Sleepy Baby - Pearland,TX

I don't know if any other mothers have mentioned this, but I found what helped out a lot was a bath before bedtime. I've been bathing my lil guy at night since he was born. He started sleeping through the night at about 10 weeks. And I too also let him sleep on his tummy. I know it's been said that it's not good and could be dangerous, but my son just wouldn't sleep in any other position. Even now my son is 11 months and I have to lay him down on his tummy or he wakes up. He rolls around in his crib on his own back and forth all night long, changing positions until he gets comfortable again.

I used the baby wise method on all 3 of my very different kids and it worked on all 3. They still put themselves down for naps and put themselves to sleep at night. They are now 6, 4, and 2. I am a child development specialist and I recommend this book to any new mom out there. All of my friends have used it very successfully. Use your common sense and try to follow the method 80% of the time and you will be fine.

On Becoming Baby Wise by Ezzo.

There are a lot of great reviews. Unfortunately there are a lot of negative too by those who feel like this method is harsh - not rocking too much and letting baby cry a little to fall asleep. Trust me in that I would not have used it if I thought in any way I was harming my babies. Just remember this: Train your child to sleep and you have done him a great favor that will follow him for life. You can bond with your child more when he is awake on this method. Let your baby release a little pent up energy by crying a little. Better to cry now for 5 minutes than at 9 months for an hour.

It is not the only method out there but I believe it is the best. My husband even read the book. Hope this helps.

H.,
My son was the same way. I know it's hard. My husband didn't help either. Try to sleep during the day when he does. I would let my son sleep with me too and just nurse him in bed. Good luck. I would love to come help you out. I am yearning for another newborn. Good luck.

God Bless,
J.

Hey there H.!
Congrats on your little one! If you ever get a chance I would highly recommend going to kpft archives and reading/listening to some wholemother archived shows. Recently there was a show about sleep patterns in infants and how as a society we put so much pressure on mom and baby for the baby to "sleep through the night" even when it isnt developmentally appropriate for a baby to do that just yet. As a matter of fact, studies show its not natural for sleeping through the night to happen until after the age of 2. I mean, it sometimes does happen well before that (it did with mine), but it is entirely normal and ok for babies to be wakeful. I wish I could explain this philosophy better, but Wholemother can do it! I think you've got the right idea when you talk about "nap nursing" then everybody gets more rest!
Take care
A. -mom to Dominic (9) and Julian (6)

My baby did the same thing; my understanding is that some kids just have their days and nights confused when they are little. For me, at night I put him in his swing and he slept in the swing and I slept next to him on the couch. If I was really desperate, I put him in the bed with us (I didn't want this to become a habit, though. I have a friend who has a 6, 3, and 1 year old who are still in the bed with them and I didn't want that!). I was afraid that I would never get to sleep in my own bed again! For some reason, he just wouldn't sleep at night in his bassinet.
But just wait a few weeks, and they somehow even themselves out. It does get better! And he'll start to sleep longer and longer at night. My son started sleeping through the night about 3 months, after we put him in his crib in his own room. Appearantly, he just couldn't sleep well in our room. Or, that's what we decided.
It seems that everybody says that the first six weeks are the hardest. At about 7 or 8 weeks, I noticed that it really had gotten a lot easier. You're almost there!

Breastfed babies tend to eat more often. It is digested much quicker. Congrats on choosing to breastfeed. It is really worth it though it is tough at times. It may not work for you but it worked wonders with both of my children. I put them first at night to bed in the crib, then I move them to my bed when they wake up and basically they can latch on and I still sleep. Not everyone agrees with that but when you are really exhausted it really does work wonders. Also don't expect the baby to sleep through the night at 8 weeks. That is extremely early. My 9 month old just started sleeping through the night and my first didn't start till she was over a year old. It will get better, and you are probably putting to much stress on yourself, just relax and take it all in. It will get easier, and right now your body is trying to adjust and he is trying to adjust to the outside world.

At this young age, babies need to sleep, so let him sleep during the day. Now, at about 5:00 and after, try and keep him up. Turn on the lights, play jumpy music, turn on the tv, talk to him alot, invite people over to "pass the baby" around...you know what I mean...do whatever safe measures it takes to keep him up. Then around 8:00 or 8:30, feed him well, and let him go to sleep. This should tide him over for a few more hours than usual. At around 6 to 8 weeks, we put cereal in with the bottle and this helped our baby girl feel more full, only at night. We only put a pinch or two...just enough to change the consistancy of the formula or breast milk. Don't put alot of cereal in the bottle, ONLY ENOUGH TO BARELY CHANGE THE CONSISTANCY. Hope this helps.

