Newborn sleeping- what worked for you?
rubybeach
Posts: 529 Member
Hi, I'm new to the board coming for FF&P board and have some questions......
How long are your babies sleeping at night? Ours is sleeping 1.5-2 hour stretches. I've tried keeping her up in the evening but it doesn't seem to help.
Any advice? She's quite a night owl. I know babies don't know the difference between day and night yet. Just looking for tips that worked for you.
My supply is low (currently working on that with a Doctor) so she's breast fed, given pumped milk and supplemented with formula. I tried using formula at night as I've been told that it keeps them full longer.
Last night at the beginning of the night, she refused the bottle and would only take the breast. Not sure if that plays into this.
She's almost 2 weeks, I know it's still early but I'm mostly on my own at night so I'm looking for some helpful tips.
Thanks
How long are your babies sleeping at night? Ours is sleeping 1.5-2 hour stretches. I've tried keeping her up in the evening but it doesn't seem to help.
Any advice? She's quite a night owl. I know babies don't know the difference between day and night yet. Just looking for tips that worked for you.
My supply is low (currently working on that with a Doctor) so she's breast fed, given pumped milk and supplemented with formula. I tried using formula at night as I've been told that it keeps them full longer.
Last night at the beginning of the night, she refused the bottle and would only take the breast. Not sure if that plays into this.
She's almost 2 weeks, I know it's still early but I'm mostly on my own at night so I'm looking for some helpful tips.
Thanks
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Replies
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Nursing as much as possible is a good way to increase your supply, sometimes pumping can deplete the supply and not empty the breast enough. The first 4-5 weeks is always the toughest for breastfeeding, but it gets much easier the longer you do it! I made myself comfy on the couch the first month and nursed a lot. Also, for night time my son always slept really well when I started using a swaddle/sleep sack. He loved it and would sleep for 3-4 hour stretches, starting around 3 weeks old. The Halo brand fleecy swaddler/sack is a really good one for newborns
Good Luck! 0 -
Congrats on your new little one!
If you're trying to bump up your supply, it's probably a good thing to feed your baby every 1.5 - 2 hours. This will tell your body to produce more milk, because the little one will be eating at shorter intervals. The more you feed, the more you make.
Babies sleep a lot, but they also wake up a lot for food and comfort. Being in the outside world is scary, and sometimes they just need you. My son is 7 months old, and trying to keep him up in the evening so he sleeps longer at night still backfires. Your baby will sleep longer when she's ready to (and all babies are different).
The first few weeks are the hardest. It gets easier after that 0 -
First few weeks are rough sleep-wise. Just comfort her and give her what she needs, and her schedule will get easier to deal with 0
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The first few weeks are the hardest. It gets easier after that
And by this I mean you just get used to being a mommy zombie :happy:0 -
I know this isn't the most popular of responses, but are you waking baby up in the day to eat? I tried not to let my little ones sleep too long in the day- would wake em up every 3 hours to eat. That way it seemed to get them fed/fuller in the day, and then sleep longer at night. I know, I know- people say never wake a sleeping baby. But it worked for me!!:)0
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Just try to make sure at night you aren't giving a lot of attention, just eat/change and back to bed. Keep the lights low too. This is what I did with my son and he is a great sleeper, maybe just a coincidence but I think it helped him differentiate night and day. Also the swaddle is a good idea. Hang in there. This may sound lazy but at first I would try to sleep for 12 hour stretches, of course getting up at least 4 times, that was the only way I really felt rested enough.0
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Definitely get a Halo Swaddle Sleep Sack. It's the only reason I have gotten any sleep with my twins the last three weeks.0
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My son fed every 2-3 hours during the day and night until he was about 3.5-4 weeks old. Then I started doing a bedtime routine every night (bath, pajamas, bottle, rock in glider for a few minutes, put in bed) and within a week of this he started sleeping for 5-6 hour stretches. He would be asleep by 8pm, wake about 2am to eat, and then back to sleep until 5am when he would wake for the day. I made sure his room was very dark & also play white noise (ocean sounds, waves, ect.) near his crib all night. He is now almost 12 weeks and sleeps 8pm to 7am, waking up once between 3-4am to eat.0
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I have three boys and each one was very different.
My oldest calmed and slept longer with a bath in the evening and a lot of cuddle time. He was sleeping 4-6 hour stretches by a month.
My middle slept 1-2 hours tops at a time until he was about 4 months old. I could find nothing that worked for him...until I tried that darn pacifier, then he started sleeping like a champ!
My youngest must just like to sleep. This little guy will sleep 4-6 hour stretches already at 9 days old. I don't believe it is anything I am doing that is helping him sleep like this.
