6 weeks old, and I’m ready to crumple

[griffin71]

Currently sitting in her nursery, it’s 4:20am and she’s been up for 1.5 hours. She’s gone from sleeping 3.5-4 hour stretches at night, to now I’m lucky if she sleeps longer than 2.5. I’m exhausted, mentally and physically. Please tell me it’s just a phase and she’s going to go back to her old sleep patterns and that I’ll get more than 2hrs of sleep at a time. I know she’s in the middle of her growth spurt, so I’m hoping this is just associated with that, but the constant clinginess during the day, and the frequent wakings at night have me crying in the rocking chair trying to get her back to sleep.

 

[katrina2017]

@griffin71 6 weeks old was my lowest point t without a doubt. I'm not saying it was all steadily better everyday since but that was a dramatic low point for me for the same reasons and its never been nearly that bad since. He's now 7 months. Hang in there this is very temporary x

 

[makehimfirst]

@katrina2017 100% agree. 6 weeks was my lowest point and was very temporary. It helps now to know that any tough time is just a phase and will pass. Solidarity though, parenting is tough.

 

[griffin71]

@katrina2017 Thank you - I really needed that xx

 

[shonna]

@griffin71 Came here to say this. Weeks 5 and 6 are without a doubt the absolute hardest. You will get through it and it will get better. You are doing great!

 

[billover70]

@griffin71 Around six weeks I was dying and one night my husband put her to sleep and just didn’t wake me up when it was my turn. I had a night of nine full hours. It felt like changing and gave me the strength to keep going. I wonder if you have. Anyone who could give you the gift of sleep?

 

[griffin71]

@billover70 I couldn’t do 9 hours because breastfeeding/pumping with an oversupply, but even just a 4 or 5 stretch would be amazing. I’ll chat to my husband when he gets up and we’ll work out a plan. Thank you xx

 

[phil35]

@griffin71 Practice feeding the baby laying on your side when you're awake then have hubby get up, get the baby, and literally all you have to do is pop out a boob. You can doze while baby eats and husband is responsible for actually monitoring baby. Once baby unlatches husband gets baby out of bed and mama continues glorious glorious sleep.

My husband also used to take the baby out of the house entirely from like 5-7am for a walk and I found that was the absolute best sleep I got. My brain was fully disconnected from my little person and I slept hard.

 

[his777]

@griffin71 I similarly had an oversupply at that time, and sleeping in shifts became essential
I would go to sleep with those nipple pads on immediately after pumping/feeding
I’d sleep 8pm-2am, husband would sleep 2am-9am
Highly highly recommend whatever type of shift you can arrange, even if it means regularly going to sleep at 5pm or 6pm for a few weeks.

Even with the breast pads I still would sleep with a towel under me, because it’s prime engorgement / leaking time around then, but worth a little spilled milk for some sleep.

When you wake up you could consider feeding immediately on one side and pumping on the other to replenish your milk stash for the next night

 

[eclipsewolfe]

@griffin71 Second this. I got 5 hrs when I hit my lowest point and it was glorious. My husband managed to bottle feed him enough while I slept in the guest room. Granted, my boobs were a leaky mess, but I at least didn't wake up sobbing. But yeah. Even though I loved the newborn phase, I definitely came close to having a complete breakdown from lack of sleep.

Once a week, dear husband takes a night shift. But my LO is still waking up ever 3 hrs/2hrs. You adapt a bit, and sometimes you move your king mattress to the floor and get rid of blankets so you can co-sleep and nurse and fall back asleep again eith LO safely next to you. You do what it takes to survive.

 

[okieallday]

@griffin71 My husband and I split the night so each of us will get 5-6 hours of uninterrupted sleep (unless I have to pump). Can your partner do the same?

 

[ejp]

@griffin71 My husband gave me 5.5 hours and my boobs hurt so bad when I woke up I wanted to cry. Took an hour of pumping and ice packs to feel better. But the. I figured out I could sleep 2.5 hours, wake and pump, then sleep another 2.5 and that was great! Just tried it last night and felt recharged. Pumping is never as good as baby feeding so I did a second pump this morning and we are on our normal schedule. Highly recommend it you can.

 

[zushimaru]

@griffin71 6-8 weeks was miserable for us..then magically one night at 10 weeks our LO slept for 8 hours straight! He’s now 12 weeks and consistently sleeps 6-9 hour stretches at a time!

 

[jesusismyvirtue]

@zushimaru What do your days look like? Schedule? Bottle fed or ebf? Please tell me your ways. 3 month old here who won’t sleep through night and I’m so tired.

 

[zushimaru]

@jesusismyvirtue So here is our schedule for our 3month old. He is formula fed, so sorry to all the EBF mamas out there. I know that makes things more challenging.

7/8am wake-up for the day (baby wakes himself up, we don’t wake him up unless he sleeps until 8:15am)
8/8:30am eat
9:00am play
9:45am(ish) nap (nap gets moved earlier if he woke up at 7am)
11:30am eat
12:00pm play
12:30/1pm nap
2:30pm eat
3:00pm play
3:30/4pm nap
5:30pm eat
6:00pm play
7/7:15pm nap
8:00pm bath time and a tiny bit of play on changing table
8:30pm eat: always a big 5oz bottle to get baby through the night
9:00pm rock baby to sleep in his Baby Merlin Magic Sleep Suit (I swear by this sleep suit!) with white noise and dim room. Transfer to crib when he is dead asleep.
5:30/6am Usually first feed of the day if he wakes up on his own, but we put him back to bed again after. He will usually sleep to 7 or 8am.

Biggest thing for us is to limit naps to 2 hours and feed him a big bottle right before bed. If his last bottle is small, he usually won’t sleep as well.

Hope this helps someone!

 

[jesusismyvirtue]

@zushimaru Thank you. How many ounces does your guy take daily?

 

[zushimaru]

@jesusismyvirtue He does anywhere from 25-30 depending on how hungry he is.

 

[saintv]

@zushimaru How long is each nap or how much total daytime sleep?

 

[zushimaru]

@saintv His total daytime naps between 8am and 8pm combined are usually around 5-5.5 hours. His naps vary and can last 45min to 2 hours. The last nap of the day between 7pm and 8pm is a max of 1 hour though. We keep that one shorter so that he is more inclined to fall asleep after his bath at 8 then feed at 8:30pm.

 

[dianegrashot]

@griffin71 I'm standing out in the cold with my 6 wk baby in a snowsuit and stroller walking. Last night she slept solely on my chest. My little girl has waged war on sleep and won't let her parents sleep either