https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 27 Apr 2026 01:03:13 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1088628 Sun, 15 Sep 2013 19:34:00 +0000 augustmama 1088628@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@scotchbonnet<br /> i'm sorry to hear you have to hold her all night long; i can imagine how exhausting it must be.</p> <p>i decided to not get the RnP yet. this last week has actually been better, and i didn't do anything too drastically different, so i'm wondering if she's starting to adjust on her own. we started with more of a bed routine since week 3, with putting her down for nighttime sleep at roughly the same time each night. it starts with my husband reading a book to her then my nursing her, then singing a lullaby. she's usually asleep by this point in my arms. i rock her for a few more minutes and then put her down in her crib (in our room). i got the idea from one of the threads here to roll a towel into a horseshoe shape in her crib and put her inside the horseshoe so that she feels cradled on her sides. this seems to have made a positive difference for us the last week or so. if it's a good night, she usually sleeps from 9:30pm to 1am, then 1:30a to 4:00a, then if we're lucky, also 5-7am. sometimes we co-bed for the last stretch if she's especially fussy.</p> <p>for daytime naps, a lot of rocking and singing usually gets her to sleep, then it's hit or miss with her staying asleep once i set her down, so most naps still end up in my arms. we actually have the best luck with having her sleep on the couch with the boppy around her head/upper body (same cradling feeling i think!). if all else fails, she falls asleep right away once in the baby carrier! </p> <p>good luck and let me know if you have tried anything that works better! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1084688 Fri, 13 Sep 2013 08:35:40 +0000 SugarplumsMom 1084688@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel for you! DD was the same way. I also heard great things about the RnP, but I live abroad and I couldn't find it here. I just went with it. It was tough, but we made it through and so will you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1084670 Fri, 13 Sep 2013 08:29:28 +0000 scotchbonnet 1084670@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mamamoose, I posted on here as well about this issue because my 3 week old still will not sleep or nap without being held. It means i have to hold her all night long and she still wakes up every 1-2 hours for a feed.<br /> Did you try any of the suggestions offered? Has anything worked? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1072385 Sun, 08 Sep 2013 06:55:44 +0000 Foodnerd81 1072385@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mine is on an incline. I see the other one you mean and I'm not sure that would snuggle the baby as well. My friend just got a similar one at Target so I know they have them there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1072382 Sun, 08 Sep 2013 06:39:08 +0000 augustmama 1072382@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sorry I meant the newer one seems to be not inclined. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1072379 Sun, 08 Sep 2013 06:35:33 +0000 augustmama 1072379@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For those (@mamamoose @lucy123 @foodnerd81 @coacheswife123) who suggested the rock n play, I noticed there were two versions. The newer one is inclined- which do you have/recommend? </p> <p>@glitter haha! that's.a creative solution! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1072151 Sat, 07 Sep 2013 20:33:14 +0000 pl0508 1072151@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yep! He grew out of it !! The rock n play helped because it kind of cradled him ! Hang in there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1072034 Sat, 07 Sep 2013 18:55:41 +0000 Glitter 1072034@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No advice of my own but a mom I work with sometimes told me that it helped putting her LO in a car seat on top of the washing machine and running through a wash cycle. Something about the movement calmed her baby and would send her to sleep. </p> <p>Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1072018 Sat, 07 Sep 2013 18:41:53 +0000 mrsbookworm 1072018@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO was like that until about 12 weeks. Now he'll sleep at night in his crib, but I still have to hold him to get him to nap. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1072008 Sat, 07 Sep 2013 18:34:13 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 1072008@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@augustmama: my LO is three weeks old, and she also will only fall asleep while being held, nursed, or rocked. But they're still so little- I think that's normal. However, we've found that co-bedding is our solution for now; she sleeps with me, and as long as she's out when I put her down, she stays asleep for up to 4 hours. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071980 Sat, 07 Sep 2013 17:59:16 +0000 Foodnerd81 1071980@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@augustmama: full disclosure my lo still only falls asleep being bounced or usually nursing, its just that we can put her into the RnP to sleep. It is nice if she starts waking up I can just rock her and it keeps her asleep. