My 1 Month Old Baby Won't Sleep at ALL at Night

I feel for you! It sounds like your daughter has her days and nights confused. My son did this as well, but he grew out of it at three weeks, and it wasn't as severe as you are explaining. He would wake up around 8pm and go back to sleep around 3am. My doctor said you just have to work with them and keep them up as long as possible during daylight hours. She suggested taking him outside for walks and to public places where there was bright light (not for extended amounts of time but enough to make them want to see what is up) and making enough noise where he would not be able to sleep. We did that for about two weeks and he slowly day by day got better. I know it is rough and you feel extremely exhausted. Do you have anyone around you that can come in and help you out for a night or two during the week? My mother-in-law would come over on the weekends for the first month to let us get some sleep. There are several articles online that give you tips too, you should look it up. Good Luck.

You mentioned that she has gas. Are you giving her any gas drops, If you aren't you might want to try Colic Tablets from Hylands which they make the teething tablets which are 100% all natural, they have there website. Gripewater helps as well which is all natural as well or Little Tummies gas Drops which was the only thing that really helped as well as what I mentioned above. Mylicon DID NOT work at all, It was a waste of money..

Good Luck to you and I hope this helps.
This too shall pass. Swaddling does help as well.

I'm so sorry! I'm sure you are exhausted! I have a 6 week old little boy and he was awake some at night. One thing that I did was only swaddle him at night. Not sure if you are swaddling, but that helps.

During the day I would not swaddle him so that he could not sleep as sound as he did at night. I would also have him sleep during the day out in the living room with all the noise. I didn't try to be quiet or anything. He would be swaddled and in the bedroom at night.

I hope this helps. Now I am dealing with a baby that won't nap in his crib, so that is a whole new ball of wax!

Good luck and congratulations!

I let my baby sleep on her belly (I know, gasp! :)), but that is totally up to you. I would not nurse her to sleep because then she depends on that especially as she get's older. I woke my newborns up every 3 hours during the day and fed them. Because of this, both of my girls are great night sleepers. I would even have to strip them down sometimes, but usually changing the diaper woke them up enough. Good luck girl. It will get better soon! Hang in there.

I have two sets of twins and went through the same thing with both. My best friend in the whole world is the FisherPrice Aquarium bouncer. It has soothing music and the vibration puts a smile on their face. It also keeps them elevated at the head. I fed them in the chairs or put them in the bouncer right after feeding so they stayed upright for at least 20 minutes; helps digestion. You can gently rock them to help them sleep and the vibration will help to keep them that way. Your baby has her days & nights mixed up. You can read all kinds of books about proper sleep habits, but first you have to get the baby to sleep some during the night so that you can keep her up some during the day. So use the bouncy chair, the Mylicon drops and everything you can to get her to sleep - try letting her sleep on your chest with her tummy on your chest. And yes swaddling definitely helped my babies. Once you can get your baby to get some rest at night then it will be easier during the day to keep her awake some. Try to keep her awake after feedings during the day. of course she wants to drift off to sleep, but do all you can to keep her awake; massage her hand and arm, talk to her, pick her up, use cold wipe across the arm and tummy - start with 5 minutes and keep trying to expand the time awake after feeding during the day until you can get to 45 minutes. If you can't get a friend to come help so you can sleep, then consider hiring a night nanny once or twice during the week to help you get some rest. It will get better, but you have to get the baby to sleep some during the night and then work on getting her to sleep less during the day. good luck

F.,

let me reassure you that this is very normal behavior for many babies. That's kinda like saying, yeah that pain is normal have a nice life. So What can you do about it is the real question.

All babies have immature intestines, are surprised at the discomfort of passing gas since they don't know how, and are on a real learning curve about the whole eating, sleeping, eliminating skills since they never had to address them before birth.

As a pediatric and lactation consultant the first thing I teach my new moms is feed frequently without supplementation during the day. As in every 2 hours. If you feed small amounts, they will wake up. Overfeeding sometimes causes a baby to sleep too long during the day. At night avoid any stimulation other than feeding, keep the room with low lighting, keep them swaddled, change the diaper before not after the feeding and put them immeadiately in the crib or bassinet after. This really works.

Pressure on the tummy and baby on the tummy are one in the same, they were used to it in the womb and it helps them to feel secure. But because of sids we cannot sleep babies this way, no matter what.

Try the Miracle blanket. It swaddles securely but allows the legs to be free and doesn't use velcro so it can last from now until 1 year old if you need it.

Dr Karp talks about this and I teach a Happiest Baby onthe Block class utilizing his techniques. They really work.
I have a 4 week old grandson and my ddil didn't really believe me before, after a Sunday day long demonstration she is a believer.

I would be happy to talk to you and demonstrate the techniques if you would like. You can find me at The Nestingplace ###-###-####

K. @ The Nestingplace

Try co sleeping with her next to you or nursing her to sleep.

My six month old was the same way! The only thing that worked for us was to put him in bed with us at night. It was the only thing that seemed to work. For the gas, I would recommend two things 1. Mylicon drops 2. Elevating your baby in the bed...they have wedges that you can buy at Babies r Us but something that puts her head more upright. If you really get desperate two more tricks a good car ride and then let her sleep in her car seat in her crib or try running doing some laundry and putting her car seat on the top of the machine - the vibration is quite soothing. I know how hard it is to function with no sleep - hang in there! Mine straightened himself out in about 1 1/2 weeks. Good luck!

I have a suggestion about your baby sleeping on her belly. There's a baby monitor called the AngelCare Baby Monitor. It monitors baby's movement (including breathing). If there is no movement- if baby stopped breathing- the alarm goes off. It gives parents peace of mind if the baby prefers sleeping on the belly- or when they get old enough to roll over and then there's not much you can do about them sleeping on their bellies. Here's a website with info on the monitor and some testamonials... http://www.dynamic-living.com/wireless_baby_monitor.htm.

Hope this helps- I didn't use it but nannied for someone who did. They loved it. Of course, I have a video monitor and can't imagine life without it- I love seeing my little on on the video.