Switching from Days to Nights

Hi J.,

It is hard at first but enjoy the time as hard as it may seem. I asked my peditrican about the same story and he told me it will eventually go away, and then the child will be grown and you will wish you had this time back again.

Hang in there it will improve!

Ooo- she's still an itty-bitty & that's normal. Go & get the book Babywise & follow the scheduled they suggest. I did it with all 3 of my kids & they were all sleeping through the night by 8-10 weeks. Hang in there!

J., I too had a baby whose days and nights were swapped. My son is now 19 months and he has it figured out and sleeps through the night (there is light at the end of the tunnel and sooner than 19 months).

Things that worked for us:
-Swaddle
-During the day don't tip toe around - like other mom's stated, make noise and keep it bright
-Make it dark at night
-Wake your baby up during the day every 3 hours to feed and if you are willing try a pacifier at night since it sounds like your baby is making you or the bottle a pacifier. She will wake up to eat at night for a while.
-Do not overstimualte her at night - this will make her crabby
-Routine: this really did not work until my son was about 3 or 4 months, but it is a nice way to start one.
-The happiest baby on the block is a great tool - don't read too many books or you will be overwhelmed
-I had my son next to my bed in a cosleeper until he was 3 months old. I could put my hand on his tummy to calm him down and reassure him that I was there.

I hope this helps. It really is a difficult time and no one can prepare you for how tired you will be. Pick what works for you and begin your routine. Every baby is different. You and your peanut will work it out. If the going gets tough call your family, friends, etc to help. People are willing to help, all you have to do is ask. For some reason we think we have to do it all ourselves, we don't. Ask for help if you need it.

God Bless and good luck. I know you can do it.

Our son is 8 weeks old and went through the same thing at that age. Are you breast or bottle feed? We bottle feed and found that increasing the amount he eats after 7 pm has really helped. It has guaranteed 5-6 hours of sleep in the evening. The other thing I think helps is just patience. Good luck!

What I did with my son is when he would nap during the day, I had him out in the living room or kitchen with me. That way the lights are on, there is noise coming from the TV, or from me cleaning, or if the phone rang.
That way he still got to sleep when he was tired, but it wasn't as sound of a sleep as it would be in his crib with the lights off and door closed.
It did take a while, but it did work.
Good Luck! And congrats on the new baby!

Its normal for kids to have their days and nights mixed up. The babywise books have great sleep suggestions. If you're nursing ask your lactation nurse.

Hi J.,
Hang in there. It gets so much easier after about two months. I am a first time mom of a nearly 7 month old. I found the book The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg helped me a lot, especially the part about getting your baby on a schedule.

I would try sleeping with her, if that's how she falls asleep...My daughter who is 2 1/2 now would fall asleep in my arms, and then as soon as I put her down, she would wake up!!! Maddening!! So I just brought her into bed, nursed her when she was hungry in the dark, she would fall back asleep, and I would fall asleep while she was eating, so I got good rest during the night. If you can get some rest during the night, then you'll have some energy during the day to work on keeping her awake more, so she's ready to sleep better at night. Someone else had mentioned the cycle -- sleep, eat, wake, sleep, eat, wake -- this has worked so well for our family (3 kids -- 3 1/2, 2 1/2, and 1 year old). Get some help during the day too, if you can. As hard as it is, it's important to take care of yourself too. BTW, when my daughter was about 5 months old, we knew she was ready to sleep through the night, just happened to enjoy my company in the middle of it. So, our ped. said to let her cry it out -- no checking on her even -- she cried 2 hours the first and second nights, and by the third night, we didn't hear from her. She has slept 11-12 hours every night since! You can do it!!!

I too had a daughter who rarely slept and cried constantly. We tried colic meds which only made her more hyper, hot water bottle under the sheet, soothing music,etc. Nothing seemed to work! We had a wonderful pediatrician and after trying everything we could think of he finally said I needed to let her cry and learn to sooth herself. She was about 6 months old by then. I just couldn't stand to let her cry, so we continued to walk the floor and survive on almost no sleep. Finally when she was 2 years old, my husband and I decided to try letting her cry. The first night she cried for 8 hours straight. She threw up after about 5 hours, so I went in and cleaned her up, changed her bedding and put her back to bed. She cried for about another 3 hours then fell asleep. The second night she cried about 5 hours and the third night she cried for 3 hours. The forth night she pitched a little fit when we put her in bed, but didn't cry and ended up staying in her crib all night. We could hear her awake, but she entertained herself and slept off and on. She is now 30 years old and still does not require much sleep, but we would put a couple small toys in her crib (then bed) and when she would wake up, she would play awhile then go back to sleep. When she was in a regular bed, we would put a bowl of cereal on her little table and a sippey cup of mild or juice in the frige on a low shelf and she would get herself a snack if she got hungry in the night. I always woke up and listened for her but I did not get up with her unless she was sick. It is difficult to have a child that doesn't require much sleep, but it is survivable. Good luck! I will pray for you.