I'm sending this as a private message so as to avoid the potential backlash from other moms but the only thing that helped me with getting my baby girl to sleep for an extended period was by putting her to sleep on her tummy. She was in a bassinet right next to our bed so I was literally inches away. They say not to but it was the only thing that worked for me. There are still nights where she gets up frequently because that's what breastfed babies do. I know it's tough, I cried every night for 2 weeks because I was frustrated/exhausted, but trust me when I say that you're doing the right thing by breastfeeding. Keep it up...he's right on track and doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing. Good luck, H.. Soon the lack of sleep will all be a distant memory.

H. - don't dispair, you and your child are not alone. You are right, many babies do sleep really well, then there are ones that don't. So, don't stress. I am a first-time mom with a 2 yr old son and my husband bought me the best book I could have ever had - "Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Dr.(???), sorry I forget and let a friend borrow it. But it has been around for a while (the Dr. wrote it in the 70's I believe). It was a life-saver and really helped my son at his different ages.

Eventually, I promise, they sleep through the night; at least most of the night!

God Bless!

My 5 month old is just officially starting to sleep thru the night. He started to for a short stint around 3-4 months, then we had problems with some blood in his diapers and had to put him on hypoallergenic formula for a week or so, and then he stopped his progress on sleeping until about 2 weeks ago. A couple things to remember is that:

1) nursing babies tend to eat more often than formula fed babies. My little guy goes on stints where he eats every 30 minutes to 2 hours STILL. (keep in mind that breastmilk digests in less than 2 hours)

2) The medical definition of "sleeping through the night" is not what many new parents think. It is defined simply by the ability to sleep for a five-hour stretch, even if that stretch begins at 7 pm and ends at midnight.

3) (Maybe the most important) Every baby is different, and some sleep through the night earlier than others (schedules or food usually have nothing to do with this). Your baby may be hungry or he may just want time with you. The most popular myth (and I've even heard it perpetuated by my pediatrician's nurse) is that introducing solids (earlier or even when the baby is showing signs of being ready) will help them sleep through the night. Or worse yet, adding cereal to the bottle (which is exceedingly dangerous and unnecessary). This is just that - a myth. Studies have shown it has no effect on babies sleeping through the night. My son's sleep pattern has not changed one iota since we started him on solids. The correlation, in my opinion, comes in that babies will sleep through the night when they're ready - which frequently is about the time that people start introducing solids to them. That leads me to..

4) Babies will sleep through the night when they're ready to. There's little to nothing that can actually effectively be done to make a baby sleep in a way other than the schedule they've put themselves on. Eventually it can be adjusted with some efforts, but they have an internal clock that doesn't really respond to outside stimuli.

I know everyone tells you this (or at least they tell me), but if you're home with the baby, sleep when he does (especially during the day)... eventually it WILL get better... =)

Sorry for the long post – Good luck! =)

Well...I'm not THAT experienced, but I'll try to help anyway. My lil guy is now 10 months, and I remember like it was yesterday the things you are going through. All I could do was tough it out, until he put himself on a schedule. My doctor told me to let him sleep, but regulate his feeding times so that he would get onto a schedule. That's what I did and he put himself on a schedule to where he was eating every 3 hours, taking an am and pm nap, going to bed around 8-830pm and waking at about 7-8am, but he woke at night about every 4 hours. That's all the advice that I have...your baby will eventually get his days and nights straight. I hope this was helpful to you!

Congrats on the new baby!!! I know exactly what your going through it is normal though. I have two children and my son never woke up in the middle of night, even when he wasw a newborn,he is 2 now. I just had my daughter 4 months ago and she wakes up every 4 hours to feed.. So i know exactly what your going through just tuff it out...he will get the hang of it pretty soon. Hope this helps and congrats again!!!

Hi H., this web-site might help you feel better about your son sleeping all the time. That is totally normal. Eventually your he will be up more during the day. Once you notice that he is wanting to stay awake more then maybe you can get him to stay up during the day and sleep at night, he will eventually figure out day and night.

Hang in there,
J.

http://www.babycenter.com/baby/babysleep/babysleepbasics/...

Well.. I have 5 children. The first 1 slept through the night at about 3 months. #2 slept throught the night from day one! I had to wake her to feed her. #3 by about 2 months. #4 about 2 months and #5 not until she was 3 1/2 and now she is 5 and she still wakes occasionally .. either dreaming or just crying for no reason and needs reassurance to go back to sleep.

