Hi hammock experts! I am hoping you might have some advice for me. I am a long-time lurker but this is my first post.
My LO has had an amby hammock since birth. Initially, she rarely slept in it, as she was very unsettled and spent long days and nights just sleeping in my arms (frustrating at the time but I look back on it now and think awwwww). We co-slept a lot for the first few months but now she only comes to bed if she is very unhappy and won't sleep, as my partner is a very heavy sleeper and tends to pull blankets up over his head without realising! Once she got to a few months old,
DD was mostly pretty happy sleeping in her amby, and in the past month or two has mostly been self-settling in it.
However, she wakes up a LOT. I consider 4 wake-ups a good night and anywhere up to 6 is very normal. However, lately it has been a bit worse, and also she has been crying and crying when I try to put her down (both at night and for day sleeps). So I have gone back to feeding to sleep, rocking, picking up and putting down etc.
I know it is very normal for babies to go through periods of wakefulness, but for some reason I wondered if it has to do with the hammock - if maybe she was ready for more room and if it was time to make the transition. After being up with her 10+ times the other night, I cracked and thought 'enough is enough'.
She has been in the cot since yesterday morning. It has been taking a while to get to sleep, she's been catnapping during the day and woke 6 times last night, but not nearly as bad as I expected.
However . . . I am having huge hammock withdrawals!! I hate the thought of her sleeping in the cot, it looks like a cage to me
and she always looked so happy and comfy and snug in the hammock. It breaks my heart to think her days in it are over.
So now I am thinking of moving her back! Am I crazy? Could I just put her in it for day sleeps and keep her in the cot at night (or vice versa), or should I stick to my decision so I dont confuse her?
She is just shy of 8 months, no idea of weight but is fairly skinny. Is pretty long, though.
I just always thought she would be in there for longer than this.
Should I just let it go? Am I being ridiculous to think of moving her back? Or was I ridiculous to move her in the first place, as her bad sleeping most likely has nothing whatsoever to do with the hammock??
For those of you who did make the transition, how did it effect your LO's sleeping, and how long did it take to get back on track? Anyone out there whose LO started sleeping BETTER?
And when did you recover from the transition yourself?
Thanks for listening. It actually seems very silly now I have written it down.