As for the milk supply, are you eating enough? I also thought it was the silliest thing to get Mother's Milk tea, but that stuff really does work. I'll drink 2-4 cups a day and it brings up my supply quickly.
Good luck! After three boys that have been so different, the only thing I can say is, it isn't you momma, sometimes the kids just do what they are gonna do!0 -
My son will be 6 months on Wednesday and sleeps 9-11 hour stretches and has since he was 6-7 weeks old. I breastfed for 5 weeks then supplemented till he was two months. I too, gave him formula at night starting at 6 weeks and I think that helped him sleep for longer but what has really been a Godsend is his swing. He wouldn't sleep in his bassinet or anywhere but in my arms so we started putting him in his swing and it just stuck. I'm not sure if I recommend it or not because I know it wont be an easy transition to his crib but if you're desperate you might give it a try!
ETA he wouldn't sleep longer than 30 minute stretches in his bassinet even with swaddling, etc.0 -
For a 2 weeks old that is totally normal. That is what babies do. When she gets older you get more sleep, you just have to be patient. Plus each and every baby is different. My son gradually increased his sleep stretches. First week was never lnger than 1.5 hr, 2 nd week was strong 2 hr, 3 rd week was 2.5 hr and so on. He reached 6 hrs by the time he was 6-7 weeks and stayed at that pattern for a whole yr. . My baby girl was totally different she was almost clockwork 2.5 hr from the time we got home from the hospital until she was around 10 weeks, and almost instantly she began to sleep like 10-11 hrs.
Both babies was exclusively breastfeed, never even supplemented with formula. Both kid was sleeping in their crib in their room from day one, we didn't cosleep or ever used a bassinet. Also none of them ever took a pacifier despite we tried a LOT! We bought like a dozen differen paci hoping they will help, but both kid spit it out and started crying when we gave it to them.
Unfortunately sleep deprivation is part of being a new mom, you just have get through it. It WILL get better I promise!0 -
For a 2 weeks old that is totally normal. That is what babies do. When she gets older you get more sleep, you just have to be patient. Plus each and every baby is different. My son gradually increased his sleep stretches. First week was never lnger than 1.5 hr, 2 nd week was strong 2 hr, 3 rd week was 2.5 hr and so on. He reached 6 hrs by the time he was 6-7 weeks and stayed at that pattern for a whole yr. . My baby girl was totally different she was almost clockwork 2.5 hr from the time we got home from the hospital until she was around 10 weeks, and almost instantly she began to sleep like 10-11 hrs.
Both babies was exclusively breastfeed, never even supplemented with formula. Both kid was sleeping in their crib in their room from day one, we didn't cosleep or ever used a bassinet. Also none of them ever took a pacifier despite we tried a LOT! We bought like a dozen differen paci hoping they will help, but both kid spit it out and started crying when we gave it to them.
Unfortunately sleep deprivation is part of being a new mom, you just have get through it. It WILL get better I promise!
This is what I was hoping to hear. I'm a FTM and EBF and we have a 2 week old little guy and are getting sleep stretches anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours, day and night. However, he is fussiest and cluster feeds between 12am and 2:30am every night. We're hoping that habit breaks as he gets bigger and his tummy holds more milk. But for now, I'm just collecting as many naps as possible. 0 -
My daughter was like that too at that age but by 6 weeks she was sleeping 6-7 hour stretches at night. We didn't really do anything, it just happened.. I know that's not very helpful but it can happen.
Aurally if you're trying to increase your supply it's probably better that he is waking up so often to nurse. I wouldn't push the sttn thing just yet, he needs to eat often and you need to build your supply. Good luck!0 -
Thank you everyone! It's very helpful to know I'm not alone in this.
She slept a longer stretch last night! Over 3 hours.....but then she was awake for over 3 hours (from 2am- 5:30am). I guess it will just take time, eh?
In regards to my breast feeding, I'm seeing a breast feeding doctor and I'm on medication.
Again, thanks for all your input, I really appreciate!! :flowerforyou:0 -
I'm a FTM too, and for the first 3 weeks I had to wake her up every 2-3 hrs to feed her as we had some weight issues (took her to week 3 to get back to birth weight - got sick shortly after being born). After week 3, I could let her go 3-4 hours before waking her if she didn't wake herself. Come week 7, she was sleeping 9 straight hours a night! However, come week 12ish, she hit her 3-month growth spurt followed by an early 4-month sleep regression (their sleep matures and becomes more adult like and they have trouble adjusting/learning how to fall back to sleep) which has lasted 4 weeks (can last up to 6 weeks) so now we're lucky if we get 4-5 hours at a stretch at night. When she wakes after a stretch like that, I can tell by her cry whether she just needs help going back to sleep or if she's hungry (you'll figure this out too). If she needs help going back to sleep, I send my hubby in and he helps her with the pacifier until she "throws" it over her head and falls asleep LOL.
