Only sleeps in Bouncer!

Kylie - posted on 12/08/2009

We have this same problem, both the acid reflux and the sleeping outside of her crib. Our little girl is 8 months and she still only falls asleep in her swing. But we have found that if you leave her in the swing for about and hour before moving her she doesn't wake up as much when we move her. We haven't been able to figure anything else out, but best of luck to you and your family.

Maurya - posted on 11/20/2009

My kid slept in his mobile swing for the first 15 months, then weaned himself. The situation will be okay.

Cathryn - posted on 11/20/2009

you could try putting a pillow under the mattress of the cot or bed to slightly raise it so shes not led flat failing that she may have enlarged adonoids and finds it difficult to breath when led flat maybe worth getting that checked with her doctor, if its not adonoids try the pillow and slowly over time move it up slightly so its eventually removed and shes lying flat. hope this helps.

Steph - posted on 11/20/2009

Our son does the same thing except he sleeps in his car seat. I am trying to get him to sleep in his crib!!! It's taking a big effort...I don't know what to do...he is 12 weeks old and just starting to sleep through most of the night. SO i figure that maybe i'll get lucky and he'll start to sleep in his crib one night. I put him in during the day when he's napping too and I try quite a few times, unsuccessful. He needs his sleep and so do I so I leave him where he is comfortable!!! It's hard. But practice makes perfect...don't know if I was any help but...

Elise - posted on 11/20/2009

I hope the incline mattress is working. My son has reflux and I propped up the mattress in his bed as soon as I realized he had reflux. When I went to see his doctor she said that is exactly what you should do until the baby outgrows the reflux. Poor guy was not sleeping well flat on his back. He would spit up or get chocked up and scare me to death. Don't let her sleep in the boppy. There is risk of suffocation it she scoots down in the night. The main thing is to keep them comfortable. I can't imagine feeling like I was going to choke every time I laid down. What a scary way to sleep. I hope things improve rapidly.

Carly - posted on 11/20/2009

I had that problem wth my son who would only sleep in his pram for hte first 4 months of his life (he's not 19 months)....patience and gradually getting your bub use to sleeping in the cot is the way to go ....swaddle bubs up @ night maybe even put the boucy chair in the bedroom where the cot is to start and have them slep in the bouncer,but in the room then gradually go to the cot with buus swaddled well..also rocking bubs to sleep in your arms works (well it did for my son who after the pram would only go to sleep doing this...then we're bubs is asleep put them her in the cot.Best of luck !!!

Kay - posted on 11/20/2009

My boy had reflux. Slept in the bouncer or car seat during the day, would only sleep on me at night if I was bolstered up with pillows. Got loads of people criticising me for this but to get any sleep at all for either of us that is what had to be done. (Remember that babies who don't get enough sleep suffer too, and often don't feed well). Finally got him into his moses basket at 7 weeks by elevating the head end by 40 degrees, and then after 12 weeks putting the moses basket in the cot for a night or two but again elevated the cot by about 40 degrees before putting him in the cot. He grew out of reflux by 8 months but we've only just put the cot flat. If you have the money, othes have recommended the baby hammocks you can buy, or the baby wedges. Don't worry about them forming habits and not getting used to a cot etc. At this age all habits can be broken after a few tries. I wouldn't continue with the bouncer too long though as there isn't a lot of room in them for wriggling and when they start to roll over they can get into trouble.

Erin - posted on 11/20/2009

My daughter would only nap in her bouncer, with the vibrate on, for the first 9 weeks. It drove me INSANE!!! She was fine in her bassinett and then cot at night, but daytime was the problem. Eventually I decided to do some gentle sleep-training to get her to nap in her cot. I did not use CIO (I thoroughly disagree with this method and even if I didn't she was far too young for it), but instead just gradually familiarised her with falling asleep in her cot. She was swaddled (which was my saving grace) and I laid her down, sleepy but awake, and patted and 'ssssshhhhhh'd her til she went to sleep. The first few times took 10-15 mins, but within 3 days I could put her in her cot still awake and she would go off to sleep on her own.