For a 6 week old baby your son sounds very normal. It also makes a difference breastfeeding. I breastfed all 5 of mine for 1 year each. When you breastfeed, especially in the first few months.. breastmilk is digested better than formula so the baby will be hungrier more often which is completely normal.

Instead of worrying when he'll sleep through the night.. I'd keep a bassinet near your bed and when he awakes, put him next to you and sleep/nurse. I did that with all 5 but only do so if you know you are a light enough sleeper that you won't roll on him. I could NEVER have rolled on my infants.. way too light of a sleeper for that. If they stopped sucking.. I'd wake up! But it was a great way for me to get the sleep i needed. When they finally were not feeding so often and started sleeping through the night I would move them to a crib in a separate room. For my 5 yr old who still wakes sometimes during the night.. well.. lets just say for the last 5 years.. I've slept a lot less. :) Thank God she is my last baby! ;)

Good luck and don't try to worry about what you think is "normal" .. all babies are different.. go with your gut and cherish this time.. they grow SO fast.
W.

My oldest was like that, just make sure you have it very well lighted during the day loud not to loud during the day and at night have it nice and quite and dark. It will take you a few weeks but you will get there. Remember it want happen over night but it will happen. If you know he hasnt eaten and hungry wake him to feed him.

S.

I have four kids, and they all do everything in their own time frame. My 3rd was still waking up when my 4th was sleeping through the night. (they are now 2 and 1)

I think 6 wks and even 8 wks is too early to expect it, one of those don't expect but be happy if it happens situations.

Have you thought of expressing your milk so that Dad can help out with a feeding here or there? You may want to consider it because I know you are tired at week 6...by month 3-delerium will set in! :) Not to scare you, but some babies still want night feedings after a year old and even some beyond that.

Two words of wisdom from a seasoned mom:

Always do what is right for you, your baby boy, and Daddy. Those are the three people that count most. Family, friends, strangers, and books mean well, but you have to do what works for you guys the best.

and

Never say Never!

Hang in there! Congrats!

A.
www.WorkAtHomeUnited.com/aprilhinton

Hi I'm a first time mom of a 20 month old daughter. The first few weeks were rough for us too. The problem with her was she slept too much and would never eat. So I worried the entire time and woke up every 4 hours to feed her and sometimes feeding lasted over and hour each time. So you can imagine how tired I was. I didn't breastfeed at all, but I do know from reading and friends who breastfeed that babies who are breastfeed want to eat usually about ever 2 hours, sometimes that means night time too. I wouldn't worry too much about his napping during the day 2 hours nap in the daytime isn't much, my 20 month old still takes 1 1/2 to 2 hour naps during the day. But just for your notes he should be getting about 16 hours a day sleep during the entire 24 hr day at this age. So just try to limit his naps late in the afternoon before bedtime and try a warm relaxing lavendar bath and feeding before bedtime. Remember all babies are different, some will sleep through the night at the beginning others my take a few months, and some still wake up after 1 yr old. My daughter's sleeping habits have changed and she wakes up a few nights a week just needing comfort or her paci so you never know when they'll fully sleep through the night.

Good luck

This sleep pattern is still normal for a 6 week old. They don't sleep much through the night until they are about 3 to 5 months old. Or so my daughters pediatrician says. What will help with your ehxaustion is sleep when you baby sleeps in the day. Also enlist the help from your better half cuz it is also his repsonsibility to help even at night.! Good luck!!

I know this post is a couple of weeks old, but I just read it so I thought I'd respond. I have a baby girl that is turning 3 months old tomorrow. She's a lot more difficult than my 1st child (now 6 yrs old) who was very "easy" and didn't require constant attention, like this one did at first. HOWEVER, we've been doing the "feed to wake" schedule, which someone may have already mentioned. Anyway, it's worked GREAT for our daughter and helps to keep her awake for longer periods of time (during the day) and establishes more of a "schedule" with her, which has, in turn started helping her towards sleeping at longer stretches during the night. Basically what you do is instead of nursing your baby to sleep, you feed him pretty much as soon as he wakes up from his naps during the day. Kinda goes like this: Morning: baby wakes up and eats right away (or as soon as possible) then after eating/burping, etc. baby plays and enjoys visual stimulation, attention, and the usual stuff you do while he's awake for about an hour and a half until he starts getting tired. Then put him down for a nap and hopefully he'll sleep for at least 1.5 hrs and when he wakes the process starts over. (fyi - I still help my daughter get to sleep by rocking her some - just works better for her...but I do try to put her in her crib when she is not totally asleep so she can hopefully learn to soothe herself somewhat.) Anyway, this doesn't always work perfectly as sometimes your baby may start to get tired earlier, BUT the reason this is supposed to work is because once baby has eaten, he will supposedly respond better to visual stimulation and playtime, enabling him to stay interested and awake longer. Of course, attention span is pretty much nothing at this point, but just alternate stimuli...playmat, tummy time, bouncer, you holding him and talking to him, etc. Anyway, if you want more info on this method, I think it's just called "Feed to Wake" and supposedly is better than "feed to sleep" though it may take some adjusting. But this has really worked for us and we're on our way to even eliminating that nighttime feeding - she only wakes up once now and sleeps better at night. BTW - when you nurse him at night (I'm sure you know this already) but try to not talk and/or play with him much and keep the lights as low as possible. I always either don't talk or talk in this monotone voice to my daughter when she wakes up. After she's done nursing, I'll hold her for a very short bit and rock her slightly then put her right back in bed. Good luck - hope things get better!! I know it's tough, believe me!! It's been 6 yrs since I've had a newborn, so it's been awhile but coming back to me!

