Middle of the Night Musings

SandNStarsNJ

kvruns said:

So B is sleeping in His crib some which is great but I've noticed he only sleeps with his head turned over his right shoulder. Even tried putting him down at the other end of the bed and he turns the same way. Now I'm worried about flat spots and neck issues. He does tummy time and lifts his head great but if he's on his back it's always that same way. Anyone else like this?

Mine sleeps predominantly to one side but between tummy time and being held I'm not too worried. DD had the same issue early on and then developed the dexterity to turn her head was fine. 

SandNStarsNJ

Of course DS would wake up every hour from 2am on when it's his sister's first really exciting Christmas. It's going to be a long day.  

kvruns

SandNStarsNJ said:

Of course DS would wake up every hour from 2am on when it's his sister's first really exciting Christmas. It's going to be a long day.  

Oh no hope he cooperates for DD to have a good Christmas morning. B slept ok last night but has been a monster this morning and wouldn't nap tho fortunately he is napping in the car right now. I hope he is ok for my family Christmas soon

MrsMaryK2016

M was also a monster this morning even though he slept great last night. You never know!

SandNStarsNJ

Maybe they all knew we had expectations on ONE day this month... I swear, within minutes of deciding I will do something he wakes up/cries/wants to eat. 

kvruns

Mine was awesome at my parents house for Christmas so I'm expecting a terrible night. He should have been down at 7 but we're going later since he had extra naps in the car 

kristah2

Babe slept from 1-8 when I couldn't take it anymore and I woke him up since I was so excited to open presents!! 
Then as usual he slept from 9-11 which was great because we took our time opening gifts and having a nice breakfast. However during that time he had a giant blow out. Anyone have suggestions on how to get poop stains out of swing straps? 
Hope everyone had such a special first Christmas with your new addition to your family!!!

kvruns

@kristah2 does he sleep that 7 hour stretch without eating? 

kristah2

@kvruns yup! We hit roughly 6-7 hours a night most nights! Go to sleep between 12-2 and up between 630-830! Then he will get up, have a long feed and stay awake for a bit (1.5 hours total) and then sleeps for another 1-3 hours! 

PrettyPalomino

My DD slept 7 hours straight last night! I think it was due to a combo of being kept awake all evening while being passed around by oogling aunts, and her comfort eating from the over stimulation (gave her two 3 oz bottles and fed both engorged sides, all in about 4 hours time). Mom and dad are sooo happy!!

kvruns

How big are your babies who are sleeping that much? I'm nervous letting him go much past 4.5/5 hours from eating. He's in the 25th percentile of weight so I feel like his feedings are still important though I'm ok stretching then out 

kristah2

I'm not sure baby's percentile but at 6 weeks he was 10lb 14 oz which was up 2 lbs from birth weight. (He's 8 weeks now)

SandNStarsNJ

Super jealous, ladies. DS has regressed on sleep and was up every hour for the second night in a row. I know he's gassy in every direction (burping, farting, etc) but he should not need to eat that frequently. Right? He was a month yesterday and is over 10 lbs. What do you think?

PrettyPalomino

@kvruns I actually don't know how much she weighs! She was born 8 lbs 5oz and is now 5 weeks old. I figure if she's wetting and soiling lots of diapers and growing out of clothes we are doing fine. She eats every 2-3 hours during the day until her "bedtime".

rspalding001

For some perspective @kvruns my DD was in the 23% her first 2 years. As a baby she woke herself every two hours for the first 4 months before she started sleeping longer stretches. However had she slept longer I would have let her she just never did until we were past the 4 month sleep regression. With DS he will sometime have 3-4 hour stretches but mostly during the day, at night it's still every 2 hours usually and he was born in the 75% for weight and is currently 11 lbs at 5 weeks. I have heard that once a baby reaches 13 lbs it's kind of a turning point for longer sleep. And I wouldn't let the stories of babies sleeping long stretches bum you out, I guarantee it won't be consistent since babies are anything but consistent. I do agree it's nice to have a long stretch every once in a while though. 

kvruns

All I will say is I just contemplated grabbing scissors and cutting off my baby's onesie during diaper change. It was that massive of a poop explosion all up his back and his shirt. I was afraid Of getting poop on his head 

desoky01

kvruns said:

All I will say is I just contemplated grabbing scissors and cutting off my baby's onesie during diaper change. It was that massive of a poop explosion all up his back and his shirt. I was afraid Of getting poop on his head 

You can actually pull onesies down over their shoulders and off over their legs so that you don't have to get it on their head. That's why the shoulders are made as they are instead of like a regular shirt! Pretty cool! 

SandNStarsNJ

desoky01 said:

kvruns said:

All I will say is I just contemplated grabbing scissors and cutting off my baby's onesie during diaper change. It was that massive of a poop explosion all up his back and his shirt. I was afraid Of getting poop on his head 

You can actually pull onesies down over their shoulders and off over their legs so that you don't have to get it on their head. That's why the shoulders are made as they are instead of like a regular shirt! Pretty cool! 

+1 but also I've used scissors too. sometimes it's just not worth it. 

kvruns

desoky01 said:

kvruns said:

All I will say is I just contemplated grabbing scissors and cutting off my baby's onesie during diaper change. It was that massive of a poop explosion all up his back and his shirt. I was afraid Of getting poop on his head 

You can actually pull onesies down over their shoulders and off over their legs so that you don't have to get it on their head. That's why the shoulders are made as they are instead of like a regular shirt! Pretty cool! 

Good to know. I did think about trying it that way but was afraid it would get stuck

erniebernie1

Anyone have a baby who refuses to sleep unless being held? And figure out something that worked to get them sleeping on their own?

SandNStarsNJ

erniebernie1 said:

Anyone have a baby who refuses to sleep unless being held? And figure out something that worked to get them sleeping on their own?

