@testallthings If our son falls asleep on one of us after feeding or snuggling and we try to transfer him to his crib he won’t stay asleep either. Here’s what we do: We use a hatch sound machine and fan in his room. I’ll put a weighted swaddle (ours is from dreamlandbabyco) on him and rock him in my arms with a paci and facing a plain wall so he doesn’t get stimulated and shush him until he falls asleep. I don’t stop even when he’s really fighting me and fussy, eventually they have to give in lol. Once I know he’s asleep I’ll set him in his crib butt first and kind of sway his top half as I slowly lower him all the way and then keep my hand on his chest for about a minute or so. Depending on the day it’ll take anywhere from 5-15 minutes and he’ll stay asleep for 20 min-2hours. Our little dude is 11 weeks now and I started doing this around 7 weeks. It helps to do it after play time to tire them out a bit. It doesn’t work for every single nap, but I at least try for our sanity! Good luck!!
@testallthings Put him in the crib, let him fuss for five minutes and then check. He should learn how to to go to sleep by himself. Sometimes they just need to get that last burst of energy out
@testallthings My 6 week old started doing the same thing few dates ago- just wanted to be held all the time. Then I realised the weather has changed and he was actually cold (oops). He was using our body heat to warm up. I put him in some long sleeve footed onesies and he is back to crib sleeping!
@testallthings We were experiencing this exact issue between 4-6 weeks which everyone had told us is the absolute worst. I was losing my mind and cried a lot from exhaustion because he was also fussy from being overtired but impossible to put down. Things that helped: swaddle (had to compromise with one arm out otherwise he freaked out), pacifier, holding close to body for warmth, rocking. Once he fell asleep deeply we'd gradually lay him down. Transition from clutching close to body, to one hand behind neck/upper back and the other supporting butt/sacrum, keep rocking for a couple minutes, then slowly lay in bassinet, hands tight around arms/body, then loosened grip, then one hand in chest, then off. Some people have also said that warming the bassinet mattress beforehand or putting one of your shirts in it for the smell help, but those didn't really make a difference for our baby.
It gets better. It feels like forever but it's really temporary and eventually your baby will not be as needy. The "fourth trimester" adage didn't mean much to me until it started to put this neediness into context of a short-term biologic need.
@testallthings This stage is so rough. My son was the same up until like a week or two ago (he’s 15 weeks now). All I will say is it does get better (my son still likes to be held but will sleep in his bassinet for a few hours at night). If you’re up for it, look into safe sleep 7 and think about co sleeping until he’s a bit older. Keep trying to put him down, it will get better!
Oh also! Maybe see if he has reflux? My son grunted a lot when he was put down (and would spit up a bit) and turned out he had silent reflux. We got him meds and he was much more comfortable being put down (but still only slept on me for a while!)
@testallthings You need to practice settling the baby in the bassinet in the daytime. At this age it really doesn’t take long, but it takes dedication, patience and perseverance. My baby would NOT nap anywhere but on me. I actually became insanely anxious and frustrated because I could not anything. I started with a bouncer. After a week, she started falling asleep in the bouncer for 30-40 minutes, better than nothing. Then I persisted with putting her down awake but drowsy in the bassinet in the first half of the day (when her naps are the best). First few days was so bad, 10 minutes max. Now it started getting longer 30-40 minute naps AND she can resettle herself back to sleep when she wakes. I’m hoping eventually it will stretch to an hour or two. Every single daytime nap, I attempted the bassinet. It was hard, but I can already see it’s paying off.
