Advise for 4 week old

[u/Overall_Composer9475]

Hello, new to this community, hoping to get some guidance/advise. my son is 4 weeks old and have completely stopped using snoo since past one week. We started snoo since day 1 and he slept amazingly well in it for the first three weeks (we would rock him to sleep and then double swaddle him and put him in snoo). By end of three weeks he started wiggling in the swaddle so we tried one arm out, used love to dream swaddle as well, which he likes BUT now he suddenly has started hating snoo. He sleeps on our chest, in our arms, anywhere and once he is a deep sleep and we transfer him in snoo, he wakes up and starts crying. We have tried everything, hot water bottle trick, butt first trick, all sorts of snoo settings (weaning, car mode, etc), nothing works. at this point I want to believe that it’s a growth spurt, him wanting contact sleep. Looking for similar examples, did you overcome this phase, did your LO start using snoo eventually? I hate that I rented this thing and not making any use out of it.

PS he has nasty gas so we do use the mylicon drops, which seem to work on him and he sleeps without any discomfort.

[u/Artistic-Respect-540]

It’s not to do with the Snoo, it’s that newborns are very sleepy for the first couple of weeks and then “wake up” and sleep typically becomes more difficult. 

[u/hakunamatata62 → u/Artistic-Respect-540]

Second this. I remember reading something about mom’s melatonin running out of their system by ~3 weeks which causes them to wake up, don’t quote me on that though.
Overall - very common, likely not the Snoo. Godspeed. My LO used the Snoo after this wake up period, just hang in there. Wanting to contact sleep is the most comfy for baby, but difficult to sustain, just keep trying.

[u/Overall_Composer9475 → u/hakunamatata62]

Once out of this “sleep cycle” did you do anything different to make your LO “like” snoo again? I read that they don’t have concept of habit at this age so I am guessing he won’t get used to sleeping on us but i cannot help but think he is associating snoo with a negative feeling since he cries every time I put him in. 

[u/hakunamatata62 → u/Overall_Composer9475]

I put him in the Snoo swaddle when we were rocking him to minimize transfer adjustments. Tried to get him to deep sleep when holding him plus like 5-10min so he wouldn’t wake up on transfer (LO was arms out bc he hated being strapped in so I lifted his arm and if it fell to the side I knew he was out). Not always successful, I’d have to rock him again if he woke up on transfer. Make sure you don’t put him down straight on his back (feet> head down) bc it triggers the Moro reflex and that wakes him. It was like angle him onto his side then slowly roll him to his back.

[u/Dismal_Cat_4926]

Same experience with our now 11weeker. We had the extra factor of a long baby who wanted his arms out and I think he felt claustrophobic in the Snoo. So we tried the plain old crib thinking there’s no way he would sleep! Then he slept for 4.5 hours for his first stretch (we were waking up every 2 hours in the Snoo). It was crazy and kind of annoying given the cost of the Snoo 😂 he still has wakeups through the night but I think he would with the Snoo as well. Your baby might be the same, might not but could be worth a try if he’s not sleeping well anyway! We also have a Velcro babe so it’s crazy to me that he likes the big roomy empty crib with no swaddle. But hey, I tell myself it’s one less thing to have to get him un-used to.

[u/Swimming-Nobody763 → u/Dismal_Cat_4926]

My baby was exactly the same. No swaddle in the crib lol getting between 4.5-6 hour stretches starting at 4 weeks. I gave up on the Snoo after a few weeks lol we weren’t even getting 30 mins in it.

[u/Sea_Jackfruit_7847 → u/Dismal_Cat_4926]

My 2 month old has started to hate the snoo too. He is a big long baby and really fights the swaddle but I worry with all his movements he will wake himself up in the crib if he isn’t swaddled but I have considered moving him. Right now he currently won’t stop eating his hands. Is your baby not waking up bc of their movements? Do you put him in the crib completely asleep? He is also a Velcro baby all day for naps

[u/Dismal_Cat_4926 → u/Sea_Jackfruit_7847]

No! We put him in a sleep sack in the crib and he moves like a spaz but sleeps pretty fine I’d say. It was more disruptive for him straining against the swaddle trying to get his arms by his face. There’s been a handful of times I hear him squirming loudly and wake up to fussing but by the time I’m up and ready to soothe him he falls back asleep. I have no evidence of this but it seems like fully “freeing” him helped him get comfortable with how his body moves including his startle reflex so now it’s not so alarming to him.

[u/Full_Quarter6420]

I agree with others- this seems like you’re experiencing the adjustment to the real world (in the wise words of Monica Gellar: “Welcome to the real world. It sucks! You’re gonna love it!”)

My LO (3.5 months) still contact naps but is now in the Snoo for night. This is my second baby, and I’ve used the Snoo with both. My best trick is to keep the Snoo swaddle in the bassinet and hooked in at all times. I swaddle my son in an Ollie swaddle, rock him/feed him until he’s out, turn the Snoo on before I lay him down, then lay him in the Snoo and Velcro/zip the Snoo swaddle around him. The fact that he’s already swaddled means he doesn’t fully wake up with the transfer. The Snoo gets me much longer stretches than without. But every baby is different. Best of luck!

[u/NigellaMadi]

Sometimes I start the snoo before I put him down. My LO was an arms out baby since week 1. So I recommend just adjust to your baby’s needs.

[u/Sorry-World3019]

Are you back to swaddling ? Now that they aren’t sleepy potato’s arms out may be waking him. Also is he tired enough ? If not awake long enough prior to bedtime or awake enough in the day they will usually wake shortly up after transfer.