Presently this is a daytime issue for us and has only been a nighttime issue after a day of excessive holding (i.e. Family visits). Our only solution has been to make night as different as possible-lights out, feet covered, swaddled, no talking, etc. It's slowly working. 

kvruns

erniebernie1 said:

Anyone have a baby who refuses to sleep unless being held? And figure out something that worked to get them sleeping on their own?

This is my life. We put in a routine:schedule and put him down and soothe every 3-5 min when he cries til he finally falls asleep and hopefully sleeps a few hours. It still sucks, and in some ways sucks in a different way than having to hold him, but it feels slightly better. I just feel like im chained home to his schedule 

erniebernie1

@kvruns do u pick him up to soothe him? I could try this if it doesn't get better the next few weeks but I have a 21 month old also, so I can't be spending the entire day trying to get him to sleep

kristah2

I had this problem really bad. Even at night he had to sleep in my arms. Now after our bedtime routine I feed him until he's out cold and tip toe him into his room and crib. He sleeps for 6-8 hours a night. 
Soon enough I'm going to start putting him in when he's almost asleep to get him used to it! But first another month of sleepy snuggles. 

SandNStarsNJ

Sleepy snuggles are the best!

erniebernie1

@kristah2 I do out him down dead asleep but he's always up a few minutes later. I am co sleeping to survive right now. How old was your Lo when he started staying in his bed at night? Do u think he just grew out of needing to be constantly held? Mine is 5 weeks now.

kristah2

@erniebernie1 we did the co sleeping to survive thing for a while too. I basically kept trying the crib. So putting him in for a few minutes after diaper changes or if we needed to do something when he was happy. Trying him there for nap times and bed time of course. Some nights I'd try 2-3 times depending on how tired I was. Basically I wanted to get him used to it and to see it's not a bad place. Eventually I started getting longer stretches there. Now he might wake up once middle of the night but if I give him a couple minutes he goes back to sleep! 
He still won't nap anywhere except my arms or his car seat. But at least nights are crib time! He was about 5 weeks when he started doing a couple hours at a time there. Around 7 weeks he was fitting 6-7 hours! Hopefully yours will come around to it as well! But it's not easy. 

MrsMaryK2016

How long are you guys rooming in? M sleeps in a bassinet in our room right now which is working fine I suppose but I'm curious if he'd sleep better (read: longer) if he were in his own room. 

kvruns

erniebernie1 said:

@kvruns do u pick him up to soothe him? I could try this if it doesn't get better the next few weeks but I have a 21 month old also, so I can't be spending the entire day trying to get him to sleep

@erniebernie1 you go in and pat / soothe /shush but don't pick up. The longest he has gone is 30 min which is long but for us better than being held 24/7. If the baby is showing hunger or just losing his shit you obviously do more but thus far only had that couple times

edit: he didn't cry 30 min but rather we did a cry 3 min, soothe, few min of peace, cry/soothe, repeat

rspalding001

@mrsmaryk2016 with DD we did 8 weeks in our room before moving to the nursery. With DS we are thinking of moving at 6 weeks which would be next Monday. DD didn't sleep better or worse after the move but DH did sleep better ha ha, and our relationship was better because I wasn't nagging him to be quiet all the time and we were more intimate.

kristah2

@MrsMaryK2016 we planned to room for 12 weeks or so but M hates his bassinette so he ended up in his room at about 3-4 weeks. But that was his choice not mine ! 

SandNStarsNJ

DH is throwing up... I am almost terrified this is contagious. 

kvruns

Oh no @SandNStarsNJ

SandNStarsNJ

We've made 24 hours with just DH sick, but he also hasn't left his quarantine at all, which made for a dynamic 1 parent 2 kid ratio all day. 

DD asked to do everything we always did one on one and can't do until I either get cleared at my 6 week PP visit, have someone else watch DS, or both, which made me feel like a terrible mom. It also makes it abundantly clear I need to break out the pump but I can't seem to find the time in the day. 

SandNStarsNJ

I need a mommy time out so bad. 

MrsMaryK2016

SandNStarsNJ said:

I need a mommy time out so bad. 

Girl I feel you. I was just thinking that yesterday. I don't know how you do it with two.

SandNStarsNJ

Here's what I'll say, @mrsmaryk2016, it is a brand new normal and pretty exhausting, but I wouldn't change a thing and the transition is easier for me than with the first. DH, on the other hand, asked me yesterday if it was this hard last time and if he blocked it out. When I told him a story from last go-around he realized he blocked out the stress of the first 6-8 weeks. Then he said he decided 2 is enough and he's going to write down a reminder and hang it up. I told he'll break in the next 2 years.

MrsMaryK2016

@SandNStarsNJ I'm going to need to be the one blocking out how hard it is if we're going to have more! I keep saying to my H that I'd be ok if time sped up to when he's six months and then slowed back to normal. Newborn is harder than I expected and honestly I can't even fathom doing it with one or more toddlers to also keep alive. I have a whole new respect for second time moms. Truly, when do you sleep?!

MrsMaryK2016

I've got a cold, desperately need to sleep and this kid has been up to eat every 45 minutes. Kill me.

hjmommaplus1

MrsMaryK2016 said:

@SandNStarsNJ I'm going to need to be the one blocking out how hard it is if we're going to have more! I keep saying to my H that I'd be ok if time sped up to when he's six months and then slowed back to normal. Newborn is harder than I expected and honestly I can't even fathom doing it with one or more toddlers to also keep alive. I have a whole new respect for second time moms. Truly, when do you sleep?!

This!  I have two and remind myself every sleepless night that I'm soooo not interested in doing this again! Especially as DH is laying in the bed peacefully snoring and I battle it out with the LO.