What's your baby's sleep like? Jack is an angel during the day - eats, awake for a tiny bit then sleeps for good 2.5 hours, 3 times during the day. Then 12-1am hits and he is crazy - he will have his feeding and continue to be fussy, then not go down until just an hour before he has to eat again. Then he does the same thing at the next feeding around 4am - it has been 3 nights of this and I am exhausted - why is he so good during the day and crazy demon baby at night??
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Do you think he maybe has his nights and and days reversed?
What are you doing when he wakes at night?
Just remember the parenting mantra : "this too shall pass!"!!
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@regberadaisy: i'm assuming he does have his nights and days mixed up - he gets his "long" stretches of sleep during the day (2-2.5 hours) but is so easy to fall asleep after a feed but at night, his feeds are fussy, then he's fussy after he's done feeding - it's been a real challenge lately. When he wakes at night for his feeding, I offer him both breasts, then a bottle after, and there's a diaper change in between - and he's still hard to put down. This morning after his 4am feed, i was so desperate for sleep i went into the living room and put him in the swing and got about 2 hours of sleep out of it. I can't think of what I'm doing wrong.
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@chibee: I really don't think you're doing anything wrong! Do you do the same during the day? (Both breasts, diaper change)? You could try waking him up before he sleeps so long, see if it helps?
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@chibee: There's no rhyme or reason to babies! So don't think you're doing anything wrong.
The only thing I can think of is during the day are you keeping whatever room he's in relatively lit? And keeping the room dark at night, etc?
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@chibee: yeah it seems like he has his days and nights reversed. I agree w keeping feedings in lit places w noise during the day and at night keeping the room dark and boring. Are sleep conditions the same for naps and night? (Location) are you swaddling and or using white noise?
Eta are you waking him to eat at night? From your original post it sounds like u might be or is it that he will wake 1 hr after falling asleep?
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I agree with all these ladies...sounds like day and night reversal...so sorry you're dealing with this! I know you mentioned on the August pp thread that you wanted to keep him up to finish a feed during the night but maybe the diaper change is too stimulating for him? I used to change LOs diaper at every wake up/feeding day and night but he sleeps better now that I don't change his diaper at his middle of the night feeds.
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@regberadaisy: we try to stay in the well lit rooms (the living room by the bay window etc) during the day, and he naps in the rock and play in the living room, and at night we turn the lights low and put him down in the pack n play in our bedroom.
@kodybear: we swaddled for the first couple nights and now he decided he hates it and will squirm and cry until i free him - and white noise didn't do too much for him either. and nope - i don't wake him up for his feeds - i have never needed to, if i'm lucky he's pretty on cue with waking up for his feeding or in the case of the last couple days, he will just wake up every hour.
@Apples4Teacher: i usually change him now right after he wakes up and then i'll feed him and try to put him back to bed. I would skip but he has been fighting a horrendous diaper rash so i have to change him quite frequently. Thankfully it has gotten so much better but im scared it'll come back!!
Annnnd i've jinxed myself - he hasn't napped properly all day and is fussy.
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@chibee: oh is it just that he likes sleeping in the rock n play best? Could u try having him sleep there at night too in ur room?
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@kodybear: that's what we started out with - the rock n play used to be in our room and he really didn't love it either - so we tried the pack n play, not loving that either. He just loves naps (not today of course) and hates night sleep!! I'm thinking of maybe putting him in the crib tonight - is it too early to put him in his crib??
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@chibee: our guy has been in his crib since day one. it was incredibly hard and it wouldn't have been that way if not for my husband, who really thought it was best. he does his longest sleeps there, and we keep the room super dark and there are no noises from us. it may work for you!
ETA: it doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong at all. DS just barely started doing a regular sleep 'schedule' this past week (and of course i probably jinxed it too by saying so) of a good 3-4 hour chunk, and then another two 2 hour or so chunks.
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@chibee: both our kids have been in their cribs in their own room since day one so not too early! I can't sleep in the same room as them bc I wake up to every little noise they make! It's worth a shot but yeah I don't think you're doing anything wrong. I think it took a couple weeks to get a long stretch (I think I'm 3 weeks ahead of u). Fwiw my routine is feed swaddle white noise lights off then put in crib. Bedtime is the same but w a bath first.
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@chibee: I don't have any advice bc I am totally there with ya. How old is your LO? My guys are almost 4 weeks old and every night is something different than. The other night, they slept in pretty regular 3 hour stretches, woke to feed, and went back to sleep (except I have to hold one up longer than the other since one has reflux issues. Then the last few nights, one will wake to feed, and be fussy and the other will cry to feed and both will be fussy.. And I'll only have maybe half an hour to relax/sleep before it all starts back up again.
And last night, Dh and I decided to try and both wake up for feedings, so we could each take a baby, do a feed, and go back to sleep faster than it would be if it was one person taking the shift. It'd work well in theory but since they were fussy at different points, we were both waking to everything.
We are sleeping in the family room.. Which makes for less restful nights too. We are going to try and put them in the nursery in their crib tonight. Hopefully that works out OK tonight. I'm feeling anxiety with the thought of being separated from them tonight. -
Any advice for how to get longer stretches of sleep? Why can he nap 3-4 hours in the car seat while running errands (the motion I'm guessing) and then at night it's up every 2 hours.
@chibee: we are moving him to the crib in the nursery soon. As soon as we can stretch his sleep out to three hours. DH isn't sleeping well with us getting up all the time. Also little man grunts in his sleep all the time!
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@T.H.O.U.: I wish there was a magic recipe for longer baby sleep
I think it helps us to not have him in our room, since we don't hear the tiny noises and DS sometimes settles himself back down.
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@msmug: i give you serious credit - i'm having a hard time managing one and here you are with two - what am i complaining about? you're right though every night it's something different!
@T.H.O.U.: if you ever figure out this longer stretches of sleep at night thing let me know - bc he will nap beautifully during the day and fall asleep immediately after a feeding but at night - a complete nightmare.
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@chibee: do you have any semblance of a routine yet? If I were to guess this is about what ours is like.
8 am wake and have a poop and stretch. He always feels better after this is and awake and happy for a bit.
10-11 am morning nursing sometimes this is more like a feeding at 9 and 11.
Morning nap
2pm feed
Awake and play or little car naps until nurse again at 4 pm
Nap from 5-7. He seems to sleep best at night if he gets this good two hour nap.
Eat, play, bath, Jammies, stretch
Nurse again before bed around 8:30-9. Which is when I go to bed too. If we are lucky he will stay down until 12 or 1.
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@T.H.O.U.: i'm not sure bc every night is a bit different but in general this is how it goes:
7-8am wake up, nurse, then usually nap until next feed
11am wake up, nurse, another nap
2pm wake up, nurse, awake for some period of time and nap
5pm wake up, nurse, awake for a while
7pm nurse, maybe a bath, possibly fall asleep again
10pm nurse, try to put him down at this time but not always successful
1am nurse, this is when i usually try to go to bed, and this is when i hope for the "long" stretch of sleep for him
4:30 ish nurse, then he goes down pretty easy after this
Jack sleeps a lot and often - just never for long stretches at night which is what kills me, and i don't have the heart to keep him awake during the day bc he just seems so tired! and his nursing sessions are usually almost an hour - between nursing, supplementing with a diaper change in between somewhere and he has to stay upright for 15 min after a feeding, it's exhausting.
I think it helps us to not have him in our room, since we don't hear the tiny noises and DS sometimes settles himself back down.
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