To sleep...or not to sleep

purplefan1

My sweet little one is two weeks old today and we can not convince her that night time is when she should sleep and day time when she should be up. She sleeps fairly well for 2-2 1/2 hours a day where ever we decide to put her down. Come night time though, she refuses to sleep on any surface other than our chests and right before bedtime wants to eat like a maniac, feeding every 1/2 hour to hour. I can't quite figure out why during the day she will literally sleep anywhere (pnp, rnp, car seat, swing, etc) but if we try to put her in any of those after 10pm she cries like we are abusing her and then falls right asleep if we hug her. Tried swaddling, tried changing lighting/keeping it quiet, tried getting in to a routine. When she sleeps at night on us she will sleep for 3-4 hours, we just can't keep letting her sleep on us. Not interested in bed sharing. Just not sure how to convince her to sleep on her own during the night. Any hints, ideas, or feedback would be GREAT!

ETA: At night I will feed her and she will fall asleep at the breast and then we will try moving her to a sleep spot. She wakes up, freaks out, and wants to eat again. We keep repeating the process but I can't figure out if she is actually hungry or using it to soothe. We have also tried giving her a pacifier. She will suck for a couple of minutes but spit it out. I've also tried feeding her but not letting her fall asleep (hard to do) and moving her to her crib while she is still  but that just pisses her off.

adiaz132003

I've read that it can take at least 20 min for babies to enter deep sleep. Until then they easily wake up.  I feel your pain, sometimes DS will do this in the evening and during the day too.  I think at this stage they just want to feel secure.  I don't really have many tips cause I feel like I've also tried everything with no luck.  The only thing that has worked has been time.

artlea2013

I got some paperwork from the hospital about this. Haven't had to use it myself quite yet, but the nurse suggested I read through it early, just in case. Babies can take 15-30 minutes to enter deep sleep, even if they appear dead out on the breast. Paper suggested skipping burping and just rocking them for another 15-20 minutes or so once they fall asleep. Seems like a long time, but those extra snuggles should make them oblivious to you walking away. That's all the more advice they could give me though, best of luck getting your LO and yourself to sleep

Goocran17

It's like you're describing my life! No advice, just all  the sleep dust your way!

purplefan1

Thanks ladies! I will definitely try the extra snuggles tonight. We just got back from a walk and I put her in her crib so I could vacuum. She went from whining and starting to cry to asleep within seconds with the sound of the vacuum. So I might be investing in a new sound machine as well if she likes noise to sleep!

KaylaR628

Also going through a stage like this and it's really taking a toll on me.  I did try that tip of letting her sleep for a while longer while I hold her after nursing to make sure she's really entered deep sleep this morning and she finally let me put her down after 5 hours of feeding/waking when I put her down.  She still only slept for an hour.  My ped recommended waking her every 2 hours during daylight to feed to try and "reset her clock" but this has been difficult to maintain when I'm tired and want to nap or get something done during the day.  Let's hope these extra sleepless nights end soon!

annaf2011

as PPs have suggested, I've had some luck waiting several minutes after baby falls asleep to put him in the pack n play. We also use a white noise machine at night. I can't tell for sure if it makes much of a difference, but sometimes I think it helps lull him into a deeper sleep.

Good luck getting some sleep!

mom2beEbby

This is my life too. In addition, when she is awake, she's fussy the entire time. The only time this baby doesn't cry/whine is when she is asleep or eating. No advice, but I feel your pain 

NLewis1

You can try running a hairdryer too. Most babies like the humming of a vacuum or hairdryer. 

rlbrooks84

All my LOs have needed white noise to sleep and I've found swaddling before bedtime feeding helps, then when she falls asleep I don't have to disturb her. It gets better, my DD is 3 weeks today and it's getting better. Give it time, you'll get past this phase. Good luck! Oh and if you do get a noise maker get one that plays all night! 

xc1148

Swaddle, white noise.

Other than that, it's "only" been 2 weeks! it takes a while for babies to adjust. Hang in there! If this is your only LO, just sleep when she sleeps, even if it throws your routine off for a bit. All babies get there

arteduc8

My DD struggles with this too. We have found changing her diaper and getting her in the SwaddleMe before feeding, keeping the room dark and quiet, and using a sound machine helps. We got the skip hop owl night time soother and it has a womb/heartbeat sound that she loves. Usually she is fussy after the first feeding and attempt to get her to sleep but finally settles and she's much better the rest of the night after each cycle. She still wants to eat every 2 hours, but at least she sleeps. Good luck! 

purplefan1

Thank you all! Great tips I will try out. We were hoping to get her to sleep more at night before my husband has to back to work on Monday. Or at least sleep in her crib/pnp/rnp/cradle....... The only being able to sleep on us is driving me batty. It is comfy for me as well and i tend to fall asleep with her. I worry about her being hurt so it ends up not being a restful sleep at all and I feel guilty every time I do fall asleep. My husband has been such a great dad to her and wants to help so when he hears her crying or knows I'm exhausted he will get up with her and stay up with her. Or he ends up falling asleep with her his chest! Works now but won't go so well when he has to get up for work at 6am in a few days. (So tired I've been falling asleep breastfeeding!) Making sure to wake her up every two hours now to feed and hoping tonight will go a bit better.