Is the Rock and Play Worth Getting?

I would tell anyone I know that getting your child to sleep in their bed is a big deal and harder to do the older they get. The sooner the better because they get to know their surroundings and are better at waking up and not seeing you.

So I'd say you need to put him in his bed now. At least for naps and such so that he is used to waking up without being in your bed.

He's only 7 weeks old, so it doesn't surprise me one bit that he has trouble sleeping unless he's in your bed or in your arms. As he gets a little older, that will get better naturally. One thing that I did in the mean time was lie down on my bed with my son and nurse him to sleep. Once he was asleep, I would slowly and carefully roll away (or just nap myself :-).

As they got older, they would nap for longer stretches, but it wasn't until they were around a year old that either of them napped for more than 2 hours.

We coslepts with both boys until they were 17 months old, with no issues transitioning them. I'm sure there are some parents who struggle with this transition, but I have seen just as many posts of parents struggling to get their babies to sleep in their own bed at night. I skipped that struggle altogether by having them with me in my bed.

Don't let co-sleeping stop you from being intimate. First, keep in mind that the bedroom is not the only place you can do this. Also, once your son is asleep, you can move him somewhere else for just a little bit. Stack some blankets on the floor (just soft enough, but not too soft), or put him in his car seat or bouncy seat (which are also good places for him to nap or sleep). Just be a little creative. You'll find ways!

If you don't want to cosleep, that's one thing. But if you are only thinking of changing that because it's what you are "supposed" to do, don't. Do what works for you and for baby. This is my rule for that first year: The best place for baby to sleep is wherever baby will sleep. Because when baby sleeps, you get to sleep.

I have to agree with some of the answers around letting your child fall asleep on you. I did this-- and really, I didn't mind, but it did get much harder as he got older. We coslept with our son, (we had a king sized bed, I'm a light sleeper) because it was so much easier for me to roll over and nurse,and we'd both nod off afterward. Again, though, there was a trade off-- I got the sleep, but had a harder time getting him to sleep in other situations. He was three when we moved him to his own little bed in our room and 4 when we moved him to his own room. (It was on a different floor from ours, and the stairs are steep, which is why we waited. We also had gates on the stairs.)

So,... that said, I never used anything beyond a bouncy seat (not mechanical, manual) which never worked for my son. He would, however, nod off in the stroller as he got older.

We also had a full-sized bed in our son's room, so that was an alternate bedroom for us adults. Also a good place to nurse him to sleep and go do something else nearby.

I loved cosleeping, but make sure you and your husband are doing it safely. Laying over a child can cause suffocation and death. Here are some safety guidelines. You can also look into a cosleeper for now, while your child is still little-- it attaches to the bed.

http://cosleeping.nd.edu/safe-co-sleeping-guidelines/

http://www.target.com/p/arm-s-reach-mini-2-in-1-ezee-co-s...

My cousins have a 3 year old, and they used a Mamaroo which is a combination infant seat, vibrating unit and swing. It has different settings. They didn't use it at night, but more during the day.

I would absolutely not get an infant used to falling asleep in your arms. If you look at other Mamapedia questions on the subject, you will see dozens of exhausted moms who can't ever get a break with an older infant and even a toddler!

You want a baby who can go to sleep on his own, and when put to bed by other people (husband, grandma, sitter, etc.). So if you're nursing, you nurse until full and drowsy, but you have your husband put the baby down at least half the time, and while still slightly awake. Kids do better if they wake up where they went to sleep - so sleeping in your arms and then waking up in a crib or wherever else can be confusing and stressful for them. When you want them to sleep through the night, that's a huge thing!

He's still little so many he doesn't take long naps for a variety of reasons. You can consider swaddling, white noise, or a rocker thing. But work on it - I think you'll regret having him fall asleep in your arms as a regular thing.

I am assuming this is some kind of rocker/swing you're referencing - not familiar.

I co-slept with my last because I was older and I just found it much easier.

For naps, my babies often fell asleep in a bouncy seat that vibrated. They went for power naps. It almost fully reclined so it was just a comfy place for them to nod off when tired. So if it's that kind of thing (mine was from Fisher Price), I found it to be a huge help.

I myself wouldn't get in the habit of holding him to get him to stay asleep, because then it will become his routine. May be ok now, but not so much in a few months.