Briana - posted on 11/19/2009

Our daughter only slept propped up in her carseat for about a week- a solution is to co-sleep with baby next to or on your chest for about 3 nights- we did it- and she is much better at not being propped up...she still likes to be tight and be able to feel snug- so we put some large (NOT FLUFFY) pillows at her bottom under her feet and to the side of her in her crib- she sleeps snug and all by herself in her bed all night! Get a routine down for bedtime so baby knows its bedtime and she'll adjust within a week!

Stacey - posted on 11/19/2009

My son started doing this when we got him one of those vibrating bouncers, but he was about 4 months. My advise is stop bad habits straight away or it will just get worse. Get your baby to sleep in their cot as much as possible as soon as you can, you could try putting a firm pillow or towels under the cot mattress so the head end is raised slightly. I had difficult babies and I learnt the hard way that you shouldn't let them start bad habits. Try laying her in her cot awake and put her to sleep there, maybe swaddle her, and if you need to settle her try rolling her on her side just enough to pat her bum or rub her back, then when she's asleep very gently roll her back onto her back. good luck.

Jennifer - posted on 11/19/2009

maybe you could try lying her on your chest, and let her fall asleep that way. Then wait about 15 minutes and transfer her to her bed. My daughter is 3 and a half but usually only falls asleep on me!

Carol - posted on 11/19/2009

I havnt had a reflux baby, my hubby did and it drove them barney sometimes, do you still swaddle her...could be a security thing too?? Have you tried putting a normal size pillow underneath her matress so that the matress is elevated at her head a little??? Not sure if this will work, if she is crying for pain from reflux or crying for loss of comfort out of bouncer, with reflux good luck, we are about to have our 4th boy early in the new year and I do sympathise with you, I have not had to deal with it but have heard it is not pleasent. Good luck, if you try it and it works great. Hope you find an answer.

Mary Kay - posted on 11/19/2009

My son would not sleep anywhere EXCEPT my or my husband's chest for a long time. He screamed if he woke up in his crib, in the bassinet, etc.

Do what you need to in order for everyone to get sleep for now. BUT, try to get her into her own crib or sleeping space by 5 or 6 months, otherwise you'll be fighting this battle with a much bigger, more vocal child. Again, do what you need to for your family to get sleep!! Good luck.

Ashley - posted on 11/19/2009

Thanks ya'll. I really appreciate it. This is my 3rd child and neither of my other two had this problem with sleeping. Both of them went straight into their cribs with no trouble and were sleeping where ever they pleased.
With this one, it's been more difficult not only b/c of the reflux but I think she is "mommy soother" for sleep. We have tried the play pen, the moses basket and the crib, she seems to do fine in them, but only for a few days at a time. Then she won't go back to them. But the bouncer she has taken to far better then the others. It's only at night though. She is fine during the day, she'll sleep where ever. We've tried the swaddling, the music, the rocking, the shhhh-ing. The bouncer is the only thing that works but I know she will eventually grow out of it and I know that she needs to start sleeping in her crib at some point, so i've been in search of ways to do the transition.
Out of all the responses the one thing we haven't tried is the inclining of the mattress, so we will be starting that this weekend. Today I started with inclining her mattress in the moses basket and she has done well with it so far, no fussing. But she is growing out of that quickly so I need to do the crib mattress now lol.

Again, thank you for all the responses, I will let everyone know how things work out as she progress! :o)

Andrea - posted on 11/19/2009

What i did with both of my kids was Proped up one end of the matress i pit to or three pillow UNDER the matress... otherwith i started them sleeping in a boppy pillow and the went in and took it away after they were sound sound asleep.. They both had refulx and my daughter 7 months has belly problems so it is a hard one.. i use to let my kids sleep in there swing and bouncer.. that is what some {my} doctor told me to do if i noticed thay were not resting in there baby bed... well hope this is helpful.. Take Care... Best wishes to you and your family...

