Sleep and the Ergo

write to the email for ergo- they are here on Maui, and you can also call the office, they will answer any calls and questions!

M.,

My very close friend has done 'Parent Directed Parenting, and shared with me yesterday that she does not use any kind of sling to wear her child. So, your post confused me as baby wearing, and the Ergo are both 'Attachment Parenting' tools and even endorsed by Dr. Susan Markel who is a strong proponent of baby wearing for purposes of bonding and feeding on demand. But, then again I have not done a whole lot of research on this style of parenting...

I personally used a 'Hotsling' that I was able to use from birth to about 6 months old, as it gave my son the chance to get great sleep and be close. After that we used the Ergo until he was more mobile, and needed a space to sleep.

If your little one is not getting sleep in the Ergo you may want to try something else. My friend's little girl sleeps very well in her bassinet and they have never used or plan to use a sling of any kind. But, to each her own is my thinking on everything.

I think the great thing about this site, is that it really doesn't matter what style of parenting you are choosing, there is always great advice and experience from Mamas who have been there and done that.

Good Luck and Congratulations on your little one!

D.

I love the ergo and use it a lot.
But when my girl was tiny to about 4 months old I prefered the moby wrap. It is not good for tiny ones to "sit" upright since they can not support their upper body weight properly and seem to have trouble taking deep breaths. I always felt she sort of passed out instead falling asleep. The moby allowes you to wear your tiny baby laying down and later it supports their bodies more in the sitting position. it is a softer material so there is less "dents" on their legs and you can pull it up cover your babies head for extra snug support while sleeping (or if you don't want any strangers breathing on her).
I recommend getting a moby wrap for the first few months. then switching to the ergo when she is older and stronger.
:)

I found that they sell for almost the buying price on ebay. so you can always make your money back.

either way - it is great that you wear your baby! it is sooo good for them to be close to you at all times :)
C.

Hi M.,

I love my Ergo...but not for newborns. It's great once they can fit in it without the insert, but before then, too much trouble. I used the Moby wrap for the first couple of months and wore my daughters on the front. They slept great up against my chest...until around 2-3 months.

I think parent-directed schedules may frustrate you this early on. I was so eager to have at least a routine with both of my daughters, but found that it just resulted in additional frustration in the early months.

With both, I waited til 3-4 months when they really needed to be in bed to sleep and they were old enough to become more regular with feeding and sleeping. With my first I did a lot of back patting and waiting in the room to help her learn to sleep on her own. With the second, I sort of did cry-it-out (Kind of on accident...one night I just had to put her in her crib and take a break and off to sleep she went. It only took a few more days of just putting her down awake and then she went to sleep without crying. I know there's a lot of strong opinions on this topic, but I think how you handle it needs to be based on the needs of the whole family and the personality of the baby.)

I found the Marc Weissbluth book to be the most useful in terms of organizing sleep schedules, as takes different approaches based on the age of your child.

Good luck with your new one and hang in there. These are hard, but full of love, and go quickly.

My daughter pretty much grew up in slings and the Ergo has by far been her favorite. I did use the infant insert till she was 4 months old. She loved napping in it, I would bundle her up in a cozy blanket and then put her in the infant insert and slide her in the Ergo. It was great. At 2 weeks, the babys sleep is so inpredictable. The baby will actually create a natural schedule that you can later follow. You can start a log and you will see a consisitency. My favorite time to use the Ergo was when I was cooking or getting things done around the house and definetely for walks and getting errands done. But, if I would go out and baby was asleep, I had a hard time transferring her to the carseat without waking her up, so I was kinda stuck there. Also, I loved putting her to sleep in the Ergo, then after she fell in a deep sleep...15 minutes or so, I could easily transfer her to the bed.
I loved the Ergo, she still uses it and she is 18 months old. My favorite about it is the convenience for nursing.
I hope some of this helped.
E.
ps. in regards to feeding my daughter was always a snacker so she loved being in the Ergo

Hi M.,

Don't worry too much about scheduling your baby as of now. You should really go a bit more on the demand feeding/sleeping side until she's at least 2 months old. There are many reasons including their early developmental stage, your milk supply, etc etc. I introduced my first son to a feeding/sleeping schedule at 3 and a half months and he adapted wonderfully. He's still an excellent sleeper at 2 yrs and 4 months.

I'm not sure about the carrier. I do take my youngest (10 days old) out in the baby k'tan carrier. He loves it but not for 2.5 hrs and I have to make sure he's in a position he likes.

Hi M.,

I just have a couple of thoughts...

First, I think parent-directed feeding is a great thing IF it works for your child. I went into new-motherhood with great ideals, only to find that neither of my kids were going to play the parent-directed feeding game. It wasn't worth the stress when they were much happier naming their own feeding schedule (happier baby = happier mommy). Granted, both of them were severe refluxers--that's another story. My point is, if it works, great, if it doesn't, don't flog yourself. Do what works for you and your baby, not what some book says should work.

Second, I never used the Ergo, only the Baby Bjorn. My son (now 7) hated to be confined in the carrier facing me, and from a very young age (a few weeks) made it clear that the only way he would tolerate a carrier was if he was turned around so he could see the world, which meant that I had to hold his head up, (which also meant that the whole carrier thing went by the wayside fairly quickly). Maybe you should put the carrier on hold for a while until your daughter gets the whole sleep-eat-up time thing down--she's still pretty little.

My daughter (now 4) got her best daytime sleep in a swing for several months (which meant her head had to be propped up). I didn't exactly like it that way, but she wouldn't sleep any other way. She also made it clear that she did not want to be restrained in a carrier (up to and including screaming whenever she was swaddled at night). She was a go-girl from the start.

Best of luck with your new daughter. It will get easier, I swear!

