Hi, my baby is about 3 weeks old. She sleeps great at night, waking twice to eat and then falls right back to sleep. During the day she has not been napping very well. She seems to only fall asleep in my arms or in her swing. I am nervous she will never want to sleep in the crib. Any tips on transitioning her from my arms to her crib? On another note, she is bottle fed and tends to choke sometimes when she is feeding. I pat her on the back and she stops but obviously I get so scared. I don't think she is over eating since it seems to happen at different times during the feeding (sometimes at the beginning). Could I be reclining her too much? Or could she be sucking too hard, too fast? I have been trying to make her take frequent burp breaks but she just wants to eat and gets frustrated. Does anyone have any tips on ways to avoid her choking?
My baby would only sleep in the crib when we put his bouncy chair IN THE CRIB. This went on until he was around 4 months old but it worked at the time!
You might want to get her checked for acid reflux. Quite a few of my friends kids were choking while eating and they were all diagnosed with acid reflux.
Hi R.,
Congrats on the new little one!! Being a Mom is awesome, yet as you are probably finding - the toughest job you'll ever love - so much for the Army! Make sure the bottle nipples you are using are for newborns, and slow flow ones.. if you are already using them, it could be she just needs to get used to it - be patient, keep taking burp breaks!!
As for transistioning from arms to crib - well, I have 3 kids, and nothing ever worked - my son went from crib (for about 3 weeks) to my bed, and then at about 4 went to the couch - it wasn't until he started Kindergarten that we really enforced the your own bed rule - and I got him all new bedding that he wanted, but told him if he didn't sleep in his bed, he couldn't keep the new bedding - my 4 year old - she still sleeps on the couch! And my two year old - she is the only one who sleeps in her bed, in her room, by herself, all night - all of them slept in their swing - and it gets to the points where you have to decide, swing and you sleep too, or her bed and you both are up all night - it is all a matter of preference, and people will tell you, no - right from the start - put them in their crib - I'm sure for some it works - but as you are a first time Mom, you love holding her, and that is just awesome, but they do get used to it - there is nothing wrong w/ a swing at this point - it's good for both of you to get sleep!!
Feel free to email me if you have any other questions, ____@____.com and give that little sweetie an extra hug from all us Moms, there is no greater joy than a new baby to love! Congratulations again!
When your holding her, wrap her up snug as a bug with a soft baby blanket.Then transfer her into the crib, feeling like your still there.And on the choking,her nipple might be the wrong size try new born nipples or a different brand.Good luck and congratulations.
R.
Definitely try wrapping her snuggly to put her in bed. As for the choking, I am with the other mom. Make sure that you are using newborn nipples and sit her up do not lay her down to eat that could be causing a problem.
Good luck.
S.
SAHM of 3 boys
Hi R.,
I had the same concerns for my daughter when she was younger. I was afraid she would never sleep properly in a crib because she would only sleep in her swing at times during the day. What I found is that at the young age of 3 weeks it really doesn't matter how they sleep as long as they sleep. When my daughter was 4 months old (the minimum really for trying this) it was very easy to transition her to her crib full time. I used the Sleep Solution by Dr. Ferber and it worked great. She is almost 9 months now and she naps twice a day and sleeps 12 hours through the night no problem. She falls asleep on her own as well. I wouldn't worry too much about it right now since she is so young. Good luck and I hope this helped.
Barbra