make it clear that days are days and nights are nights meaning....when she sleeps during the day, dont make efforts to be quiet ie; vacuum, keeps lights on, clean, watch tv, whatever. but when its night, make a routine; give warm bath, cuddle, read a book to her (yes, its never to early to start :)) then put her down in a dark (well a night light can't hurt right?) quiet room swaddled up good and tight. try to aim for the same time every night. now i hate to say it but 5 weeks is a bit early to expect sleeping through the night so you will have to tough that out for a bit.
but dont try to 'keep her up so she'll be tired at night' that wont work, she needs her sleep. just dont make it real restful.
hope that helps

Hi J.,

This is completely normal and I can totally understand how you are feeling. Both my children did the same thing. There really isn't anything you can do - they do change on their own. For both of my children it happened magically at about 8 weeks. If you try to keep your little one up during the day, then you may have an overtired, cranky baby and it may be hard for her to fall asleep. I PROMISE you she will change - it may just be a few more weeks. Is this your only one? Can you sleep during the day when she does? I have a 4 year old and 15 month old and I still take a nap when they do - it really makes me a better mom! I try to tell all new moms that it's ok to sleep when baby sleeps!

Lay her on her back on your bed, put one of your hands on her chest, and the other under her on her back, supporting her good, gently tip her over from head to toe, as she has her nights and days mixed up, did this to my son when he was young, and it worked wonders.

BR

Congrats J.! My hubby & I have also been married 2 1/2 years and we have a 5 week old son! I had the same problem until this week. I wrote a post almost exactly like yours! A lot of the suggestions were helpful. I found that if during the day I do the eat, wake time, sleep time routine that it has helped. I also make it light & noisy during the day & dark & quiet at night. Last night (after about 1 week of doing this routine) Isaac slept from 11pm-6:15am! Hope this helps & hope you're able to get some solid rest soon!!

Hopefully you are not expecting her to be sleeping through the night....she has no clue what time it is. It seems she is "filling up" good in the evening, that MIGHT hold her over 3 hours. Being just 5 weeks she can't eat enough to hold her over much longer than that. My third baby would awaken a few minutes after putting her in her bed. I found that hitting those cold sheets in her bed woke her up. I got a heating pad and put it under her sheet, warmed up the bed for a few minutes, TURNED OFF THE HEATING PAD, wrapped her up tight and she slept great....great for a 5 or 6 week old to me was 3 or 4 hours at a time. Many times 5 week old babies still need to feel contained. I hope you get some good sleep soon!

I once read an article that said, "Eventhough you are exhausted opening the blinds at 3 pm won't help." I'm not sure if you fail into that catagory but I did. What helped me was I wheeled the bassinet in front of the window first thing in the morning and within a week the schedule developed.

A first baby is really hard and somtimes you need to know it is ok to put her down and let her fuss. First make sure the she is well fed, changed and swaddled up really good in a decent sized receiving blanket, then lay her down. The more you lay her down and let her practice soothing herself and getting herself to sleep the better off you will be. I am a mom of 4 and I had the same problems with my first one, the biggest mistake I made was never letting him get him self to sleep. Good Luck

Dear J.,
I had a fussy newborn as well, and I fed her almost constantly.
Life does not have to be this way for you. I read a book entitled "Babywise" when my daughter was 6 weeks old and it revolutionized our world. Please read it. I think it will help you with your situation.

Someone who's been there:)

try a schedule. even if it's only feeding her at the same time every night even if she is sleeping i fed one of my daughters at 10 pm every night and woke her up if she was sleeping to feed her. she slept good every night. also try keeping her up for 2 hours 3 times a day when you want her to be up and that may help her to sleep better.
hope this helps
A.