-L.

I had the same problem. They eventually get on a schedule and will sleep. The main thing is for you to just relax. Let him do what he wants and just try to get some rest when you can. It will get better! My baby is 2 Months now.

I heard On Becoming Baby Wise by Ezzo works. I didn't use it. My baby started going to sleep once I quit worrying about it. Since she was 1 month she finally started going to sleep at 10-11pm and waking up at 5-6am which works well with my schedule. It is important to start doing the same pattern with him every night. At 7-10 weeks he might start doing it but remember he's a baby so there will be some nights when he wakes up. But if he will sleep for 7 hours then he's sleeping thru the night!

I am not going to read through all the responses so I am sorry if I repeat something they already told you. I may have a couple no one thought of.

I have had light sleepers too. Things to try-

1. No nightlights!! One slept after I took them out! LOL

2. More frequent feedings in pm (every hour if they ask for it) Space out the morning and early afternoon feedings if possible so they can 'tank up' in pm. Worked for 2 of my 3.

3. Their own room and own bed! They may stir but won't fully wake when anything disturbs them.
4. Don't open the door to check on them--leave it cracked so you can do this. Yes one of mine even woke up when you opened the door to check oh her. :-/
5. watch what you eat. Some meals (spicy, caffine, tomato) can upset tummies and they may not cry so much as not rest well.
6. If all else fails don't do any baby vitamens--this kept one kid up and I had to just stop them for a little while so we could all get some sleep! He was up every hour with unsettled stomach- not crying just awake. ugh
7. Routine, routine, routine. Did I say routine? LOL Get one and it will eventually all fall into place. For instance I put baby in swing every day at 4 to fix supper. They knew that was time for a short cat nap. I moved them to the walker (while I fixed supper) at around 4 months when they could hold their head up good and really did not need that catnap.

fwiw my middle one never slept through the night till she was 2 1/2. She got up every night at around 1-2 for a drink. All the 'remedies' in the world did not convince her. She accepted nothing but real milk- mine or cows. So for first year she got me/formula for a snack, then got cow. LOL I could not even dilute it. She was adamant.

In the long run though she turned out to be a good sleeper. She just could not get through a whole night without that few minutes of comfort and I gladly gave it. I mean once you become a mom that baby is your primary 'job' next to God and hubby. ;-)
good luck
ts

For the first 2 or 3 months of my baby's life, she slept with me. It was so much easier: if she woke up, I gave her a breast and fell back asleep.

But then I discovered about putting baby's on a schedule. I wish I had known what I know now. Six weeks old might be a bit young for putting on a strict schedule, but here's something you can try. Never nurse him to sleep, except at bed time. When you nurse him, keep him a wake after that, and then put him down to sleep. When he wakes up, nurse him as soon as he's hungry (which will probably be soon after waking). Then keep him awake again, etc. At night, if he wakes up, just feed him (in your bed, if you want) and put him immediately back to bed (if you're still awake to do it). Something about this routine regulates their sleep patterns at night and helps them sleep longer through the night. I don't know how it works, but it works, and that's all that matters!

Hope this helps!

L.

I feel for you honey. Sometimes babies get their nights and days mixed up and it take about two months for them to get them back right. Don't stress too much and try to sleep when your baby does. Later in the evening you could also try to keep him awake through the fussiness for a little while and see if it helps him sleep better at night. It won't last for ever.

