my preemie baby has been home from the hospital for about 3 weeks now. during the day he sleeps after every feeding. during the night, i feed him, but wont go back to sleep. i try to keep him awake during the day by washing his face with a warm washcloth, playing with his arms and legs, giving him tummy time, and opening the blinds to keep the room bright. but nothing works...hes sound asleep through it all. what should i do??
at night, after he feeds ill put him into his crib with his binky in his mouth. he'll be sucking away, but 5 min later it falls out and hes screaming. he'll do this ALL night. if i dont put him down with the binky, hes very unsettled and fidgity...and wont sleep.
is there a way to teach my preemie a way to sleep during the night and stay more awake during the day?? help!!!
i know that it seems weird but swaddling my children at that age worked like a charm. But you have to swaddle tight so that they can't startled themselves or come un wrapped. It soothed both my babies when nothing else would. Good luck.
Preemies are very delicate and unique beings. Unique among babies in the sense that, typically, they would still be in the womb, snug, comforted, and happy. Because of that, they still biologically need the sense that they are being cared for in the way that they biologically need. There is a way to care for preemies, that is based on plenty of research and studies, called Kangaroo Care. It's based on the idea that premature babies should still be care for as if they are in the womb, therefore letting them grow and develop correctly. Please, read the articles and consider if this might be what your baby needs, and good luck with parenting such a sweet, tiny little babe. http://www.prematurity.org/baby/kangaroo.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_care http://www.parenting-journals.com/26/kangaroo-care-and-pr...
I had the same problem. What worked for us is having different sleeping spots. She sleeps in the kitchen for her naps (I work full-time from home) and in her cradle in our room at night. I would have put her in her crib in her room, but it freaks me out because she doesn't make a peep during the night and has the tendency to sleep until 8am! I dress her in snuggly jammies at night, and in lighter clothes during the day. She doesn't use a pacifer - but that is her choice. We tried giving her one to no avail. Good luck!
How do you feel about letting baby sleep in bed with you? That is what completely fixed my problem, and I love cuddling with my son!! It's awesome! The Sleep Book by Dr. Sears and Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution are great books that can help you too!
Try this too....
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp
I would also be very careful with Babywise with any baby, but esp. a premie!!
http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/1...
http://www.ezzo.info/AAP/aap_media_alert.htm
http://www.ezzo.info/babywise.htm
http://www.nospank.net/granju2.htm
My daughter was not premature but I too had the same issues after I brought mt daughter home from the hospital. After many people suggestiong the book "Baby Wise" I finally went and bought it. The book walks through step by step on how to get your baby to sleep through the night. At 5 weeks she was sleeping through the night. it was hard in the beginning putting her on such a strict schedule but eventually she got use to it and now reminds me when its time to feed and nap.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions about the book or the schedule I put her on just let me know.
Hi C.
I had the same problem when my 3 1/2yr old daughter was a premmie (she was 10 wks early, c-section). Your son is going to sleep most of the day anyway as he is trying to catch up but noise is the key. A fan, white noise of any kind. There was so much noise in the NICU that they get used to that even to sleep at at night. See what happens when you keep it real quiet just to make sure that is the problem. It is hard to keep a baby up. Just remember: This too shall pass.
Hi C.,
I know this will be long, so bare with me, it'll be worth the read....
Thinking back to before birth... your baby was still tucked inside your warm tight uterus. There was constant motion. Even when your were completely still, your lungs and diaphragm were still moving, gently swaying the baby. It was also very noisy in there, loud like a vacuum cleaner. Ever gone underwater in the bathtub and tapped the side of the tub, it was loud right? Moms heartbeat is amplified by the water. The wooshing of the air moving in your lungs, not to mention the digestion and gurgling of your intestine creates a pretty noisy surrounding. This is ALL that baby had known until the NICU. It is also very loud there, people touching and moving your son. He was good at blocking it out and sleeping.
So, baby is born. Daytime is filled with noise & motion, TV's, radios, car rides, baths, in and out of people arms. This is when baby is most relaxed and sleeps better simply because it is closest to the environment of the womb.
Now night comes... it's cooler, it's quiter, it's dark, we put baby on a flat, firm, non-moving surface to sleep and they say to us "NO WAY!" This is a very typical infant response. That is why so many people tell you it's normal.
The good news is we can help them rest pretty easily. You need to get "The Happiest Baby on the Block." By Dr. Harvy Karp. The DVD is best, but if you are a book person you can get that as well. I HIGHLY recommend it! It make so much sense when you get right down to it. Basically until your son is 3 months old (gestationally, not in real life age) he is mentally not ready to sooth himself. So Dr. Karp teaches us how to realate to these tiny babies, how to calm them, and help them sleep longer. He calls the "5 S's" his "Cuddle Cure". I'm not sure where you are, but I have a copy if you want to come into the store and watch it.
