Are there any other mommies out there with babies who don't sleep through the night? My DD is only 2 weeks old so I have a lot of sleepless nights ahead of me. The first week or so didn't seem to affect me too much, but recently I am exhausted! I have been recruiting DH's help more often in order to catch a few more zzz's.

I try to nap during the day when she naps, but of course she sleeps the most when we are out running errands and then she is awake at home. FIGURES! LOL

Today she and I laid down together when she was awake and after about 10 minutes, she fell asleep. I may try to do that more often.

Just thought I'd ask if any one else is feeling tired--or has any tips for catching more sleep with a baby in the house! :baby:

awwww. I remember those days. Are you bfing? I ask because I am and the first month I didn't realize Alexandra had a dairy intolerance. I didn't sleep at all for weeks and she barely did. I felt horrible that it took me so long to figure it out. :(

I don't have any tips. I did the same and had the baby sleep with me for small naps.

We do family bed but sleepless nights is what led to it. When i discovered how much easier the babies slept with me I realized how natural it was. It will get better but it will probably get worst first. Sorry. Have you found yourself begging pleeding and making bargains with the tiny baby who you know doesn't understand a word you are saying yet? All babies are different some of mine started sleeping through the night at 4 weeks and then others well Brandi is almost 8 years old and has had very few nights that she slept all night. I think we just learn to cope with it. Definatly get dh to help when he can. Ny Dh would do get up everytime with them on the weekends and that weekend with 2 uninterrupted nights of sleep helped sooooo much. It did much better than rotating I get up then he would get up. A good tip is to try to minimalize what you are doing when you get up with her. Fisher price makes a portable bottle warmer that has a place to store and keep cool bottles. The BEST investment we made. I had it down to where I wouldn't even get out of bed really. The bassinet was next to the bed so was the bottle warmer and diapers. Baby will adjust to sleeping all night better if you just get up do your biz and go back to bed. Also do not get up at every wimper if she needs to be fed she will cry. I know its hard but the first time you let her fuss a little bit and she goes back to sleep you will feel much better about it. Just my 2 cents. I have had 4 babies so I feel your pain and sleepless nights. Just remember one thing. You are a wonderful loving mother who dotes over her beautiful daughter. There's no way you can screw this up!

Yes I am sleep deprived, but it is not because of my babies, it is now because I want to love someone else's babies in my own classroom. I guess when it really boils down, it is the babies that keep us up!!! Laughing because I should be asleep instead of posting!!!:D

Yeah, I'm sleep deprived but not because of a baby, yet. I can't sleep being pregnant and I know it is only going to get worse! All I can say is rest when you can. Get your dh to help, too. Don't hesitate to ask for help.

Isaac and I have what I call "cuddle time." Most mornings that I'm not working we take a nap shortly after breakfast. It helps keep me going during the day. We lay on the sofa or bed and I "cuddle" him (so he doesn't fall off) and we snuggle for a bit - I usually get about an hour nap this way.

At about 4 weeks, when Isaac moved into his own room and crib, I instituted a "no lights" policy at night. We also do not remove him from his room unless he comes to sleep in our bed. This seems to make nightime more predictable for him, and there is less activity to stimulate him and keep him up more.

I only have one baby, but one thing I know is that they're all different. Do what works for you, you won't mess things up. AND...get dh to help whenever possible - even if it's taking over after he gets home from work so that you can get a nap in!

Originally posted by mylittle4
Have you found yourself begging pleeding and making bargains with the tiny baby who you know doesn't understand a word you are saying yet?

ROTFL! :laugh: I was just trying this yesterday!

Maria didn't sleep through the night until about a month ago, mostly due to her reflux problem. Now she sleeps 8-9 hours... usually 5-6 in her bed, and the last 2-3 in bed with me (DH works nights). Like others have said, I discovered how much better she sleeps in our bed, and it made sense for me. For a while I used a "Snuggle Nest" which is a protective little box that you can put between the adult pillows to keep the baby safe. Now, she's too big-- she wiggles out of the Snuggle Nest.

Anyways, at first she was awake every 2-3 hours all night. Many nights I ended up sleeping on the couch with her, as I could prop myself up on the end and keep her upright (for the reflux) and then we could both get some sleep.

The biggest thing that helped me was on DH's days off, I'd get 5-8 solid hours of sleep while he took care of Maria. I looked forward to his days off like you wouldn't believe! ;) A few hours of deep sleep... not light sleep while half-listening for a baby... make all the difference in the world.

Hang in there... it does get better!

