As with many things you can buy for your newborn baby, there’s no guarantee you will use all of them! A common issue that comes up often is when your newborn baby won’t sleep in their brand new bedside bassinet!
Some babies won’t sleep in their bedside bassinet at night while other newborns won’t sleep in the bedside bassinet at nap time. Or, neither. Both scenarios are very common.
If you’re even a little like me, you might be nervous about bed-sharing. I worried about rolling over onto baby! I also felt that having him in the crib in another room was too far away!
A bedside bassinet is a perfect solution, but only if your newborn actually sleeps in it. If your newborn won’t sleep in the bassinet, here are 3 things you can do to help:
1. Sleep on the Bedside Bassinet Sheets
Your newborn baby likes to be near you and your scent, especially if you are breastfeeding. The smell of you is one thing that helps him feel more comfortable. You could try to sleep on the bassinet sheets for a couple of days or even walk around with them in your shirt while you pitter-patter around the house before putting them back on your baby’s bed. Your scent will be transferred to the sheets and may help him feel more comfortable when you put him a little further away from you in the bassinet.
2. Buy a Bedside Bassinet With Movement
Consider purchasing a bedside bassinet that has movement. I know you may already have purchased one, but see if you can return it or sell it to another parent who doesn’t have as picky of a sleeper. Believe me, the cost of buying a new bassinet will be worth it to get more sleep! Here are three options to consider:
The SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet, created by Dr. Harvey Karp, costs over $1200, but now you can rent one! The big benefit here is that it’s “smart” in that it doesn’t move the entire time, but reacts to your baby’s crying by starting the motion and increasing the white noise volume. This can buy you precious hours of sleep! You would not want to skip necessary feedings, but this moving bassinet can help keep your baby asleep for longer periods of time since it doesn’t require you to activate it.
[email protected] says
Useful info. It’s what i was looking for. My daughter is only 2 years old, she has been having trouble sleeping recently, which has been a headache to me all this time. Thanks for your great sharing
Debbye @ The Baby Sleep Site says
Thanks for writing @Adam! We hope that our information continues to be helpful!
Tabitha says
The items you have talked about have all been recalled now to my knowledge
Janelle Reid says
Hi @Tabitha, thanks for bringing this to our attention. We are aware of the recalls and it looks like we missed this article when we updated our materials with the new information that’s out there. I apologize for the inconvenience but do appreciate you commenting so we can be sure to update it. We have SO many articles it can be difficult to find them all to update when new research comes out.
Monica from Bestconsumerreports.guide says
Sit up and cry along with my baby, just funny! I totally agree with you Janelle. Thanks for sharing useful info.
sarah says
Rocknplay does not meet safety guidelines for safe infant sleep and is not intended as a bassinet.
Janelle Reid says
Hey @Sarah, thank you for your comment about the Rock N’ Play. We have also recently come across more research that shows this as well, so we appreciate your comment so we are able to update the article according to more research. We do try to include information on all sleep solutions we hear families are using, and when we work one-on-one with families using them always have a word of caution for them, however with more recent research, we will need to update a word of “being careful” to recommending not using them for infant sleep. We are working to update our articles with it but as you can imagine since we’ve been around for a long time we have SO many articles and this can take a while, so again I appreciate your comment so we are able to update these. I have passed this on and it’s on our list. Thanks again for your input, we appreciate it!
shantanu varun says
Patience is virtue with any baby activities. My little one hates sleeping likes to stay awake along with all of us lol. Anyways great article. Like the perspecitive and angle you went with. I shared it with my peers as well.
Neosha says
@Shantanu – Thank you and please keep reading and sharing!
Sam says
I warmed up the bassinet with a hot water bottle an hour before bedtime and take it out when I put her in and it works like a charm.
Neosha says
@Sam – Thank you for sharing – and so good to hear! Please keep reading and sharing!
Julie Saldana says
I totally agree with this topic. This is common issue I heard from mothers. You give us a lot of useful tips. Thanks a lot!
Janelle Reid says
@Julie Saldana, thanks for reading! Glad this was helpful for you.
chirs campbell says
Proper use of Bassinet Sheets can help a lot as well Also mom persistent is also important. I think bay like incline so we can use these as well. Informative post. Thanks
Janelle Reid says
Thanks for reading @Chirs Campbell!