I am a certified "Happiest Baby" instructor. If you want to chat - give me a call. ###-###-####
and most of all .... CONGRATULATIONS on the new baby!
J. www.everymotherandchild.com
C., I feel for you! I have a 3-month-old, but she's been very easy to deal with, and started sleeping through the night two weeks ago. I contribute my success (and hers, of course) in this area to following the program described in the book "On Becoming Babywise." I also used the book with my first two kids, and recommend it to anyone who wants to sleep at night.
If I were you, I'd definitely make the purchase and keep this book as a standby. I still refer to it often, and it's such a blessing to our family!
Try doing things in the opposite order. If you bath at night do it during the morning. See if that helps.
I agree with both Lynn and Tiffanie. Both my babies had day/night reversal, and needed feeding and sleep schedules to get them on track.
I've also read that preemies take longer because of developmental/neurological reasons, so you may have to tough it out longer than other Moms {{ sorry:( }}
I liked Babywise, because I liked the schedule. Babywise isn't really as strict if you put the emphasis on the "flexability" side of it. What I learned after my first baby, though, is you can only do so much to keep a newborn awake. They just need so much sleep at first!
Wishing you "sweet dreams" soon!
T
I C.. I had my daughter at 30 weeks. 1lb 13 oz. She came home after 8 weeks in the NICU. I quickly learned that days and nights meant NOTHING to her. I just had to tell myself that it was just a 24 hour job and that I needed to sleep when I could round the clock as well. I did try to keep the stimulation at night to a minimum, but she actually seemed to sleep better with stuff going on. It was like she was over stimulated in the day and slept to avoid it. At night, she was free to be awake without being overwhelmed. Just a thought. She did eventually work it out, but it was rough for awhile. If you can, just let go of the day/nigt notion. He'll figure it out eventually.
What worked for me was really focusing on him seeing the light when we are awake and at night time keeping it as dark as possible (weused a littlt night light still. Didnt take long at all and he sleeps about 12hrs at night now!!!
Hi C., have you tried swaddling him tightly? Sometimes this helps by giving the baby a secure feeling which relaxes him. I would also suggest a very well kept schedule of feeding, bathing and napping even with his days and nights mixed up. Best of luck to you.
I am a nicu nurse and agree with many of the others advice. Your baby needs more noise. Even in the quietest of nicu's there is still so much noise that they get used to. Try music, or a tape/cd recording of different sounds around the house. (dryer, vaccuum, beeping, tv, or white noise) also try tight swaddling or even a swaddle blanket. Many nicu's also elevate your baby's bed. I used a inclined side sleeper for my boys. Some baby's like swings or bouncers with vibration. We get many calls after baby's are dc'd home asking about this same problem. This is the advice we give to our desperate mommies. The best of luck, hope you enjoy your new little one.
Because he was a preemie, it may take him longer to "catch up" When was he due?
It sounds to me you are doing exactly what I would do, maybe try not to feed him so much during the day that he doesn't get that full feeling right away which also equals sleeping. feed a little to take the edge off, then play and talk and sing, then finish feeding him to go to nap. I also always woke my girls up to eat during the day, even if they were still asleep, but at night, the slept until they got up. At night, make sure the lights are low, and do not engage him. Just feed him, change him, back to bed with a little kiss.
Hope that helps and he'll figure it out soon! In the meantime, nap with him!
Hi C., I read a book called on becoming baby wise. My baby has been sleeping through the night since 8 weeks old it teaches you to get into a pattern of feeding baby keeping baby awake then puting baby down for a nap with no sleeping props. I still give my baby girl the binky but I don't put it back after it falls out because when I did she would cry for me to put it back in and it was so hard. I also try to take it out after I lay her down and she is calm. This book has helped my friend also so I know if you read it and apply it. It will work but I don't do everything because if I let her cry it out she won't stop she will go for an hour or more. Hope I helped some. M.
Hello C., how r u? My name is Nichol and I have a 6mos old daughter now, I had the same problem for the first 6weeks and the Dr. told me it's normal you just have to bare with it for up to the first 3mos there's nothing you can do and so on, but thankfully after taking some advice I started just going in and laying her down in her crib shutting off the lights and letting her cry it out for about 10min I told my self if she fusses over 10min then I'll come back for her, of course unless the cry sounded any thing out of the ordinary bedtime cry then go back right away, but thankfully before the 10min was up she was sound asleep. Of course it helped feeding her right before bed too, but I did see someone mentioned something about a happiest baby DVD and I don't think that would hurt to check out either. Hope I could be of some help:)
