am i teaching my baby bad sleeping habits??

hi everyone!  i have a question:  my 5 week old baby girl hates her craddle.  she will only sleep in it the first hour or so of the night after i put her to sleep.  when she wakes up in it, she gets upset and only sleeps more than an hour at a time if she is in bed with me.  but then, i don't sleep.  well, to be honest, i don't sleep either way!!  am i spoiling her or teaching her bad habits this young?  i would like to move her to her crib within the next 6 or 7 weeks.  i know she will hate it!  any advice appreciated!!

[mami1323]

She is still so young and you can't develop bad habits at such a young age.  They want to be close to mommy, they want the warmth.  Co-sleeping is not always a bad thing.  I used an actual co-sleeper, it attaches to the big bed and allows you to co-sleep but also leaves the baby in it's own area.  Why don't you look into getting one of those?  This way you are close to your baby and the baby feels like you are sleeping together but you still have your own space if you need it.  Everything takes time, patterns are developed later when the baby is older.  So all I can say is go with the flow for now.  

[MilkMama]

Babies cannot be spoiled. It sounds like you are very in tune with what your baby needs and you are comforting her. There is nothing wrong or unhealthy about sleeping together with your baby as long as it's done safely (no blankets or pillows near your baby, safety rail to prevent her from falling etc)..

If co-sleeping works for you and your baby than GREAT!

An excellent book you might be interested in:  The No Cry Sleep Solution written by Elizabeth Pantley

On a personal note... I co-slept with each of my 4 babies from birth until a year or more. They are now ages 7, 5, 3, and 1 and each of them sleep in their own beds through the night. I believe that co-sleeping helped them because they did not have separation anxiety at night - I was always there for them - no need to cry! When they reached the age where they were ready to sleep through the night they "graduated" into a bed or crib...

Best of luck!

[AndiJ78]

I agree, I do not think you are setting her up for failure. I also co-slept and my boys are great sleepers. They co-slept while nursing and once they weaned they moved to their own beds. I helped ensure that success by enabling them to fall asleep on their own during naps as they got older.

[Me2mommy2b]

Can't say I didn't suffer b/c of it.  My kids got used to the idea of me "helping" them to fall asleep and stay asleep, now they're both terrible sleepers.  

[Lusie123]

these were great reassuring responses..  Cailyn sleeps with me as well..  she wont sleep on her own.. I think she likes the feeling of knowing I'm there when she wakes up.. Cailyn wont even open her eyes throughout the night.. she just squirms around when she's hungry and I feed her.. she doesnt cry at all at night..  I love it.. I'll probably try weaning her at 12 weeks..  (not sure I'll want to though..  I'm gonna miss her little body laying next to mine)