Sleeping in carseat?

Question

My son is almost 3 months old and will ONLY sleep in his carseat.He will sleep 8+ hours through the night if in his carseat but when I lay him on his back in his crib he will only cry and be restless.I have gotten him to sleep in his crib a few times but only for about an hour or so at a time.I have also tried swaddling him but still he refuses the crib.Please help-did anyone else's baby do this?Any ideas?

Answer 1

There are times when I think "the recommendations" are given out by people who have never had any children. Eventually your son will sleep in his crib, In the meantime, if you can get 8 hours of sleep with him in his car seat once in a while, you will both benefit. Don't give up on trying to get him to sleep in the crib. Try it at every nap and bedtime. Some babies just like the feeling of being snuggled in like they get from their car seat. The crib is wide open and unfamiliar. Sometimes just lay him in there when he is awake so he can become more familiar with it - put up a mobile for him to look at. Depending on your baby, you can either try putting him down to sleep when he is sleepy, but not completely asleep or he may be a baby that needs to be sound asleep before laying him down in the crib. None of my own 4 kids preferred their car seat to sleep in, but I have had several daycare children who did sleep considerably better in their's. It won't likely last long. With the crying thing, I like to wait just a minute or so before going to a crying baby unless it is an obvious distress cry. Gradually, I increase the length of time it takes me to get there. Generally, I have found that a baby can self-soothe himself if given 5 minutes or so to fuss a bit. If it sounds just like whimpering and complaining, let it go for a bit and see where it goes. Of course, if it goes to full-blown screaming, you don't want that to go on too long. I say don't worry too much about letting him sleep sometimes in the car seat, but just keep trying the crib, it will come eventually for him.

Answer 2

My daughter was like that as well. I would hold her and once I was sure she was completely asleep, I would move her to her bassinet. She would wake up often, so it was frustrating but I would just continue to do it. When you try to place her in the bassinet, don't just let go, place her slowly and softly, and let your hand linger on her for a few seconds before you completely take off. It will get better! But I do recommend having her sleep in your arms instead of the carseat. It is harder to get her out of the carseat and you are more likely to wake her up. My daughter is now 6 months old and she doesn't need to be held all the time anymore in order to sleep, but every once in a while she wants to and that is ok too; I am sure you could use the break and relax as well!

Answer 3

my oldest son would only sleep in his carseat when he was a baby. people told me that it would stunt his growth or make a permanent curve in his spine, neither of which happened. I didn't try to curb the carseat sleeping or put him on his crib, so when my newest addition (5 months old) decided he liked the carseat better than the crib, I wanted to put a stop to it. I went against all medical advice given to me at the hospital and I put him to sleep on his stomach in his crib and wrapped a blanket around him tightly. this worked almost instantly. I hope you find a solution because it's kind of a pain, isn't it?

Answer 4

I am a mother of 4 month old twins and my son will only sleep in the car seat!!!!!!!!!! My son will start screaming at the thought of laying him flat in his bassinet. I have tried to put him in the bassinet after he was sound asleep for 20min and just the movement on the way down to the bassinet he starts to cry. He has never slept in anything else but the car seat since we have come home from the hospital. My pediatrician says it is fine. He said "You would be surprised at how many babies sleep in their car seats or the swing or the bounce seat or........" He told me not to worry as long as the baby was on his back!!!!!!!!! This does not take away the feeling of being a bad mom because i feel like he is always in the car seat. But when my heart doesn't get the best of me i Know it is the best thing because he needs his sleep!!!! If you type "baby will only sleep in car seat" on the Internet you will get a bunch of ideas from other moms. Good luck!

Answer 5

They have matress lifts at more department stores. That is the only thing that helped my children sleep. He is too young for a pillow so I would suggest on of those. Babies breathe a lot easier when upright. I would suggest either buying a lift or putting a pillow under the mattress.

Answer 6

my daughter did the same thing. She would only sleep if she was in her carseat. One of the reasons turns out that she has GERD (gastro esophogeal reflux diease). We give her a perscription form of Tagamet 2ce a day in her milk and it definately seems to help. She still wont sleep flat, but with a foam wedge pillow under the matress, she is sleeping without the carrier. Talk to your pedi and see what they say.

Answer 7

I used to let my kid sleep in the car seat. Anyways .... I understand there is a car simulator ... one that hooks to the crib and vibrates and makes noise and makes the kid think he's in a car. You can try to find that item online ... and maybe that will take the place of a car seat.

Answer 8

when you put him in the crib how long does he cry? He probably just needs to be broken in sleeping in his crib. where did he sleep before you used to put him in his crib? if he sleep with you or in your room. he may be use to sleeping there. i went threw the same thing. my son sleep in our room for 3 months. then when i tried to put him in his bed he cried. i was determined to break him in using his crib. i put him in there when he was dead tired and he feel to sleep. you may have to just let him cry a little may 5-10 minutes.

Answer 9

Maybe it's the partially upright thats comfortable to him. Have you tried putting something under one side of the mattress to raise it?

The also make wedges that surround the baby on two side to prevent rolling onto the stomach. That might help as well.

Answer 10

my twins did that at first. they always slept good when we got home from a trip if i left them in the car seat. i never put them in it at night to go to sleep though.
the way i got them to sleep in their cribs was to just put them down awake and let them fuss/cry for a few minutes at the time. i would go back in everty 5 or 10 minutes and give them pacifier and rub their backs to calm them down. that worked for us, now they will go right to sleep when we put them in the crib at night with maybe a couple minutes of fussing.