u/UnderdogDreams

I am a FTM to a sweet little 10 day old boy. The issue is he will only sleep when being held. He won’t sleep more than a few minutes in his crib or the bassinet on his pack and play. We didn’t buy a traditional bassinet because his crib fits in our bedroom. My husband and I do shifts at night because of this but we each only get 4 hours of sleep. I was functioning fine on 4 hours at first, but now I find myself nodding off while holding the baby and I’m terrified of dropping or smothering him. I was a high sleep needs person before having him and required 8 hours of sleep each night. My husband only got two weeks of paternity leave which he is taking as one full week and then two weeks of half days so he is already back at work part time. People say to sleep when the baby sleeps but that’s not possible if the baby only sleeps on you. I know some people cosleep but that is not possible for us. We have a memory foam mattress and a dog that sleeps in our bed and I’ve heard too many horror stories to be comfortable with cosleeping. What options do we have? Would one of those bedside sleeper bassinets that opens to the bed on the side be worth it so maybe I could put a hand on him and get him to sleep in it? Any other ideas? We’ve tried the other tricks for putting him to sleep in his crib (feet then butt then head, keep hand on him, white noise, swaddle, heating pad to warm up the mattress, etc) and the transfer goes okay but he wakes up a few minutes later and cries until he is picked up again. I honestly wouldn’t mind suffering with the sleep deprivation if I wasn’t falling asleep with him and creating an unsafe environment. I actually love the contact naps and newborn snuggles but I’m just so exhausted. I know he’s only 10 days old and contact napping is normal but I see a lot of other people whose babies sleep for 1-4 hours at a time in a crib or bassinet and I want to know how they do it! Any suggestions appreciated.