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071930 Sat, 07 Sep 2013 17:01:31 +0000 augustmama 1071930@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks everyone. She seems to fall asleep well with movement so we will give the RnP a try! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071179 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 21:34:09 +0000 Foodnerd81 1071179@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We also do the swaddle and rock and play and I think it's nice and secure. We actually do two swaddled to really wrap her up. </p> <p>But I think all the grunting and squeaking is normal. At least my baby does it all the time and she's a pretty good sleeper these days. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071172 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 21:24:41 +0000 DillonLion 1071172@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Make sure the alternative to sleeping on you is something that cradles them closely. The bassinet was too open for her to feel secure, but she did really well in her Snuggabunny bouncy seat because it was very soft and snug. We would swaddle her, then put her in the seat bundled up and she was happy </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071168 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 21:22:01 +0000 lovehoneybee 1071168@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No advice, just empathy. My LO (also an August baby!) would only sleep in my arms. We ended up co-bedding (which was something I said that I would never do) because it was the only way he'd sleep (and by extension, me). He's a light sleeper to boot, so I could even rock/nurse him to sleep and then move him somewhere else. And he hated the swing and bouncer. And being swaddled. I spent 6 months holding him through pretty much every nap. </p> <p>Around 6 months we sleep-trained him to sleep in his own crib. He took to it amazingly well (we did CIO, and only once or twice did he cry for longer than 15 minutes), and now loves his crib...and has a ton of trouble sleeping anywhere else, lol. Ironically now I wish he'd still nap on me or sleep with us on occasion (just not all the time, lol). </p> <p>Anyway, we gave him a push with the sleep-training, but I'm sure he wouldn't have gone much longer before he grew out of it--he's too easily distracted now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071135 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 20:55:27 +0000 MamaBehr 1071135@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Both of mine started like that, and eventually it stopped. I know that DS would only nap while being held (and I'm guilty of indulging him, because they are only little once and I not so secretly loved it!) until he was 9 months old. He could have been put down to nap, he was STTN at this point, and would put himself to sleep at bedtime, but I liked it. </p> <p>Your LO will grow out of it :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071120 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 20:39:59 +0000 lucy123 1071120@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My baby is 6 weeks old and we had a similar experience around 4 weeks as well. This past week has gotten so much better and she will now sleep 4-5 hour stretches in the Rock n Play, I nurse her to sleep in our bedroom and then rock her in the glider until she is in a deep sleep and then transfer her. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071119 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 20:38:37 +0000 runsyellowlites 1071119@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>P slept like this until she was around 5 months. Then I did a slight nap "training", I guess you could say, where I weaned her off of me... first napping with her (about a month), then laying down with her till she was asleep &amp; ninja style sneaking out (about &amp; mth &amp; a half), to laying her on her own around 7.5 months (she even weaned herself from her binki at this time). I still nurse her to sleep most nights at 16.5 mths. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071116 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 20:37:10 +0000 MamaMoose 1071116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sadly this is pretty typical for a newborn since they are used to being in the womb and are still adjusting to being out in the world. My LO always slept best swaddled and in her Rock N Play. I think she felt snuggled and secure in there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-lo-will-only-fall-asleep-while-held#post-1071107 Fri, 06 Sep 2013 20:30:44 +0000 augustmama 1071107@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO is 4 weeks old, and we've been having trouble putting her to sleep (nightime and for naps). The issue is that she, most of the time, only falls asleep while being held. She can sleep soundly for a few hours while in the carrier or while we hold her in our arms, but when we put her down in her bassinet or bouncer, she will wake up and start to cry within minutes. On the few occasions when she has managed to stay asleep when we put her down, it seems to be very restless sleep, with lots of grunting and squirming. We swaddle her for nighttime sleep but it doesn't seem to make a difference.</p> <p>Any other mamas out there with this same experience? Did your LO grow out of it, or did you have to try something to get her used to sleeping on her own? We have had many restless days and nights, so would love any and all advice! </p>