Switched up days and nights is very common in new borns. Make sure you've got a bed time routine. I can't stress enough how important a routine is. Even if it doesn't take right away. At about 7 or 8 go to a quiet area of your home and keep the lights low. Feed her and swaddle her snug. I swaddled my kids for months, until they just wouldn't stay in it. When she finishs eating put her in her bed. I usually had a musical toy near the bed that I turned on. Anything that plays soft music will work. Then leave the room. Keep trying and she'll realize it's sleeping time. Being that she's so young it probably won't work for a month or two(she'll still have night feedings for awhile) but you have to teach her that it's sleep time. Routine is very important. As far as feeding from dinner until 1 am, it sounds like she's using it as a pacifier. Have you considered giving her a pacifier? You can always take it away in a few months when she learns to sleep better on her own. Good Luck!

It will get better. Try to get her up in the morning keep active keep her in a bright sunny room during the day.

swaddler her tightly at night and put that baby in the big bed right next to you and she will sleep.

I slept with my babies for 6 month on the king size bed. The transition into the crib on their 6 month birthday.

These first few weeks are hard.. It will get easier. I know the sleep deprivation is very hard. Try to nap when you can.

She will figure it out. the very best advice is enjoy it! Enjoy every second you have with her, and sleep when she does during the day so you won't be as tired. My little guy wanted to eat constantly late at night too. I just held him and let him nurse and read a book. I got through lots of books and held my beautiful baby too. No Dr. will tell you to nurse like this but I truly believe it's the way to go. I had to put my "nighttime" life on hold but it's for such a short period of time in the big scheme of things. It really is the best for the bay, and if you get enough sleep it can be great for you too. 5 weeks is still so little, she will get it, it justs takes time. Please don't follow a text book a stress yourself out just listen to your instincts as a mother. Good Luck!

My daughter had the same problem. Have you ever heard of flipping her. Hold her facing you and have your husband help so you don't drop her slowing flip her away from you feet up then head and do it 9 times or at least try to up to 9 with out dopping her of course, do it slowly. You might not notice that it works right away but you will begin to. My daughter was always up until 2 a.m. every morning and only slept until about 5 a.m. and she would sleep most of the day. Until I did this, then it started to change her sleeping habits, and she no longer had her days and nights mixed up. Keeping a nightly routine is also a very good thing to do, it helps the baby when this go as scheduled.

This happened to our daughter at first too. I just tried to wake her up every two hours and get in as much activity time between feedings and naps as possible. The old fashioned way of "never wake a sleeping baby" did not work for us. Not sleeping so much during the day is the key. We also always had her bassinet out in the living room and put her in her swing for naps so that she was out in the daylight.

Hi J., I did a lot of the things that these mom's did also. I would add that when you get up, get her up and put her in the daytime area (bassinet, swing, bouncy, etc) but also get her dressed. Put her in daytime clothes that aren't as comfy as the sleepers. Then at night time, put her in her comfy pjs, sleepers. Make this a part of the bedtime routine and it will help cue the sleep hormones. It's not easy to "dress" babies, but they look adorable in all those outfits and they just aren't as comfy to sleep all morning in a pants and shirt outfit.

This is ordinary. When you were pregnant, you would be rocking her to sleep with your body motions most of the day, with her alert periods being mostly in the night when you stopped moving. It typically takes 3 - 7 weeks for kids to 'get it' that nighttime is for sleeping (more) and daytime is for waking (more).

She will be genuinely hungry through the night until she's around 2, and will continue to wake regularly until she's around 4... but through household management, you can gently ease her around to a daytime schedule.

Keep the house quiet and dark when she wakes at night. Stay with her while she falls asleep, or bring her into your bed. Contrary to popular fears, teenagers have absolutely no interest in sharing bed space with parents... she WILL move out of your bed once she stops needing you so much in the night.

For now, her tiny, instinctive brain has no idea that being left alone is safe -- she only has instinct to guide her, and being put down in a forest is certainly dangerous for a baby. How would she know about walls and the absence of suburban tigers?

She only needs a few things right now: love, food and security. All three are available in your arms. And she knows it, it's why she feels so good there.

Letting our daughter fall asleep in her swing worked wonders for us. She needed that rocking motion to stay asleep. Also, she might be waking up when she hits the bed because of her startle reflex (swaddling will help) or because the sheets are cold. Try having a receiving blanket behind her when you are holding her and she is falling asleep and then transferring her and the blanket into the bed so that the sheets don't startle her. Also, I would recommend watching the movie Happiest Baby on the Block - really cheesy movie but it has good tips. Most libraries have it so it would be free - helped us a lot right around the same age as your daughter is...good luck!!!