8 weeks, no sleep

[leungzero]

Help! I (FTM) am at my wits end and all the reading across the internet is confusing me. My LO is 8wks so I know there is a bit of a “leap” at this time but the lil guy won’t sleep at all unless he’s contact sleeping. He has to always be on mine or my husband’s chest or in our arms. This leaves zero time for anything else to be done throughout the day. I just returned to work 2 days ago at drastically reduced hours but I still just feel so overwhelmed with his sleeping (or lack thereof) lately, throughout all hours of day.

During weeks 3-5 we had a pretty decent routine where he’d sleep at least 3-4 hour chunks but now the guy won’t go down and stay down for more than 10 minutes unless he’s being held. Am I just overreacting and is this normal? I had to remind myself earlier today that I’m so lucky to be in this position b/c we struggled to conceive for years before we got our little guy. I feel like I’m shouting into the void and I just need some validation that this is normal and there’s a light at the end of this.

I’m also keeping in mind that teething will be here soon too. :/

 

[servantofchrist27]

@leungzero A heating pad in the bassinet during night feeds helped us tremendously! We had a huge improvement in sleep around the 3mo mark, you’re almost there!

 

[leungzero]

@servantofchrist27 Will have to try that. Thanks!

 

[sledhed]

@leungzero Ugh I’m so sorry. This is rough. I know this sounds like a bougie answer but have you considered a snoo? Do you have a local moms group, maybe someone would lend you one to try for a few days? I swear our night sleep was amazing because of it.

 

[leungzero]

@sledhed I know you can rent the snoo but I never considered it, just thought we wouldn’t struggle with sleep as much as we are. I guess I don’t know too much about how it can help?

I’ll have to read up on it and maybe I can check FB marketplace to see if someone’s selling their snoo. Ty!

 

[sledhed]

@leungzero Do you have any friends locally who would come by and just read a kindle/ watch TV and hold the baby? Maybe even just a few hours would bail you out. I was so overstimulated by the constant touching at that age so extra people were a blessing.

 

[leungzero]

@sledhed My MIL is home on weekends so we are asking her to start coming over on Fridays to help us. It’s just one day a week but I think that day will be so nice to just catch up on sleep (on days I’m off work). As far as friends go, not really :/

We aren’t super close to our friends that we’d trust them with our little guy. We have family that’s close by but our other family members tend to get pretty grumpy if you ask for help babysitting…kinda rude and crappy considering they all want to take and post pictures of my baby all over social media but won’t watch him for an afternoon while I catch up on some sleep or run errands.

 

[tonyrichy86]

@leungzero The Snoo mimics womb sounds, swaddles your baby in a fixed position on their back, and soothes them with motion. The sounds and the motion are determined by how much your baby is fussing. All of this is sent to an app on your phone and you can dial stuff in as well as track your baby's sleep. It's really cool and an absolute game changer for most families. If your baby is hungry or needs changing or just needs to be held the Snoo won't keep them asleep, it just helps keep them sleeping through little wakeups and fusses. Basically turns your baby into that unicorn sleeper you read about in mom groups.

 

[leungzero]

@tonyrichy86 Wow, sounds like it’s worth the $1700 price tag

 

[tonyrichy86]

@leungzero absolutely, but used is usually fine and can be resold for the same amount if you take good care of it

 

[yankeebedouin]

@leungzero Someone lent us their snoo and it’s such a game changer. I’m a FTM so no other comparison but will def buy one for my next baby! It’s been helping me with week 6-8, I’m at 7W5D hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel soon lol

They go on sale during holidays, perhaps they might for Xmas? It went down to 1200 during Black Friday . If you buy pre-owned it’s about 800 or 900 I think.

 

[bradjoe96]

@leungzero You’re not alone if that’s any consolation. FTM experiencing the same thing with my 8wk LO

 

[leungzero]

@bradjoe96 Thank you! In the trenches together! We got this. We got through pregnancy and labor, we can do this too

 

[katrina2017]

@leungzero I would say try baby wearing if your baby wants to sleep on you but you need to get things done! I also have a 8 weeks old and have to do that a lot during the day. Or i let her fall asleep on me, let her get into a really deep sleep and then put her down. Not a perfect system but it works! (sometimes lol)

 

[leungzero]

@katrina2017 Baby wearing works for us sometimes but I gotta find a better carrier because I always feel guilty when his little head is bopping around everywhere and I’m constantly bending down to pick things up or do laundry. What carrier do you use?

 

[zkybyrd]

@leungzero Ergo Embrace! Still need to do some head support (you will for any newborn carrier, they're not meant to be truly hands free) but it's so freeing. And instead of bending down for laundry or the bottom rack of the dishwasher, definitely squatting a lot instead while wearing her.

 

[katrina2017]

@leungzero I have a wrap one I got at winners, i don’t remember the brand but it wasn’t a known brand. The key is to put the wrap on really tight before putting them in and have the baby high enough to kiss their head, and tucking her head in like the picture. But i still put my hand on her head when I’m bending down for things. I find i can usually fold laundry, do dishes, vacuum, cook a meal with her strapped to be but things like loading the dishwasher or flipping over the laundry I find hard.

https://preview.redd.it/pi55p8xu4z5...bp&s=caad7cdc40f5d5277e6fda0bd98c6fe9aeeedf8c

 

[leungzero]

@katrina2017 Ok I bought one of these but I wasn’t tying it tight enough. Thanks for the tips!

 

[deniray]

@leungzero Same as you, through week 5, things were ok, weeks 6-8 were awful, but then slowly but surely it got better. If I could give me self advice for then that I know now- stick to your routines, get a good baby wearing carrier, and remind yourself you are amazing and this is all just a season

 

[leungzero]

@deniray Thank you, deff needed to hear this