Darci - posted on 11/19/2009

two of my children did this, perhaps for security, perhaps because they could breathe better- they eventually grew out of it- usually within 3-6 months. The interesting thing is, they are the only two of my kids that do not sleep much on their back-they're tummy sleepers. I wouldn't worry about it. As long as she's safe and comfortable, that's all that matters- she'll still get plenty of use out of the crib in the future

Cathralynn - posted on 11/19/2009

My friends had this issue with their baby, no reflux but only sleeping in the bouncer. They did a step down thing. Putting the bouncer in a pack n play. Then turning off the vibration, then transfering her. I believe there was some crying involved, but now she sleeps fine and is almost two. She did however not sleep through the night until after a year old. Don't know if they go with each other, but assume it has to do with similar parenting styles. For my daughter she always slept in her bassinet. We used swaddling at white noise and room shared. That helped. I would say my daughter had troubles in the day tho. We let her nap in a swing, wore her in a sling, whatever it took for six mo then put her on a napping routine that involved some crying. I say 1.5 mo is a little young for self soothing. Try getting her to sleep in a bassinet or whatever. Keep her in the room with you so you can help her calm and I've heard of putting a pillow or other lift under the front of the mattress to give it an incline. Maybe she just feels better sleeping upright with her reflux. I would go on the advice of your doc. And if it makes you uncomfortable, get a new doc. I personally don't let babies cry til after six mo, so if she has to sleep in a bouncer well at least she's sleeping. But she will become to big for the bouncer sooner than you think, then what? You can work on routines and giving her measures of comfort like swaddling, music, back pats whatever, to try and get what you want. But sleep is so important developmentally right now, do your best to help her get it.

Ashley - posted on 11/19/2009

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

My daughter does have reflux which is why we started the sleeping in the bouncer b/c her sleeping on her back flat was causing her pain and to spit up more. She's only been sleeping in the bouncer for about 2-3 weeks and the rest of the time she was either in a play yard or sleeping in a moses basket but that was torture to her as I said before she would spit up more and scream b/c of the reflux problems.
I just didn't know if anyone had this same problem with a reflux baby and what they did to eventually get their little one to sleep in their cot and how long it took. :o)

Thanks again for all the input I truly appreciate it! xoxo

Louise (Weez) - posted on 11/19/2009

My friend had the same problem...her health visitior told her she was making a rod for her own back and that she needed to get the baby into a cot! which she tried on so many occasions...but her baby would scream for long periods of time which as you can imagine was quite destressing for my friend! in the end my friend ans baby were so stressed they gave up and she followed what worked for her baby! and it worked as by the time she was 8 months she was happy going to sleep in her cot!....what i would say is follow what works best for you and your baby! take care

Barbara - posted on 11/19/2009

This is going to be hard for you and your daughter. She is already in this routine of sleaping in the bounce chair. You will have to get her out of this routine and the only way of doing this is to remove the bounce chair and put it away (far away) so that you don't even try to use it because she cries and you are frustrated.

You will have to get her in a diff. routine and it will be hard. Never had this before but it seems like a routine for her to sleep in the bounce chair. All the best.

Meagan - posted on 11/19/2009

I had the same problem with my little one, she is now 3 months old. At 3 weeks of age she was sleeping in the pram proped up, like sitting up & that worked. She also woke up as soon as you put her down. I soon worked out she had reflux. She now sleeps on her stomach with the mattress tilted, we started that at 5 weeks. Otherwise just persist with putting her down & patting her bum & talk in a soothing voice. It may take time but persistance is the key.

Katrina - posted on 11/19/2009

hiyaa have u tried puttin the bouncer in her cot? she should thn gt useed t waking up in that surroundings n finally sleep without her bouncer there try proping her head up with a comfy pillow tht usually does the trick =) x