My second son is 6 weeks old and 13 1/2 pounds. My first son loved the swing, but would sleep in the pack n play at night. With our second we have been so tired that we started having him sleep in the swing at night. He sleeps 5 or 6 hours in the swing at night. I'm worried about setting him up for a difficult transition later to the crib. I'm trying at least once a day to have him nap in the pack n play which he'll do for about an hour. Last night we used the pack n play, but he woke every three hours and today I'm just a wreck from the lack of sleep and am having major anxiety about his sleeping habits. I've read that around 6 - 8 weeks they should start trying to fall asleep on their own, putting them down drowsy, this worries me because right now he doesn't like to be on his back until he's totally asleep, but I'd like him to develop good sleep habits.
We have a bedtime routine of swaddle, nursing in quite room with sound machine then bed (swing). We can put him in the swing awake and of course he'll fall alseep with the aid of the swing. Should I just push through and keep having him sleep in the pack n play at night and hopfully he'll learn soon to sleep there better or should I keep him in the swing so that we get a better nights sleep? Thanks for any advice.
I'm with Andrea, Sharon and Sherry!
All good advice and mimic my own advice.
Hang in there and good luck.
I really like what they said! :)
K falling asleep on their own at 6-8 weeks is way too young. It's more like 6-8 months. With my second daughter she loved the swing and slept much better in there than in her bassinet so I just let her. Why mess with a good thing? She took naps in there and would go to bed at 7:30 if I put her in the swing. She would sleep in there until around 12 when she woke to eat and then after that I would put her in the bassinet for the rest of the night so she was right next to my bed but she would wake every 2 to 3 hours to eat when she wasn't in the swing. I had a pretty much the same night time routine as you and I did that and she slept in that swing until around 5 or 6 months old. Then I started putting her in her crib and she did great. No problems at all. I think because I waited until she was older she was better at sleeping and didn't need that comfort of the rocking like little infants do. So I wouldn't worry about it. Plus at this age babies go through so many changes, growth spurts etc that he might not want the swing on his own as he gets older and will want to stretch out more instead of being swaddled.
waking every 3 hours for feeding is not unusual for a 6 week old. It won't hurt your little one to sleep in the swing. mine did. but keep putting him into the pack and play to sleep each day also that way it won't be a complete shock to his system lol. i would only put him in the pack and play at night. otherwise it will be a hassle later. he will outgrow the swing pretty quickly and then you will have a problem.
I did the same thing with my 3rd baby, for many of the same reasons. My son also had reflux so it just made it easier all around. Let me just say that yes, it will be a transition when you decide that the crib is for sleeping and not the swing. But, if it works for you right now then let it work for you now as long as you accept that when it's time for the crib it isn't going to be easy. We went from the swing to the bouncy seat inside the crib, then to the crib mattress itself! Good luck!
I would let him sleep in the swing. If he's happy, you're happy. There will be plenty of time to transition him here in a couple months. :) My theory is that this way, he will learn to sleep 5-6 hours straight instead of learning to sleep in spurts... (probably has NO reality to it, but I'm sticking to it! lol) My DD slept in her bouncy chair until she was about 3 months old, then I started transitioning her to the crib. BUT I still let her sleep in her chair on rough nights. It she was about 6.5-7 months old when I got rid of the chair. She's 10 months now, and doesn't have an issue sleeping in her crib. The one thing I would say is just to make sure that you try to give him extra tummy time, and avoid letting him lay with his head flat when he is awake to avoid a flat head.
Do it now...otherwise, you'll be on her in a few months or more when he's too big for the swing and you have no choice. If you know it's better for your son to learn to go to sleep on his own and to sleep in a crib, why delay it? I think it is normal for him to wake in the night still...and he will learn to sleep longer periods on his own. He is so young now, he really doesn't know.
I tried to be text book about sleep, but in desperation i had mine sleep often times in the swing all night until she was 5 months old! We actually did not have a difficult transition to crib . I used the swing when I was really really desperate for sleep. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do and deal with the fall out later. But for us, there ended up being no negatives to those extra hours of sleep the swing afforded us. All positive.
Oh, the memories! Our first was in the swing until about 5mos.... he had reflux, and we were told and read a lot about how to help him sleep. He ended up in the swing most nights, with it on pretty high for about 3mos. He weaned off his meds and also transitioned to the bouncey seat to sleep (it was at a greater angle than we could get his bed), and then to his flat bed without much issue. I had to train him slowly to fall asleep on his own, around this same time (5-6mos). I started with bouncing him to sleep, then just holding him, then putting him in the bassinet while I sat there next to him with pacifier, then I slowly started leaving him alone after a few minutes. It only took a few weeks of transitions... not bad at all with no crying. I think it helped that I used a fan for covering up our outside noise, and also he had a ceiling fan to stare at.
Don't worry about it now... so young and all. Just enjoy him and he'll be able to transition later. Good luck!
I have a couple of considerations to suggest.
How long do you want to be dealing with this? I think the longer you put off getting your son to sleep in his crib, the longer you're going to be facing the lack of sleep for yourselves issue. It is probably better to just deal with it now and get it over with. You already are likely having to get up in the night yet for feedings, anyway.
Are you going to be putting your child in daycare? If so, California state regulations state no swings there. If your child is accustomed to the swing and they don't have one, that is going to present a big problem for him.
My husband and I always try to look at the end goal. We knew we wanted our twins to sleep in their cribs on their own, so we always had them in their cribs from day one. When they woke up before we were ready, we'd put them in the swings for another hour or so, but this wasn't until they were about five months old and I was back working by then. We've always talked about short term sacrifice for long term gain. You may have some sleepless nights now, but if you know that you want your baby to sleep in the crib (or pack n play), do it now and you will sleep peacefully sooner and longer. At six weeks old your baby should still be waking up every three hours.
The best place for baby to sleep is wherever baby will sleep. There is no sense in worrying about how you're going to transition a baby in a few months, because babies go through so many changes in that amount of time. Let your baby take the lead and tell you what he needs. Right now he is telling you, "Mom, the swing is where I want to sleep." I say, let him. When he's ready to sleep somewhere else, he'll let you know. Don't sweat it!