I had the same problem with my 6year old. he would want to sleep all day and play all night!! What I started doing was during the day I would keep him preoccupied. I would put him in the swing with the mobile attached over his head. (make sure you have one with batteries, trust me!!) I also attached toys that made noise to the side of his playpen and that would help. Of course, he still slept alot because he was so young. At night, I started adding some baby cereal to his bottle. My pedi said that was fine. That would make him fuller to where he wasn't hungry every two hours. I also played slow soft music in his bed room with the lights very dim. I never turned off the lights during the day while he was napping. I hope it works..

I have had 3 and in a few weeks will have 4 kids. I hate to break it to you but your son's sleeping habits sound completely normal. I will tell you that with all my children for the first 6-8 weeks I allowed them to sleep in the bed with my husband and I or kept their bassinet directly next to my side of the bed. When they slept with us I just had to wake enough to guide them to the breast that was in need of the most nursing, once they got started I would usually let myself doze back off till they finished and then would just roll them on their tummy for a quick burp and then back to sleep for all of us. I found that if I had them sleeping somewhere that required me to get up and walk to get them then I would wake up more and that would cause me to have a harder time settling back down to sleep. Also take my advice about this if your son sleeps for longer periods during the day then forget the housework and nap with him. The biggest complaint I always hear about from friends that are new moms is that they are always so tired. I laugh and ask them if their house is as clean as it was before they had the baby. I have gotten some strange looks for that question but the answer is usually yes. I tell them let the detail cleaning go for now and plan simple quick meals that dont require alot of prep or cleanup time. Take naps when you can get them and rest assured that eventually not usually at 8 wks but eventually your son will start sleeping longer at night.

Hi H.,

I have a 15 month old daughter, so it seems like it has been an eternity since I have had to deal with the sleep deprivation, but I can tell you that babies can and do sleep through the night at that age. My daughter was breast-fed and she slept 8 hours per night for the first time at 5 weeks old and by the time she was 8 weeks old, she was sleeping 10 hours per night pretty consistently. Now she sleeps 11-12 hours per night (and by sleeping through the night, I mean she never wakes up and cries at all). While I don't think this is necessarily normal and certainly doesn't happen with all kids, you can get your baby to start sleeping at least a little longer by doing a few things.

First, you should try very hard to feed them more often in the evening hours and close to bedtime (we used to put my daughter to bed for the night at around 10-11pm when she was that age). This way, you know that they have had plenty to eat and shouldn't "need" to eat again in an hour. Now, this is where the tough part comes in. Even at 6 weeks old, you have to be able to let them cry for a few minutes at a time to see if they can get themselves back to sleep. That doesn't mean ignore him or starve him, but try to give him a couple of minutes after he wakes up before you run right into his room (or to the bassinett if he is still in your room). If you do have to go in there, try rubbing his tummy or back to calm him without picking him up. If he uses a pacifier, put it back in his mouth and try to soothe him until he calms down or falls back to sleep. It may seem like it would be easier to just pick him up and feed him at the time, but a few nights of this routine can save HOURS later on when they expect to be fed in the middle of the night at 6, 8, 10 months old because that's what they have always gotten. If you have tried to soothe him and he is persistent, then you may have to feed him. (Also, if he has slept for like 3-4 hours and wakes up, then I would think you may need to feed him...I'm just recommending self soothing for the every hour or two wakeup when he should't necessarily be starving)

Second, if you haven't moved him into his own bed yet, I would do that. You will all sleep better (even your sleepy head husband), if you don't hear every little noise each other makes. This is especially true for the mommies because as I'm sure you've noticed, we hear everything and daddies hear very little. My peidatrician recommended moving my daughter to her bed at her 1 month checkup, and I honestly believe that helped a ton! My husband snores and I know it can keep me up, so I am certain that wasn't helping my daughter sleep through the night either.

I have to say that it is excrutiating to listen to your baby cry in the middle of the night (even for 2 minutes and I used to time it on the clock!), but I firmly believe that using these techniques helped me teach my daughter how to get to sleep on her own. Even now, when she wakes up, she will play in her crib for awhile before she calls for me to come and get her. So, please don't worry that you are creating a negative connection with their bed and that they won't want to stay in it if you keep them in there crying for a few minutes. My daugher willingly goes to bed (even asking to go to sleep when she's tired) and plays in her bed when she wakes up.

I know it's not easy to be deprived of sleep and I also know that feeding the baby seems like the easiest way for everyone to get some sleep, but if it has only been an hour or two since the last feeding, then you know you aren't starving your child if you try to get them past one of those wakeups without food. And, as he gets older, he should naturally be able to go longer between feedings anyway. Best of luck to you and if you want to send me an email with any questions, I would be happy to help. (____@____.com) I promise it gets easier!