7weeks - Is this normal???

Our bub is 7weeks old...he sleeps in his own cot in his own room. Once he gets to sleep he has no problems staying asleep. He's able to settle himself when he wakes mid sleep quite happily. The thing we seem to be having happen is that the only way he initially gets to sleep is to be nursed/ walked etc. He's happy to go to sleep himself in his pram, bouncy thing, car seat etc, but can't seem to settle himself in his cot. Is this normal for 7weeks old. I kind of think that he's still very little and don't have a problem nursing him although dh is starting to think we should be able to start putting him in his cot to settle. When we've let him cry (going and patting and checking etc every 5 mins) he seems to just wind himself up even more until he's at the point where the only way we'll get him to sleep is to feed him and start over. (The main time we have this problem is early evening - at night when I get up to feed he goes straight back to sleep no worries and day times don't seem to be as bad, but still needs help to sleep in his cot)
Would love to hear your opinions / experiences ??

I remember those days, when my baby girl was that young, we sometimes had to rock her to sleep, or at night, I would watch TV late at night (very boring, when all there is to see is those stupid game shows). Try & resettle you baby boy in his cot, ie patting him when he is lying down & a good wrap doesn't go a stray either. I was also recommend a DVD "Happiest Baby on the Block" which seem to help wonders at that age, by 12 weeks our little girl was sleeping 7hrs at night. But unfortunately that only lasted until she was 6mths old , now we have other issues. If I could do it all over again, I would definatley resettle baby in the cot, try not to get them out. But of course make sure he is fed & has had nappy change. Oh one thing with the cooler weather, you may like to heat his cot with a heated pillow (those ones you put on sore muscles) then remove before putting baby in, this helped wonders to.
Don't worry it all gets better, then there other things that test the mind. However enjoy looking after your newborn

Yeah, I had those problems with Annika as well. What we did is rocked the cot, until she went to sleep. If she got really fired up, we would try singing to her, and if it kept up, we would pick her up, settle her down, and put her back in the cot still awake. It didn't take all that long for her to learn. Not sure if it will work with every baby though. A few months ago, we stopped rocking it, and then started patting the end of the mattress. After a few nights of that, we were able to put her down in her cot, and walk out, and she would go off to sleep.

At 7 weeks I was still rocking Natalie to sleep. At around three months I started patting her in the cot and we still do this for most of her sleeps. She did get very upset in the early days if we tried to let her settle herself, and it felt to me like we were going backwards.
My DH also thought Natalie should learn to self-settle early on, but I explained that I preferred to rock or pat her - and in our case it is mostly me who settles her so I figured it was my choice, LOL.
Now she is nearly 6 months old, I have decided to give her the opportunity to self-settle each sleep. If she cries, I pat her to sleep. If she's not crying, I leave her to self-settle. She has gone to sleep several times by herself now.
I'd say if you are happy nursing him to sleep, just go with it (I'd only change if it became a problem for you.)
When I post about settling/sleeping, I'm always reminded that their sleeping patterns change all the time anyway. Just go with what works at the time and deal with tomorrow tomorrow, if you're comfortable with that.

Hi Babyno1,

My DD went through a phase where she needed to be rocked/held to sleep as well. She would send herself off to sleep in her rocker without a problem but as soon as I put her in her cot - she was as awake as they come! Like your DS, she was fine at night time. I started to watch her closely to pick up on sleep ques. I'd put her down as soon as I noticed them. And then I realised that there were certain times of the day she always seemed to want a nap - 2pm for example. So I would put her down at that time regardless of whether or not I saw a tired sign. If she stayed asleep BONUS and if she didn't - I'd try again later. By getting her into her bed at the early stages of being tired she was able to settle as opposed to me leaving her to get overtired and being a great big grouchy poo. Having said all that - there are some sleep times where she just needs me to hold her until she falls asleep (like tonight). It can be a phase they are going through - DD certaintly outgrew hers.

HTH and remember - it is only a problem if YOU perceive it a problem! If you're happy to hold or rock him to sleep - go for it!

MG