Robomax Baby Sitter

Stabilo

We have a 4 week old baby that will not sleep in her moses basket or cot. She will sleep in our arms if rocked and she quite likes the vibrating baby chair.

Has anyone used the Robomax product (approx £90 delivered)? It is a vibrating pad that is big enough for a pram, moses basket or car seat etc.

Any feedback on the Robomax would be great (PM me if you have one for sale).

Stabilo

fsdss

TRYING TO SAVE U £90 - your daughter is well advanced and has "learnt behaviour" (similar to a habit but babies dont develop habits until almost 1) meaning she has learnt to only go to sleep with rocking and the only way to break this is to be cruel to be kind, i suggest you leave her crying for a few minutes in her basket, touch her and comfort her after this time to give her some re-assurances, the leave her and repeat the comfort / few minutes routine . you should've broken this within a couple of days (as their memory span is very limited).

however if you continue to allow her to be rocked / vibrated you may find you have problems later on (imagine rocking a 26lb baby) trust me it does your back no good!!

although she is very small and new / cuddly / cute, there is a time and a place for cuddles and rocking, and demanding a sleep / or crying for no reason doesn't warrant being picked up.

i suggest that you enjoy your days and cuddle time with her and also enjoy your recouperation and rest whilst it is sleep time.

p.s the other suggestion that i would make is that she may have a bit of colic you could raise the mattress of basket at the head end by placing a towel underneath it.

kit

You dont say if your baby is in your room or not..... I found that it was hard to get baby to sleep when she was sharing a room with us. As soon as we moved her into her own room (at 9 weeks) she started going to sleep on her own with no problems at all. I found that having a fixed bedtime helped too, she now gets really tired just before 7pm!

As mentioned above - rocking and cuddling to sleep may cause problems in future. However, you need to do whatever is right for you and your baby.

Good luck.

Stabilo

fsdss, for the last 3 nights we haven't put baby in bed. Wife 'sleeps' on settee until 5 or 6 am & then I take over.

Baby does have bad colic, doctor came to see her 2 nights ago as she was having 6 or 7 dirty nappies per day. Doctor said to add more water to the feed (for hungry babies) and this seems to have removed the dirty nappies. We have been using colief & infocol but we will also try the towel under the mattress as you suggest, thanks.

kit, baby is in our room, although she now 'sleeps' in the living room. We will try her in her own bedroom, thanks for the tip.

Stabilo

mini

I used to put a warm, not boiling hot water bottle in my daughters cot where she'd be lying, take the water bottle out before you put baby in!!! to go from warm arms, cosy seat etc to a colder bed, I think I'd cry too!

I do feel for you, I recall one night when me & mr mini were wondering how we'd ever survive, with baby number 2 it was much easier, just knowing that crying & broken sleep doesn't go on for ever really helps.

Our eldest survived one night sharing our room, she was so noisy snuffling away & youngest went straight into her own room, have you got a mobile?

Good luck

mini

Jay-Jay_4

Just to echo the advice given really....

It's tempting (and feels normal when you're in the whirlwind of new parenthood) to have baby up all day, evening and night because she's awake and crying but really she's probably as knackered as you are. Try giving her a nice early bedtime like 6.30pm and expect her to wake for feeds throughout the night. An 'overtired' baby can be just as upset as a colicky one.

Please get her to fall asleep in her own bed, a few weeks of anxious worrying now may save you YEARS of unsettled nights down the line. Yes, it means letting her have a cry but she's not crying because of neglect, she's crying because she's tired out and she doesn't know HOW to fall asleep. Sometimes she'll just want to be alone in a dark room, not being rocked or jiggled or bounced but she doesn't know how to relax and fall asleep so she cries and you jiggle, rock and bounce her.....etc... vicious cycle!

It DOES get easier if you stay in charge of things and try to be objective....yes she DOES need lots and lots of love and cuddles but she also needs some peace......as do you

Stabilo

mini, baby's grandma suggested hot water bottle yesterday and it certainly helped last night. We put her in her moses basket, in the living room, she cried a few times but wife has now worked out that her cries were not through discomfort. We stroked her head and after 20 minutes she was asleep.

We have 2 Angelcare monitors (one in moses basket, down stairs and one in the cot in our room). So we left her in the living room and we went to bed.

She wakes every 2 hours for feed but at least wife and I went to bed last night. Baby arrived 1 month early, she is actually due on Friday. When will she go longer between feeds?

How long does colic last?

Baby has 2 mobiles, one battery operated with lights and sounds and one black and white maual mobile. She doesn't seem too impressed by them yet.

Jay-Jay, she was very tired over the weekend but she slept a bit more in the day and night yesterday. We feel better now that she will cry from time to time and we just need to accept that.

Stabilo

Counting_Pennies_2

I know it sounds strange, but we kept a radio on (radio 2 is very soothing through the night) all through the night for the first month of our baby's life and it seemed to do the trick. We also let a small amount of light seep into baby's cot as that also seemed to do the trick.

It sounds mean, but if baby won't go to sleep without crying don't feel bad about it. My son cried everytime he went to sleep from week 2 until 1 year, but has been the best sleeper out of all the babies I know (about 30!) and now sleeps 14 hours a night (sorry it isn't a selfish boast to others out there!) He now settles without much fuss.

Take heart that it is difficult in the first few weeks, but what you set yourself up for now will continue, so try to get some kind of bed routine for baby (we bathed every night and put in a babygro each night then milk and straight to bed after a burp)

I too used hotwater bottles or heated the bottom sheet on the radiator prior to bed time and it worked a treat, you only have to do it for a few weeks.

One thing my midwife said to me is no baby dies of crying alone, so don't feel as if your heart will break each time there is a cry of protest, it is their only way of communication at this time.

In answer to your feeding time question, babies are all different in terms of feeding, but having just reached the due date, I am sure things will settle down soon. In a few weeks when things are more settled for you try a dream feed just before you go to bed (carefully lift baby up and feed), and that sometimes does the trick.

Don't be hard on yourself though about a routine, babies don't tend to get into one until 3 or 4 months.

I am sure you aren't sleeping on a sofa anymore, but just to let you know I read somewhere a sofa is probably the most dangerous place to fall asleep with a baby.

Stabilo

Counting_pennies, now that baby has almost left our bedroom we will try playing Radio 2.

14 hours per night, that must be some kind of world record.

I have laid with baby on the settee and although the intention is not to fall asleep with her it is easily done at 6am. I can see how the sofa could be dangerous for baby and will stop this practise (unless it is in the middle of the day and I am wide awake with mum present).

bis_si

It sounds like you're getting sorted, but beware the sofa, especially when overtired. If the situation recurrs (and it may, due to developmental changes when little one is over-excited) please bear in mind that co-sleeping in a bed is much much safer than co-sleeping on a sofa. Preferably a double. We chose (being aware of the risks) to co-sleep in a bed. Sometimes one of us would go sleep on the sofa in the early weeks, but the baby stayed in the bed (or in a cot beside the bed with the side taken off, so easily within cuddling distance). For the record, our daughter moved into her own room without any tears at around 8 months when she was beginning to be disturbed by our coming and going.

Bun

Glad it's going a bit better. Have you also thought that minibaby may also be uncomfortable laying down? YOu don't say anything about the birth but stiffness and discomfort for the baby can often follow the birth and can cause colic. Many on this forum recommend cranial osteopathy and I have several friends who have found relief after all the problems you describe. Ask your health visitor and they will be able to put you in touch with a chiropractor. Many training colleges charge a minimal fee which is well worth it