New mom looking for baby sleep location advice (long, sorry)

[tarahsolazy]

Hey all, just looking for some suggestions here. My DS is two weeks old, and in general, all is well. He feeds, then is up a while, then sleeps, then wakes and I feed him. His feeds are generally 2-3 hrs apart. My husband and I have been essentially holding him (or Bjorn or pouch) all day. Yesterday, he was in the swing for half a hour, and in the bouncy for half a hour twice. I'm working on increasing that slightly, so that when you're alone with him you can take a shower, etc. He sleeps for shorter times in these devices than when held. At night, we've been co-sleeping, but I don't really like it as much as I thought I would. He rolls in toward me, and I worry he's too close. I also sleep in a cramped position on my side, and he is so active that I'm just not sleeping. The few times I tried putting him in the pack and play at our bedside, he wakes sooner, like 45min instead of 90min. I tried heating the bassinet with a heating pad (removed prior to inserting baby), which didn't help. So anyway... Anyone use the crib early? For naps or night? I'm not for CIO, and certainly not at this age, but did your baby fuss when you put him/her down? If so, did you stand by and comfort, etc. Our crib is in our room, but far enough away that every breath wouldn't be audible. I love holding him in the day, but it would be nice to have some flexibility, especially since my DH will be a SAHD in 6 weeks when I go back to work. I don't want to set ourselves up for anything we'll really regret. I don't want to ignore my son, or leave him alone all the time, just occasionally for short periods. My other question is for the co-sleepers. Does it get easier to sleep? Do you worry less as time goes by? I like the snuggling aspect, I just can't sleep! Anyway, any experience/advice appreciated.

[BethS]

Jack has slept in the crib in his room from the day we brought him home. In the beginning he napped in the Pack n Play downstairs because I had a C-section and tried to limit my trips up and down the stairs but now he takes almost all of his naps in his crib too.

We do let him CIO for a short amount of time as he seems to fuss alittle before he goes to sleep whether he's in the crib, pack n play, carseat or our arms. But for the most part we'll sing to him, put him down, rub his tummy and he's usually out quickly.

I do know what you mean about not being able to sleep with him in bed as Jack slept with us when he had a nasty cold and I can't remember sleeping so poorly. I was so paranoid that one of us would roll onto him or the blankets would cover his face.

Not sure that I've helped but that's what we do.

Congratulations and I'm glad things are going well.

[amp]

Tarah - When DS was a newborn, and really until he was about 3 mths old or so, he slept best in our arms or on our chests. When we put him down in his crib or his PNP for naps or at night, he would often wake up, or he would sleep for only short periods of time. Honestly, that's just how his napping/sleeping schedule was. He slept a lot of times, but for such short periods of time. I felt like I got no breaks! It did get better later, but he didn't nap for longer more reliablely scheduled naps until he was about 6 mths old.

And, FWIW, we never coslept (aside from occasional naps or when he woke early in the am and couldn't sleep again on his own). He slept in a bassinet (not well) for a few days, but by the end of the week he was in his own crib. He woke up every 1.5 - 2 hrs or so each night, but he slept better (and so did we) in his own bed, in his own room.