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I have been thinking about this too lately.... not sure when to transition. I asked my stepmum who used hammocks with all of her kids and she said when they can pull themselves up to a sitting position... that would be soon for Reaghan I think sweetpea? I guess because then they can kind of topple over the end. The Bear wants her to stay in it till she is 2 but she is so big in it now, I think we will need to move to a cot soon... :think:
Each bub is different, with Oskar he was around 6 months and it was because he wanted to roll over in his sleep, he mainly sleeps on his tummy which is just like me. So, I would say that if she's waking more frequently and wanting to sleep on her side then it might be time... you say she partly co sleeps, so she should be pretty good on the transition as she's used to a bed anyway. I didn't have any problems with Oskar transitioning at all.
There are others on BB who's bubs have been in hammocks a LOT longer than Oskar was... I don't know if their kiddies were pulling themselves up or just waking more or what, hopefully some more people will pop in to help :D
So DD has started rolling over in her sleep, ends up on her side, kind of twisted, and can't get back. She wakes up crying and I need to turn her back over. I guess this means it's time for a cot?
hi girls
i need to pick your brains about a few things! hope that's ok :)
ok, i've never used a hammock before and don't know anyone that has one, but i have bought an amby hammock for my new baby (due in 2 days).
my questions are- do i still wrap him before i put him in it? do i use it for day sleeps and night time?
ThePixie - If you feel uncomfortable with your DD in the hammock (it sounds like she might be!) then I suppose it might be time to try to cot. Has she been rolling over in it for long? She might be just working it all out and may stop rolling in it soon?
Rainforest - Not long until you get to use your hammock! I always wrapped my DS1 before putting him in his hammock when he was tiny. As for day/night sleeps, it's completely up to you. I only used it for day naps in the beginning because he refused to sleep in his cot during the day. Over time he became more dependant on the hammock and eventually flat-out refused to sleep in his cot at all. Not all babies do this, but mine did!
I got the cutest blue Amby hammock in the other day and I'm so tempted to keep it LOL! I have kept the one I used for DS1, even though DS2 wouldn't go in it, but it's the older daggier fabric and I like to blue one! DH won't let me though :(. We'll see......
thanks so much trish. i wish i'd known you got one in earlier! could've saved me some $$$
Aww, sorry! I only got it in last week and I haven't put it on my website yet. I don't want to until I'm 100% sure I want to sell it LOL! It seems so silly when I already have one!
When did you buy yours?
oh, it's ok. i bought mine before xmas. i was watching a few on ebay, but ended up just buying one brand new from amby. can't wait to use it, i hope he loves it. ds1 has been such a bad sleeper, i'm really hoping this makes a difference with the new baby.
If it makes you feel any better, I rarely ever get second hand hammocks in and I didn't have one before Christmas! I can get them at wholesale price through Amby though, which has been handy when I need accessories! PM me if you ever need any accessories ;)
It's money well spent, our hammock seriously was the best thing we ever bought for DS1! I hope you have as much success with it as we did :)
Pixie, I would say yes it probably is time to move on to the cot...Oskar was the same, started to want to roll but once he went into his cot he slept a lot better again.
Rainforest, I used it for both for about a week but then Oskar decided he didn't like it during the day...lol. I did wrap him (from under the arms as he hated having his arms in the wrap) and when it was winter he had another wrap over him like a sheet and tucked under with his arms inside that one. They have the "startle" reflex which is one of the main reasons we wrap them as they wake themselves up.
If your baby is happy to be in it for day and night then do that :) Otherwise your bub will let you know no doubt. Good luck!! I love the Amby...can't wait to set it up again!
ok....just tried to put my newborn in it and he hated it!
he just looked so tiny in it, it looked like it was going to swallow him!
it also seemed like his head was too low, like he was almost upside down. should i wait till he's a little older? wdyt??
did you put ds as far up to the head end as possible, thats is what my instructions says. I got mine at 8 weeks and dd loved it just transitoned her to cot this week. she will be 8 months on wednesday.
Are you wrapping him, they do look small in them but usualy like the movment. Have you tried gently bouncing him.
thanks sweetpea, no i put him more in the middle. i might wait a week or so and then pop him in it again with his head right up the end. thank you
awww, I am sorry your first try didn't work for you Rainforest, but if it didn't feel right you did the right thing to give up and try again later.
exactly what I would suggest. I placed DD as far to the end as possible to keep her head elevated.:
I didn't really use my hammock until 5 weeks. DD slept on the couch, in the pram (bassinet) and on my bed for naps and we co-slept in a single bed just DD and I for the first 5 weeks while we got used to each other and sleeping. At 5 weeks I moved back into the 'marital bed' and DD started the night in the hammock, moving into the bed and co-sleeping for the rest of the night when she woke for her first feed.
Definitely try again later when you feel better about it. It certainly wont be too late.
Hi Rainforest - I had to pop in and reply to your post as I had exactly the same experience with my boy. As a newborn it seemed his head was always lower than his bum no matter where I positioned him. It felt really wrong to put him in there. I left it for a few weeks and then started trying it for daytime sleeps and by about 3 weeks it seemed better. He sleeps in it heaps now... :D I think they just needs to put a little weight on their bums to balance things out!
Well we moved DD into a cot last week and had no issues at all with the transition.... she has slept through again a couple of times now which is great! now that she is in a cot I can see why she was getting uncomfortable in the hammock - she likes to sleep arched backwards! looks really uncomfortable but she seems to like it!
Rainy hope your DS likes the hammock next time you try it :)
I used to put Oskar with his feet right down the bottom so it weighted it down that way if that makes sense?? If you have the Amby you can adjust it by the ties around the "hanger" part.
After reading these posts we're thinking about hiring one for our DD2. How much are they brand new? I'd have to weigh up the costs of new and if I hired one for few months.