My 4mth old baby is unhappy with her co-sleeper??? She will wake up every couple of hours throughout the night or less. She seems to sleep better on our bed. Nursing is easier while she is on our bed, but I would like to have her sleeping on her own bed. Any ideas on a mattress or should I go ahead and upgrade her to another type of bedding?
I experienced a similar situation w/ my baby. If we tried to transfer or put her in her own crib, she would immediately wake up, even though she was swaddled, wearing a sleep blanket, etc. because of the cold cotton sheets.
I could not find flannel sheets for cribs and ended up ordering some online made out of fleece materials and it has definitely made a difference!
http://www.fleecebaby.com/press.asp
Is it possible that she is waking up so often to nurse because she's about to have a growth spurt? I've seen babies sleeping on almost anything, in the middle of lots of noise, so I doubt the mattress is the problem.
If the co-sleeper is a portable, you may want to look into getting a crib that offers the option for one side to come off for the purpose of co-sleeping and purchase a good mattress. They do make really nice Serta and other name brand crib mattresses now. Many people will tell you it is not worth the money, but if you buy a convertible crib, it should also become a toddler bed. This means you could get up to 5 years out of the mattress...besides, her sleep and your sleep is SO worth it. Believe me, I have a 4 yo who still comes into our bed in the middle of the night and it started with co-sleeping in our bed to breastfeed and an uncomfortable crib mattress. Now that she has a twin, she stays in her own bed a little more, but we have developed a horrible habit with her!
Another trick, if your little one is waking up when you place her back in the co-sleeper, it could be bacuse the bed is cold. When you take her out to nurse, stick a large heating pad in the co-sleeper under the blanket. Before you lay her back down, pull the heating pad out and turn it off. Returning them to a warm toasty bed soemtimes makes all the difference!
Good luck from a fellow tired mom of 3!
My daughter hated her crib. I ended up getting her a captains bed (platform) which was low to the ground, and slept with her until she fell asleep. Worked for me.
My mother in law gave me a mini mattress cover that she had cut out of a regular one and sewed the sides up, my son wouldn't sleep on a hard surface, so this made it much more like mom's bed....you could also try sleeping in t-shirt for a few nights, even a week and than putting that on her bed as the sheet, or on a stuffed animal, etc. so she is still close to your smell.
I think it's the proximity to Mommy and not the mattress that's at issue. 4 months is too early to sleep train or have the expectations of sleep training. It's also too early to move her to her own room since SIDS risk doesn't decrease until 6 months of age and sleeping in the same room is one of the key preventative steps regarding SIDS. If you really don't want her in your bed, I'd try putting something with your scent in her co-sleeper with her. And maybe one of those bears that mimics the sound of the womb (heartbeat)? (This last suggestion is just a shot in the dark.)
I would just try to find one that is comfortable. The cheap ones are not. If you start her in your bed you will be writing in a couple of years to ask how to get her out. Make her room dark and only turn on a nightlight when you feed her in the night then put her back down. She may cry but just hang in there she will get used to it. She must be in her bed for naps too.
Hi Cel,
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N. Marie
My baby never liked the cosleeper. He was very active (turned over at less than 24 hrs) and every time he moved, the mattress made a crinkly plastic sound and woke him. We had much better luck with putting the crib in our room. He seemed to sleep much better in the crib than in our bed after 4 mos. We warmed the crib and blankets with a heating pad before putting him in. I was prepared to cosleep much longer, but his preference seemed clear.
My sister in law used our cosleeper with no problem. She padded it with a towel then put a tshirt over the whole mattress to keep it tight (both towel and tshirt were used and smelled like her) then put the cosleeper sheet on.
On her own bed or in a crib? I didn't quite understand that from your question. Assuming you mean a crib, you just want an extremely firm mattress because that is the safest in terms of not being a suffocation hazard. Make sure that the crib sheet fits snugly and securely.
The mattress has absolutely nothing to do with her sleep preferences - of COURSE she would rather sleep with you than not! Its the closeness to mom, not the "comfort" of the mattress that is effecting her sleeping patterns - a baby could sleep on a rock if they were tired enough and not notice it or complain. a 4 month old child is not yet capable of distinguishing between the comfort of a mattress vs a co-sleeper.
If you want her out of your bed, you have to sleep train her into her own crib. It will be hard, but if you want her in her own bed, you have to be willing to accept the increasing exhaustion and just do it while she's young. If you're not willing to get even less sleep, then keep her in your bed.
