves up for problems down the
road?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi Jamie,
We try to put him down in his crib, but sometimes he just cries. He
also likes to be held, and will cry when he's not held. Obviously we
can't do that 24/7, so the washing machine works for that. Also for
when we try and eat dinner or late at night. A car ride seems to work
the best.

On Jul 10, 5:46 pm, Anne Rogers wrote:
I agree with Jamie, as long as you don't just keep doing the same thing
because it's what you've always done and at least give a brief try to
what you ultimately want before trying other tricks, I don't think at
this age you are making a rod for your own back. I know plenty of people
who've not intended to co sleep, ended up doing so for the first 6
weeks, but not having any long term issues.

Swaddling can be good, but I would be cautious just now depending on
where you are, if you have air conditioning it would be fine, but here
in WA we're having a heat wave and not many people have air con -
swaddling a baby in these conditions would be dangerous.

Cheers
Anne
Hi
I've got swaddling down to a science now. I can swaddle him pretty
tight and quick, however he still tends to fuss.

Thanks Anne.

On Jul 10, 5:46 pm, Anne Rogers wrote:
I agree with Jamie, as long as you don't just keep doing the same thing
because it's what you've always done and at least give a brief try to
what you ultimately want before trying other tricks, I don't think at
this age you are making a rod for your own back. I know plenty of people
who've not intended to co sleep, ended up doing so for the first 6
weeks, but not having any long term issues.

Swaddling can be good, but I would be cautious just now depending on
where you are, if you have air conditioning it would be fine, but here
in WA we're having a heat wave and not many people have air con -
swaddling a baby in these conditions would be dangerous.

Cheers
Anne

Oh and the other thing is sometimes nothing helps. We feel helpless,
but honestly sometimes we think just letting him cry for 10 mins in
his crib seems to help. Maybe it helps him de-energize or something.

wrote in message
ups.com...
On Jul 10, 5:46 pm, Anne Rogers wrote:
I agree with Jamie, as long as you don't just keep doing the same thing
because it's what you've always done and at least give a brief try to
what you ultimately want before trying other tricks, I don't think at
this age you are making a rod for your own back. I know plenty of people
who've not intended to co sleep, ended up doing so for the first 6
weeks, but not having any long term issues.

Swaddling can be good, but I would be cautious just now depending on
where you are, if you have air conditioning it would be fine, but here
in WA we're having a heat wave and not many people have air con -
swaddling a baby in these conditions would be dangerous.

Cheers
Anne
Hi
I've got swaddling down to a science now. I can swaddle him pretty
tight and quick, however he still tends to fuss.


For how long, does he fuss? Remember, he's brand new. Babies fuss. : )
Just because they cry, doesn't always mean that you have to jump up and do
something. Sometimes they are fed, changed and tired, and just need to wank
a little before they can fall asleep. It's letting off steam.

No, you can't hold them 24/7. My first wanted me to do that as well. It
took me about a week when she was about 3 months old to train her to be okay
going to sleep in her bed/bassinet, instead of in my arms all of the time.
It was a battle, but one that I was determined to win. And I did.
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys -- 01/03/03
Addison Grace -- 09/30/04

Oh and the other thing is sometimes nothing helps. We feel helpless,
but honestly sometimes we think just letting him cry for 10 mins in
his crib seems to help. Maybe it helps him de-energize or something.

only 10 minutes? some babies at this age will cry for hours and be
unconsolable, 10 minutes really sounds very acceptable, your aim in life
isn't for your child to never cry, or be soothed instantly, but to
meet his needs, sometimes part of doing that includes some time crying.


Cheers


Anne

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oups.com...
On Jul 10, 5:46 pm, Anne Rogers wrote:
I agree with Jamie, as long as you don't just keep doing the same thing
because it's what you've always done and at least give a brief try to
what you ultimately want before trying other tricks, I don't think at
this age you are making a rod for your own back. I know plenty of people
who've not intended to co sleep, ended up doing so for the first 6
weeks, but not having any long term issues.

Swaddling can be good, but I would be cautious just now depending on
where you are, if you have air conditioning it would be fine, but here
in WA we're having a heat wave and not many people have air con -
swaddling a baby in these conditions would be dangerous.

Cheers
Anne

Oh and the other thing is sometimes nothing helps. We feel helpless,
but honestly sometimes we think just letting him cry for 10 mins in
his crib seems to help. Maybe it helps him de-energize or something.

I agree with Anne that 10 minutes is not long, although it can feel hours
for you! He may be colicy at a month. Sometimes putting them down to cry for
a few minutes can help. If they're windy and it doesn't seem to be coming
out, then a few minutes crying seemed (for 2 of mine*) help it to come out.
They'd burp as soon as I picked them up. It also tires them so then can then
go off to sleep quicker.
#3 is a month old (just) and he has on several occasions had to be left to
cry (in moses basket) or taken out hungry and crying while I do
something/fetch older sisters. Doesn't often happen but if I have to fetch
#1 from school just as he decides he's hungry then he has to wait about 10
minutes. (I have tried feeding him in the sling, but he's too nosy and
doesn't like lying down in the sling because he can't see!)
Debbie

*Leaving to cry didn't work for #2. She'd just get more and more hysterical
and take for ever to calm down afterwards.

wrote:
We try to put him down in his crib, but sometimes he just cries. He
also likes to be held, and will cry when he's not held. Obviously we
can't do that 24/7, so the washing machine works for that. Also for
when we try and eat dinner or late at night. A car ride seems to work
the best.

You have a smart baby! Back on the savanna,
the baby who did not want to be held 24/7
got eaten by the hyenas.

I am biased towards holding baby, so I coslept
for both naps and nighttime, getting up after
baby was asleep. Or I would nurse baby until
he was knocked out, then put him down.

-- Anita --