8 weeks, no sleep

[prairiemom]

@leungzero It gets better. Our little guy usually let us put him down but he has had 1-2 week periods where this exact thing happens. Like as soon as we try to lay him down his eyes pop open or he will only sleep for 20 min.

Are you breastfeeding or doing formula? Maybe try some extra feeding sessions to your schedule if baby will take them. I know if I get him extra milk drunk nothing will wake him up lol

 

[leungzero]

@prairiemom I’m EP since we couldn’t latch. I just feel like I’m overfilling him if I top off his normal amount because then he’ll regurgitate the milk back out. Honestly tonight he’s been pretty good but the night is young and there’s still the rest of the week

 

[selam]

@leungzero Load him up! Look into paced bottle feeding, he might be hungry but spitting up bc he’s gulping too fast lol

 

[motorcyclesfly]

@leungzero Did it get better?? I'm at the 8wk mark and my LO will not let me put him down to sleep, even at night. I'm SO TIRED. Spending my days and nights googling solutions

 

[leungzero]

@motorcyclesfly Hi! Just had time to put my LO down and reply…. :/

He did get a lot better between months 3-5 and then month 6 that we’re currently in feels like we’ve reverted back to month 2 as far as clinginess goes I was feeling super frustrated earlier and luckily my partner was home so he was able to take over while I got some much needed alone time. But after an hour alone, I felt so guilty and I went back to cuddle my little guy. My partner mentioned to me “take it all in because in a matter of time, he won’t care about us anymore and he’ll be annoyed that we want to cuddle him.” That put it into perspective for me.

Best of luck to you on your parenting journey. Sending you good juju!

 

[motorcyclesfly]

@leungzero Thank you! And thank you for taking the time to answer me. I know how precious those few moments alone can be!

 

[dejj1009]

@leungzero What does he wear to sleep? Like a swaddle, sleep suit, etc.

 

[leungzero]

@dejj1009 We swaddle him with nothing else in crib/bassinet.

 

[horsebox]

@leungzero Ugh I’m sorry. This was me for weeks on end. I would google “baby won’t sleep in bassinet” for hours. I know it’s not a quick fix, but the only thing that helped was just practicing putting her down over and over again. My daughter was 6 weeks early and was in the NICU for 22 days. When she came home she was great at sleeping independently because that’s how it was in the NICU. And I promptly fucked that up by holding her all of the time, until she basically was crying anytime I wasn’t holding her, awake or asleep. Letting her sleep in my arms just made it worse, I really had to practice putting her down. Now I will
let her take her last nap of the day in my arms, but besides that sleep=bassinet in my house. She still needs to be held to fall sleep, but I always put her down once she’s sound asleep and I make sure everyone else does the same thing. It takes a lot of patience because sometimes I have to pick her up and rock her to back to sleep over and over again. But the practice works. It’s horrible to not sleep, but to me it’s not worth risking my baby’s life with unsafe sleep practices. Other things that have helped: white noise machine that stays on, using a heating pad to warm up her bed before transferring her, a swaddle that she likes (I use the big flannel ones from the Moms on Call website- anxious that we have to soon stop swaddling). 8 weeks is a really hard time, I know it’s not helpful now but it WILL get easier.
Edited to add: the first nap of the day is the easiest to put them down for. Start by always putting him in her own bed for the first nap of the day. And then I get a little more flexible as the day goes on.

 

[leungzero]

@horsebox Thank you for the tips. I just learned that my SO who stays home with the baby in the AM doesn’t put him down during sleeping and holds LO through all naps. Basically undoes everything I worked so hard for….now I’m about to jump kick my SO for undoing all my struggle. We’ll see how tonight goes :/

 

[hovind]

@horsebox Okay but also here with a NICU baby that is now four weeks old. She will sleep alone all day but when night hits she wants nothing but to be on me??? I can’t even accept the fact I’ve ruined her bc she WILL sleep alone at all hours the sun is up? So shes not completely spoiled?