24 answers

Will Not Sleep in Crib!!!

Hello my dear mommies! My beautiful baby boy who is 2 months old has decided he will NOT sleep in his crib or bassinet. He will sleep in his vibrating bouncy chair, his swing, someone holding him, in his stroller, sling, or carseat, but not crib or bassinet! He slept fine in the bassinet when we first brought him home and for the first month or so. The I got bronchitis and he got a little cold, and now he refuses. We do everything giving a bath and lotion, a big bottle a clean diaper, we try putting him down while he is drowsy and not yet asleep to see if he will fall asleep..nope. We try rocking him or holding him until he is so dead asleep that you can pick up his arm and let it fall to his side without him stirring and still 10minutes after we lay him down he is wide awake. We have also tried using a wedge so he is not laying flat and that doesn't work either! When I say he will not sleep I mean we have tried our hardest, he usually goes to sleep for the night around 9 or 10 and we have stayed up till 3 am trying to make him sleep in the bassinet or crib, he refuses, by then we are so tired we give up and put him in the swing and he goes straight to sleep! I just feel like it is bad if I let him constantly sleep in the swing or vibrating bouncy, when I put him in it though he sleeps so well, from 9pm-12am, 12am-5am, 5am-8am. I just don't know if anyone else has experienced this and how or if they solved it, or if they just let them sleep in the swing and such until they grew out of it?

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Thank you wonderful ladies for all your support, you all made me feel so much better about the fact that he would only sleep in his bouncy and swing, lol I no longer felt like an awful mom. He ended up have reflux, so we now have baby Zantac and I continued to let him sleep where ever he wanted then last night n January 17th he decided he wanted to sleep in his bassinet again so yay!!! Thank you ladies for helping me stop stressing about it and let him decide to d it when he wanted too!!!

Featured Answers

I had the same problem with my first child, We tried everything!! She suffered from severe reflux so whenever she laid flat she was in pain. She slept in her swing until she was 6 mths old. Then one night we put her in her crib and she slept!!! I couldn't believe she transitioned in one night! I know it's frustrating because you think they will NEVER sleep in their bed but they will!!

Neither of my children slept in their crib until 6 months old. This is totally normal for me. We got a really nice swing for them and just let it go all night long. After a while they just start to prefer the crib. It's not permanent and it won't spoil them. Whatever it takes to help them get the rest they need (without drugs). If the swing along doesn't work we just crank up the white noise maker and sometimes that runs all night too. Don't forget to swaddle and use a pacifier. When the kids out grew their receiving blankets I got some 2 yards of microfiber fleese to wrap them up in.

My second baby would not sleep in a crib, or bassinet either once she was about 4 weeks old. I just let her sleep in the bouncy seat or swing and eventually she outgrew it. She is now 5 months old an has been sleeping in her crib for almost 2 months. I know several other Moms who went through the same thing and as the babies got a little older they tranistioned to a crib. I would not worry about it for now and just do whatever you can to get as much sleep as possible, good luck!

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Brittany I had the same problem with my 1st baby.She is now 6. As the mother of a 4 month old I vowed to do whatever it takes to not have the same issues with my second as my first. You are on the right track with the wedge. Here is what works for my 4 month old and has worked since the day we got home.
-YOU MUST PUT THE BABY TO BED IN THE SAME LOCATION EVERY NIGHT!!! PREFERABLY THEIR CRIB BECAUSE THEIR HABITS START NOW AND THATS WHERE HE WILL BE UNTIL ABOUT 3 YEARS OLD.
-ROLL TWO BLANKETS INTO TUBES AND COVER THEM WITH AN OPEN BLANKET OVER YOUR WEDGE. MAKE IT COZY LIKE HE IS SNUGGLED IN. lIKE YOUR AMS ARE STILL HOLD HIM WHEN HE IS IN THE CRIB.
-MOST IMPORTANTLY WRAP YOUR BABY IN A WARM COZY BLANKET. I LAY MY DAUGHTER IN THE MIDDLE AND FOLD THREE CORNERS IN. THEN HOLD YOUR BABY UNTIL HE IS ASLEEP. THE WARMTH FROM YOUR BODY WILL SAY WITH HIM AS YOU LAY HIM DOWN BECAUSE OF THE BLANKET YOU WRAPPED HIM IN. THEN LAY HIM IN THE COZY NEST SO THAT YOU HAVE CREARED IN HIS CRIB.