Also, this will seem counterintuitive, but the better they sleep during the day, the better they will sleep at night, so don't try to keep her up longer hoping that extra tiredness will make her sleep better. What happens is that she'll get overtired, which makes it difficult for her to fall asleep and stay asleep (we know this from experience!). Around 3-4 months you can start introducing a bedtime/nap routine, but know you'll have to be very flexible during that time for the reasons I mentioned above. 6 months is really when a schedule becomes more structured.
Know how many calories you need to maintain weight (don't try to lose right now, it will come off in time), add 500 for breastfeeding, and make sure you drink tons of water. Nutrition and water is key to supply (also know this from experience), but also keep working with your doctor on ways to up your supply. If you're not already doing so, consider pumping after every feeding (time consuming, I know - again, experience) as this will help tell your body it needs to make more milk, which can help increase supply. It will also help you store up some extra BM for when you may not have enough so you can supplement with expressed BM. And quite a few things I've read says there's no proof that formula (or, starting around 4 months, rice cereal) helps them sleep longer.
Hope something here helps.0 -
I'm also a FTM and my little girl is 3 months old now. I'm also EBF, which is SO hard at the beginning because adults aren't meant to function on 2 hours awake/2 hours asleep scheduling. At three weeks my little girl was up every 3 hours at night and every two during the day. And it would take almost 45 minutes to nurse her, so I would have maybe an hour between feedings. And then out of nowhere she'd sleep 5 hours in a row some days.
It does get better. I just remember having her at three weeks old, hearing that at around 10 weeks old, she would start sleeping 5-6 hours in a row and thinking that I wouldn't survive until then. Two weeks old is still very young and you might just have to get through it, but YOU WILL.
What worked for her was swaddles and nursing her to sleep. Babies at that age spend so much time in lighter REM sleep though so if you nurse her to sleep, you might not be able to move her because she'll wake up again. But that's what I did just so that I could have some quiet time. Nursing is like a secret weapon so don't be afraid to use it.
At 3 months, my little girl is sleeping 8 hours straight each night and still nursing. She is sleeping 8 hours straight but she goes to bed at 8 pm so I'm still getting up at 4 in the morning, but that's something I can deal with. I feel like I'll be a new person once she starts sleeping 10-12 hours a night and I'll finally get more than 6 hours in a row. But I'll bet 6 hours in a row sounds amazing to you right now, so I'll shut up.
Congratulations and good luck! You'll get through it!0 -
You mamas are amazing! Thank you so much for the support and advice. It makes me feel better to know I'm not alone and that I'll make it through this period. I love her so much and wish I was able to sooth her!0
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I don't have any advice to add because really great advice was given. But yes, it's completely normal for them to sleep 2-3 hour stretches but it will get better, just remember to sleep when baby sleeps. My baby is 9 weeks and about 7 weeks he started sleeping 6 hour stretches and he slept through the night for the first time on Sunday. Just make sure to wake the baby during the day every 3 hours so he's not sleeping through his feedings and will eventually start sleeping more at night.
Congrats btw.0 -
Thanks blue eyes. Congrats to you as well! I'm glad your little one slept through the night 0
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The first few weeks are the hardest. It gets easier after that
And by this I mean you just get used to being a mommy zombie :happy:
Yep! Mine are now 2 and 4 and I have been up since 4:45 and now they're both asleep in our bed!
They never slept well as babies. They were both mix fed - my son lost a lot of weight, 7lbs13 down to 6lbs7, so I had to give him formula, and my daughter fed non stop and was still hungry, and I had my son to look after too. So I had to supplement her as well. Formula made no difference whatsoever. My daughter didn't sleep through once until she was 10 months old and even now, at age 2, she wakes in the night. My son was a bit better at sleeping, he was only waking once or twice from about 6 weeks old, but he only started sleeping regularly through the night from age 3! Unfortunately my daughter wakes him up sometimes as they share a room.
Anyway, what you can do from when your baby is a bit older is to have a bit of a routine. Bath, play time, story etc. then bed.0 -
im no help since my youngest 2 have been sleeping through since they were born. my sons 8weeks and is up a lot during the day, taking cat naps and one-two long naps during the day and sleeps all night, however this does mean he eats like a piggy during the day, hes taking 4-6oz every 2 hours totaling about 32-36oz a day0
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Did you find something that worked for you?0
