Well if I told you I put Brianna down in her bassinet for the first time and she smiled with joy, I'd be lying. The fact is that we really struggled with this when we brought her home from the hospital. She would sleep in her swing, newborn napper, bouncer, but not her bassinet. We had a "Arms Reach Co-Sleeper" so it was like a mini crib. I was determined to figure out why she slept so soundly in everything else but the Co-Sleeper. It didn't take long to figure out, however it took some investigative work. Don't you wish babies could talk?
I realized all of these swings and nappers had something in common. They were all positioned in such a manner, that recreated a snug and womb-like environment, something all babies love. So I picked apart all the differences between the nappers and her Co-Sleeper bassinet, and created that same snug feeling.
First huge difference, they were all elevated. Of course! My baby never slept flat in my belly. It makes total sense that she freaks out when I lay her flat. My Pediatrician recommended I fold or roll a towel under the mattress of the Co- Sleeper. And Ta Da!! She didn't cry when I put her down!!! Just a small incline will do, and if your baby is already in her crib, you can buy a Crib Wedge. With the incline, she actually gave the co-sleeper a chance. She stayed in it for a few minutes at first, then eventually longer and longer.
I also gave my baby some "practice time" in the the Co-Sleeper. When she was happy and alert, like after a good feeding. I just let her explore in there. This gave her a chance to get use to the Co-Sleeper, and feel safe in something other than my arms. I did this a few times a day, for several days, until one day she just got tired, and even fell asleep in it all by herself. But we weren't done yet. I knew I had to keep working on this.
The second big difference I noticed in her nappers, is that they were all snug. They had padding or newborn positioners, to make the baby feel just as she did in my belly. Ok got it, HALO SleepSack. I remembered I registered for one and haven't used it. I took it right out and wrapped her all up. Now we're getting somewhere I thought. I put her down, she's wasn't crying and she actually fell asleep!
Now for the hardest part, she wasn't staying asleep. I watched her night after night. She rolling her head around side to side.What the heck was she doing? One night she stretched her neck out like a turtle and dug her face into the top of the co-sleeper and fell asleep. The top of the Co-Sleeper was soft. So she actually used that part of the bed to soothe herself back to sleep. Ok great, now I have to worry about her suffocating because the only way she will fall back asleep is by digging her face into something soft. This was a tough one! Thanks to the SIDS campaign we all know, no toys, blankets, or anything for that matter, in the crib. What the heck was I suppose to do??? I watched how she napped during the day and noticed the same thing. She liked to fall asleep by putting her face into something soft. Then it dawned on me, let me change the sheets. The ones I had were plain, kind of stiff, cotton sheets. She liked things that were soft or plush. So this is what I found Carters Velour Sheets. They are as thin as cotton, no unsafe plush, no padding whatsoever. Its just a very, very, thin velour. And guess what? It worked! Brianna felt that nice soft texture up against her face, she moved her head side to side a few times and was able to soothe herself to sleep. I'm not surprised, that's probably what she was doing for 9 months in my belly. Believe it or not things are pretty comfy in there. She wasn't sleeping through the night just yet though. There were many other factors, like adjusting nap times, and feeding schedules. But at this point she was capable of putting herself to sleep independently, as well as soothe herself back to sleep. That's huge!
So I basically re-created a womb like environment to comfort my baby, and help her sleep. Kind of makes sense right? It was something so simple but not so obvious without doing some work. She no longer cries or whines when I lay her down. Once we figured out how to get her to like her Co-Sleeper, we started working on how to get her to sleep through the night, which you can read more about here.