Good luck, T.
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My son, who is now 10, slept in his swing throughout the third month of his life. We just made sure he was bundled up so his little extremities wouldn't take a chill from the "breeze" generated by the motion of the swing. After a few weeks he was too heavy for the swing's mechanism, so that was the end of that. If he ever fell asleep in the carseat, we would bring it in the house and let him sleep there until he awoke. I don't think there's anything wrong with letting a baby sleep wherever he wants, so long as it is safe and temperature-appropriate. Enjoy your little one, and don't feel guilty about doing something that works for both of you.
Peace,
J.

My baby was like that too. She will not sleep for more than ten minutes in her crib, but will sleep for hours in her car seat and swing. When I found out what works for her, I went with it!Do not be scared just make sure you check on him once in a while and also cover him up well with a blanket. Mine will sleep from 9pm to 8am without waking up except to nurse and she will go back to sleep immediately after nursing.

Yes; we've been there done that. Our daughter had acid reflux and when we discovered that as the reason for her screaming all night long, she started sleeping in her bouncy seat. It helped some, but it was a hard switch and not fun! I don't have real advice, but know that you're not alone! You may try to do some slow transitions, such as, moving the basinet into the same room as his crib (if not already) and other little things that may get him closer to his final destination. Both of our kids have had the same music CD since they came home from the hospital. This way, whereever they are, they have the comfort of music as they go to sleep (our 1 year old, who was the bouncy sleeper, still has hers going all night long on repeat.) That's another trick to try.
Wish you the best, and better sleep!! It will all come together eventually, don't give up on the crib!

Neither of my children slept in their crib until 6 months old. This is totally normal for me. We got a really nice swing for them and just let it go all night long. After a while they just start to prefer the crib. It's not permanent and it won't spoil them. Whatever it takes to help them get the rest they need (without drugs). If the swing along doesn't work we just crank up the white noise maker and sometimes that runs all night too. Don't forget to swaddle and use a pacifier. When the kids out grew their receiving blankets I got some 2 yards of microfiber fleese to wrap them up in.

Ok, so you have probably read all these requests but I just have to say that my son slept in his bouncy seat until he was almost 3 months old. I say wherever he feels comfortable, let him do it!! At least, for now so you all can get some rest!! My daughter had a hard time staying asleep and would sleep through the night only on me!! I just would wean them gradually. I got my son to sleep in his crib by putting him in there for naps and not rushing in right away if he started to cry. I pretty much did that with my daughter too and eventually they got the picture!! I let them both cry it out to a certain extent too. I always felt bad but when it is bed time, it is bed time!! As long as they were fed and changed then that was it! Good luck and it will get better eventually.

if the swing or bouncy is the only place he will sleep i would talk to your doctor about him having a bit of reflux my daughter did this and we found out she didnt like being flat b/c it made her heart burn worse.... now she will sleep in her bed by the way so if thats the only place he will sleep let him do it and dont worry about it yet!!

What you described is exactly what out situation was with our son... turned out that he was allergic to cow's milk and soy (I was breastfeeding and had to eliminate these from my own diet so he didn't get it through nursing, BUT formulas are based on the same 2 things - cow's milk and soy! - so a change of formula to a hypoallergenic one might help).

Some links for you to check out (and if it references breastfeeding and you are formula feeding, don't worry about it - the allergens are the same regardless of whether breastfeeding or formula feeding):
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041800.asp
http://www.aaaai.org/patients/publicedmat/tips/prevention...

Best of luck!

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