Thanks for the great advice.

I have from day one kept the night-time routine very minimal. I don't turn on the lights, and she does not leave the room. I sleep in the bed in her room, so it is easy for me to pop up and change her diaper or grab her and pull her into bed with me.

I think she'd sleep better, but she wakes up about 1-2 hours after feeding with a wet diaper! Sometimes she even leaks through. I change her diaper before each feeding, but she still wets them frequently so I have to get up and change her. Luckily she usually sleeps through it or goes right back to sleep.

FYI - I am bottle feeding her with Isomil (soy)

She is starting to doze off right now, so I think I'll grab her and catch some zzz's myself! :)

Betsy,

We had a hard time with ds's diapers leaking until we realized we needed to move up a size. If you're still using newborn size diapers this is most likely the culprit of the leaks - move on to size 1's. Other than that, no other advice for now, just :hugz:. Feel free to post anything on here - I'll be happy to share my experiences if they'll help you!

Wendy

great advice ladies. morgan starts off in his bassinet, then about 1/2 way through the night he wakes and i move him to our bed. i nurse him and we fall back to sleep.:D

I have had a 1 year old and a 15 month old in the same room for the past 6 months--Karla was just sleeping through the night when Jack got here-at 11 mos his addiction still gave him night terrors. By 15 mos he was down to getting up twice most nights. So I would be ready for bed at 10, dh would wake me when he came up at 11, Jack would scream and need bottle and changing at 1 and 3 and dh alarm would go off from 4:30-5, then my alarm at 6:15. Yes, I understand sleep deprivation quite well. Since Jack left, Karla is again sleeping through the night. and I am again a human being. It does get better-and you will start sleeping through the tiny fusses and learn when you are really needed.
Best wishes----Kellie

Laci and I are in the same boat. I sleep terribly when pregnant and thus have not been sleeping well at all lately. I just can't sleep only on my left side like they say you should and I toss and turn all night.

As for babies, I swear by the book "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer." Seriously, I think that book had Julia sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. I combined her suggestions with my own common sense and it seemed to do the trick. See if your library has it.

My boys are just a year apart, so I was sleep deprived for YEARS. I can remember when they were 14 months and four weeks, respectively. I had twelve hours of sleep in FOUR DAYS. I could barely function!

Make sure to sleep when the baby sleeps. Ignore most of the housework. DH can help when he gets home.

BTW, my DH got up with us at night. He would change the babies' diapers (we had two in diapers for quite awhile) while I ran to the bathroom. He then went back to bed while I fed the baby. IMHO, DHs need to get up with the babies too. None of this, "But I have to work" nonsense. What the heck does he think YOU are doing all day--eating bon bons???!!

I didn't get many naps during the day because my boys didn't sleep at the same time until DS#1 was about 18 months old. I can tell you this: remember fantasizing about DH and alone time, or a great vacation or a new car or whatever? Well, now you will be fantasizing about SLEEP!:toothy:

First of all...CONGRATS!!! I haven't been online much and never even thanked you for the clothes you sent me :) I did email you,but I think it came back..... I had that nasty computer virus and was so fed up,I wasn't online for weeks lol But thank you!!!


I remember those first few weeks to. Dh was off for 5 weeks,so I had a lot of help :)

Jayme is now 3 months old (as of Sept 4th) and the last few weeks she has done really well at night. She goes to bed between 7:30-8:30 and doesn't wake up until 4:30-6:30..I am loving it :D
Friday night she was in bed at 8pm and didn't wake up until 7:45 Saturday morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! I got up one time to make sure she was still breathing!!!

I also do the no lights,and she nevers leaves the room.I bottle feed,so when I hear her,I get up,go heat the bottle,change her diaper,then feed her. Soon as she burps I lay her back down no matter is she's awake or not and she'll go back to sleep within 15 mins. If she does cry again..I get her up and let her know everything is ok.Sometimes I may offer her whats left in the bottle and lay her back down.She just kinda knows it's bedtime and goes right back to sleep :)

When she about 1-2 months old...she would get up every 2-3 hours and at 3am she would not go back to sleep...We started putting her in the swing so we could get some sleep ( I know it sounds bad lol). That worked for a long time with no problems :)
Now of course,we make her sleep in her bed till at least 6-7 am.....


During the day if a diff story lol She rarely sleeps for longer than an hour at a time and wants to be held and talked to a lot. But like I told Steve...I would much rather hold her during the day than at night ;)

It won't last forever.....Take naps when she does ( I think you said you did )