I know there is a newborn insert for this sling. And they say you can use it for newborns.
But, I have also heard, that with any sling... newborns are too young... and the upright position of it is not good for them or comfortable. But then again, years ago, in other cultures, this is the way they carried their babies while working in the fields or plantations. But an infant's head weight is heavy.. and they can't hold up their head yet, so this is why some do not recommend upright carriers for infants, until they are older and able to adjust their heads better.

Maybe, since your baby does not nap/sleep well in the carrier, just use something else. I LOVED using our "Moses Basket" for my son. He slept in it so well and it's portable and can be put in any room. And, I think it's good for them to by lying down, prone...they can also stretch out and adjust themselves freely and position themselves.

each baby is different. Both my kids, NEVER napped or slept well in a carrier, and I tried all kinds. And, they just never seemed comfortable in them.

Your baby is very young... but if you want to be regular about organizing sleep/naps...I would say use a Moses Basket. It's good until they grow out of it, about 3-4 months old. I LOVE LOVE LOVE our Moses Basket.

A newborn... sleeps most of the day. Some seemingly all day, with short intervals of awake time to nurse. This is normal in a newborn. They also sometimes need to 'cluster feed' or feed more often due to growth-spurts, which are normal. Their intake needs and frequency will vary day to day, week to week, month to month. Thus, they call it "on demand" feedings. A baby's intake needs vary and so it's not driven by a 'schedule' per say.

Anyway, I love the Moses Basket...
All the best,
Susan

If you were to use the Ergo at this young age, you'd NEED to use the infant insert. Other great carriers for newborns include ring slings, mei tais, wraps, and others. As a newborn, they need to be held facing your chest (tummy to tummy) or in a cradle position. I personally enjoy ring slings the best, for their ease and secure feeling for baby and mom (once you learn how to wear it. You'd need to contact someone who knows about babywearing to make sure you're doing it right...believe me many women wear them wrong and once they figure it out LOVE them!)
Babies can definitely get adequate naps in baby carriers. Some babies don't like to be in them, but I've found if a mom started using it at a young age the babies/children love them. It's when parents try when the child is much older that they won't be able to get really comfortable and sleep.
Feel free to contact me for more questions.
Best of luck,
N.

Hi. My son is 5 months old now and I use the Ergo and parent directed feeding- every 3 hours. Personally I did not use the Ergo till he could use it facing me- around 2.5 months. He liked to be swaddled so we swaddled him for all naps. He simply wouldn't/couldn't sleep unless he was swaddled.
I did use a side sling- from Petunia Pickle Bottom. I would swaddle him, then put him in there, and he slept fine. But for the most part we are home for naps, so he is in his crib. Hope this helps some. Have fun with your new baby!!

I don't really have advice for you as neither of my children were in a sling, but can share my experience when my daughter was born. She wanted nothing to do with being cuddled, rocked to sleep, and would not fall asleep anywhere but in her bed. This was very hard for me, because my son absolutely loved to be held and sleep with my husband or me. But, I can happily say that changed when she grew older (she's now almost 6), and loves to cuddle with me or her dad.

I don't know if this will be helpful, but I was completely taken by surprise how much my girl slept the first two weeks of life. I remember thinking something was wrong, but I just didn't have any experience. We loved the sling, then the Baby Bjorn. It was comforting for me to have her as close as possible. But she spent time away from me, too. Good luck. I think you need to give it time and try to get to know her.

I also just read another response......babies change by the hour at that age. Give her what she needs right then, instead of figuring out a schedule. She's changing so fast, just keep her happy and go with the flow. Enjoy the changes, instead of trying to fit her into a schedule!

I think that if you want to keep her awake you will need to play with her to keep her alert. I used a carrier when I had my twins but I used a mommy facing sling and just carried one around a lot. A forward facing sling would not make a difference at her age. If you want to schedule that baby you will have to invest the half hour after feeding to keep her awake.

Hi M.,

I did not use the Ergo, or any carrier regularly, but I did do PDF with both of my babies so I thought I would share part of my experience. Both of my babies had absolutely no trouble with the feeding schedule, but they did not fall into the feed-play-sleep routine so quickly. I remember with my second baby particularly, he slept 23 hours a day, literally, for the first month. I had no trouble getting him to eat at the appropriate times, but he would fall back to sleep and NOTHING I did could wake him (except after his 3 am feeding, he didn't like going back to sleep! figures!:) Anyway, the first couple of months with both babies were really difficult to get their sleep patterns organized. They were sleeping well at night (except for after that 3 am feeding, both of them!) but their naps were nearly impossible to direct for the first couple of months. I just kept gently working at it and by somewhere around 3 months they were into a nice little routine with sleeping also. They didn't get consistent, quality alert time in the first month either. But it did come!

I read somewhere once a while ago that although babies are typically able to sleep anywhere, it is not quality sleep if there is noise or other possible distractions. So I always attempted to respect their sleep time by having them in the same place, in a comfortable position, in a quiet room. Not that I tiptoed around the house, but I kept their room quiet. They both really loved being swaddled tightly and I swaddled them everytime I laid them in their beds until maybe 5 or 6 months. I also used a sleep positioner, which I thought was wonderful. With a newborn, it is inevitable that you will need to take them out of the house while they are sleeping, and for those times, I just used their infant carseat. I think I used a baby carrier a few times.

Sorry I am not much help with the sling. I never did wear my babies much, perhaps because they were so heavy! (I had big babies). But if you ever want someone else to chat with about the routine and scheduling, I would love to come along side you. I didn't have anyone who knew anything about it when my babies were little. But I can't say enough good things about parent-directed feeding. It helped me so much as a Mom and my babies were (and still are) so happy, healthy, and adorable, very little anxiety about separation or anything else, and very easy-going (until the 2's hit!).

I wish you the best!