6 weeks old, and I’m ready to crumple

@griffin71 I'm with you. 7wks and today she decided to eat about every hour and only take three thirty minute naps in the last six hours. I'm trying to find the silver lining. Maybe this will swap her day night cycle.
 
@griffin71 Keep going. It gets better I promise. We had a handful of moments like this and I really wasn’t sure if we would pull through. One foot in front of the other. Do your best but don’t let perfection become the enemy of the good.

Definitely take a look at sleep training as soon as she’s old enough. It was tough at first but was a total game changer
 
@griffin71 Can you and your spouse do shifts? It's what we did and made it possible! We each got a 4 hour chunk of sleep which bodies need.

I would go to bed in our room around 9. He would stay up or sleep on couch while baby was in pak n play in living room. Around 2, he would put baby in his bassinet by our bed and go to sleep. I would continue sleeping, but any wake ups were on me. Then we'd both be up around 7.
 
@sammylove This is the way. Wife and I do similar shifts. I sleep in our room from 9pm-3am while my wife stays up downstairs with the baby (she has a hard time waking up when he cries). I get up at 3am and head downstairs, sometimes staying up and sometimes napping on the couch while wife goes to bed in our room. Everyone gets up at 9am. Moving to shifts has been a game changer. I feel better than I have in weeks. It’s still hard but getting that solid chunk of uninterrupted sleep every night makes all the difference.
 
@griffin71 I know the “it gets better” comments aren’t always the most encouraging since you’re right in the thick of it, but it really does get better. Keep pushing, you’re doing great. Some of the best advice I got is don’t feel bad to put yourself on autopilot the first 6 months or so. Enjoy and soak in the good times but power through the rest.
 
@griffin71 Hey momma, I remember those days and it will get better! I remember balling my eyes out, bouncing my baby on an exercise ball at all hours of the night because that’s the only thing that would calm her. 6 weeks - 8 weeks was so difficult, but it gets easier! My little girl just turned one. We never sleep trained, but she’s sleeping from 7:30pm to 6:30am most nights, and I actually miss her when she’s asleep! Never thought we would get here. Please know this phase won’t last forever!
 
@griffin71 The first 3 months nearly broke me. And now….I go through pics of him at 3 months and I hate I didn’t love it, but that’s ok. He’s a thriving 1 year old now. But I swear….it’ll get better. You’re surviving right now. You got this!
 
@griffin71 I promise you it gets so much better, especially after the 4 month regression. I hated hearing this when LO was that age, but it’s true. I would try baby wearing or stroller walks, etc. for sleep until you can sleep train (with whatever method works for you) afted 4 months
 
@griffin71 6 weeks was ROUGH. You got this, ask your husband if he could let you get even a 5 hour stretch. Get yourself a nice hot bath and stretch out. You’re amazing 🥰
 
@griffin71 6-8 weeks is a very very rough patch. My boy had to be held all night for like 10 days but was a fantastic sleeper before and after that. It does get better.
 
@griffin71 6 weeks was my lowest low. It was TOUGH. She’s 6 months now and occasionally she has sleepless nights (teething, milestones, etc) BUT so feel so much better because I didn’t just give birth. You’re still doing a lot of healing. You are in the trenches. It does get better. You’re doing a wonderful job.
 
@griffin71 I personally gave up and chose to co-sleep with safe cosleeping practices, like not using a comforter, just a thin, breathable blanket. But. I also had practice sleeping with hypothermic baby goats, so I knew I had the ability to be comparatively safe about it. I also had other aspects to be concerned about, namely the fact we had no control over the temperature in our apartment at the time and it often dipped below 70 degrees at night, during the winter, skin to skin helps increase breastmilk production which I was struggling with, etc. so I acknowledge what was right for me at that time is not necessarily right or wise for another mother.

That said, yes, it is a phase. She is probably cluster feeding. Take naps as much as you can during the day. As much as you want to use that time to get things done, you need the rest more. Dishes can wait, sanity can't.
 
@griffin71 As most people commented, 6 weeks is the absolute hardest week! You got this mama, it gets better and slowly but surely easier. By month 3 my LO started sleeping through the night. She’s 10 months now and has (mostly) slept through ever since! Not counting the random MOTN wakeups here and there because they are so few and far between. Mostly when she was sick and if she did a lot new “tricks” during the day, but it’s only limited to 1 wake up and nothing a little rocking couldn’t fix :)
 
@griffin71 5-8 weeks was hard for me. I knew he could sleep well, but it wasn’t happening consistently enough to look forward to a long sleep. IT DOES GET BETTER.

If you’re pumping/bottle feeding please talk to your partner. There is no reason why they can’t do feeds from say, 6pm-10pm for you to get a solid chunk of sleep before switching out. Or 6am-10am. Or whatever works for you. But no waking you unless the house is on fire.
 
@griffin71 I promise it gets better. Everything is a phase, and they always change. Do not get freaked out by all of the scary posts by parents. Its very hard at 6 weeks. I was in the exact same spot as you. Now my little one is 3.5 months and I can confidently say she is a joy! Every week is different, just survive right now.
 
@griffin71 Hubby and I rotate. One night baby is entirely his responsibility next night he’s mine. Whoever isn’t on duty gets peaceful sleep. Only way this works without resentment on your day, always ask for help if it becomes too much.
 
@griffin71 I don't have much advice because I'm a first time mom and my baby just hit the 6 month mark. But I do have this little bit of info for you. You're exhausted and a bit emotional because you're still postpartum and obviously exhausted so crying while trying to get her back to sleep is completely natural. However, your baby also feeds on your energy so this might make it harder to get her back to sleep. I learned this the hard way... And I wished someone told me beforehand. Take a deep breath and stare down at her cute little face and just focus on her and rock her back and forth or up and down or however it is she likes it. That's how you can get through those little moments when you just want to cry or scream.

This is definitely a phase all babies go through and I think most moms HATE This mark. It does get better but I'll be honest, it's more of a rollercoaster type better. It starts off with most days being bad but slowly it turns around to most days being good. Also a small warning... 6 month mark babies go through sleep regression........ So it's basically what you're doing now but a little worse! BUT ADVICE FOR THAT IS sometimes your baby will wiggle or cry out in their sleep and also open their eyes. If you wait 2min before doing anything, your baby may have still been asleep or went back to sleep on their own.

I'll have to comment again later with a YouTuber that actually made these hard moments better for me and hopefully she can help you too with this and anything else you might have "I wanna cry and scream" moments.

I wish you well ❤️ you're definitely not alone!
 
@griffin71 OP, I know it’s been a couple of months since your post, but I’m currently in your shoes with a 6 week old and I have shed a lot of tears these past few days. This old thread gave me some hope. I hope things got better for you!!
 
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