and @ladybug2821 i do harbor some animosity for anyone who chooses smoking or any other scientifically proven negative behavior during their pregnancies.
So LO still doesn't take regular naps. I still do try to keep her on a routine of feed, wake, sleep where she's awake for 90 mins from the time she wakes up until she gets sleepy. But recently she's only been able to make it an hour before she gets fussy and I can tell she's sleepy. I think not napping more than 10 mins is catching up with her but an hour seems like such a short time to be awake. Is that normal for a 9 week old?
@Ladybug2821 ugh, my lo does the same thing. Sometimes he naps great, like if we go out he sleeps the whole time, but at home for me it takes forever to get him down and then it usually lasts for like 10m. So frustrating. I also can tell he's tired but he fights napping! I usually get frustrated at that point and hand him to my husband who is much more patient than me, lol. He swaddles him tight, puts on white noise (just youtube ocean waves on his phone) and rocks him... lo usually goes down best with those tricks.
I wish I had some awesome, helpful advice, but Johnny is such a great sleeper now and Jimmy always was. So was DD. I guess I either got SUPER lucky, or was expecting life to be WAY worse than it ended up being. I guess all the good advice has already been posted so... Good luck ladies, I truly wish you all the best! If nothing else, it'll pass!
@Kittens22 I definitely think I could swaddle her better/tighter and hopefully that will help. I use the swaddle me and she gets out of it every time no matter how tight. I'm going to try the moms on call and see how that goes. I've also given in and have been giving her a pacifier because of how fussy she's been getting. I just put her down in the swaddle with the pacifier and white noise. Let's see how long it lasts lol.
Good luck!!! Yes my DS gets out of a swaddle easily too - until we found the trick where you line it with a receiving blanket which tucks their arms in. It's on YouTube from One Minute Mom... Highly recommend!!!!
My LO is now 11 weeks old and was having trouble sleeping unless he coslept in our bed. We tried something we were told about and it seems to have worked for us! We rolled a long bath towel into a U shape and put it under his bassinet sheet. This way he feels close and snuggled. He slept 5 hours the first night we did it!
@Sprinkels28 The nurses did that in the NICU too! Seemed to work well for them
Anybody else's LO outgrowing their bassinet? Johnny is going to have to have a crib sooner rather than later. I wasn't expecting him to get so big so fast... behemoth child.
@Sprinkels28 The nurses did that in the NICU too! Seemed to work well for them
Anybody else's LO outgrowing their bassinet? Johnny is going to have to have a crib sooner rather than later. I wasn't expecting him to get so big so fast... behemoth child.
So far the only thing that I will not put LO in anymore is the napper that came with the pack and play. She could still fit in it but she rolls so much that I'm scared her face will get stuck in the side of it and she won't be able to breathe.
2 days ago I decided I was going to swaddle LO for naps and give her a pacifier. I wasn't giving her a paci before but she definitely is a comfort sucker so I gave in. I did those 2 things with white noise and have been getting 30-45 min naps in the pack n play. Such an improvement! I don't even have to rock her to sleep. She basically starts closing her eyes as soon as I bring her in the room and I lay her down. Her wake time Is around an hour and I just watch to see when she yawns and rubs her eyes and start the "nap routine". She has been consistent with it. I've also been doing the swaddle technique that @kittens22 mentioned and she went back to sleeping 8 hours at night.
It's funny.. last night DH and I were watching the Bachelor so we didn't do our usual nighttime routine with DS, first time we've skipped it since starting a couple weeks ago... just swaddled him and rocked him to sleep. And wouldn't you know it, he had his longest sleep EVER! he slept 7.5 hours!! He normally does 4-5 hours, longest being 5~. Lol! We will be going back to routine cause I know that's good long term, I just thought it was so weird!
It's funny.. last night DH and I were watching the Bachelor so we didn't do our usual nighttime routine with DS, first time we've skipped it since starting a couple weeks ago... just swaddled him and rocked him to sleep. And wouldn't you know it, he had his longest sleep EVER! he slept 7.5 hours!! He normally does 4-5 hours, longest being 5~. Lol! We will be going back to routine cause I know that's good long term, I just thought it was so weird!
Right!! I'm just hoping that the new swaddle technique wasn't a fluke and she continues to sleep 8 hrs.
I see lots of sleep tips that are great!! Just wanted to add my H and I discovered the miracle blanket swaddle. It keeps their arms in tight based in their body weight. LO sleeps so good in it!!
I have gotten LO in a nap routine but she only takes 30-40 min naps. So I'm doing the routine 5 times a day because she only lasts awake for an hour. Any ideas on how I can extend naps?
Today, I've started putting LO in his crib for naps so we can start transitioning him there for night time sleep too. He only sleeps about 30-45 minutes at a time so I'm not positive he's actually sleeping bc I think he's just laying there... He went from sleeping all day as a newborn to BAM he suddenly wouldn't sleep at all. So I'm trying to be patient but bc I'm toggling trying to get him comfortable and sleeping I'm missing out on time with DS1. It's frustrating to me I don't have the time/attention to give DS1 that I would like and anytime I sit down with both of them LO just fusses and demands more of me.
@AllyTheKid Right?!? I mean I'm definitely struggling and I wish I was getting better about figuring it out but I'm not. I have so many things I want to work with both of them on plus everything around the house but I'm just barely making it. How do you balance all your LO's plus everything else?
@christinab0722 I haven't figured out how to give enough attention to both of my kids yet, and I'm constantly begging forgiveness from my 5 year-old. How old is your DS1? My DD1 is fairly understanding, but I have to make sure that I carve out some time just for the 2 of us, usually on the weekend since I'm a working mom. I also try to explain to her that it won't always be this way.
@ball4768. DS1 is 4, but he will be 5 in a couple months. He's always been very independent and able to really entertain himself until babe came. He's definitely doing better but he gets jealous and frustrated. H tries his best, but he works nights so usually through the week it's just me and the kids so I'm exhausted and trying to balance it all on my own. I just really had no idea that finding balance would be so difficult... And with all the complications I had from giving birth it meant that for almost 6 weeks my kids didn't have me or H around much and had no schedule so I feel like I'm constantly playing catch up.
How long are your LOs staying up in between naps? LO only manages an hour and since she only takes 30 min naps, I feel like I am always putting her down.
It just depends on the in between...we've kind of fallen into an odd schedule lately but it's been working... He takes about two 30-45 minute naps throughout the day, he gets fed every 2.5-3 hours all day until around 3:45-4:15 he lays down and takes a long nap until 7:15-7:30, which DS1 lays down from 4-6:15 so it gives me one on one time with him, and I can get some rest or clean. Then once LO gets up we play and put DS1 to bed around 8 then start bedtime for him with hopes to have him in bed by 9. I know it's pure chaos but the quiet is so covered in these parts.... And since I'm doing it all alone every night, it givese a chance to not have total insanity with two fussy boys every night.
Well, the big kids are in school during the day, so I stay on top of the house while they're away and I just have the Littles home. I run a tight ship with a pretty strict routine (nap times and meal times the same everyday, etc.) that helps as far as getting things done and handling all of the not baby and kid related things. As far distributing my time with them all, the key thing to remember here is just because you can't give them as much attention does NOT mean you aren't giving them enough attention. And honestly the only thing you really can do is do your best to interact when you can, and be sure to explain why you can't when you're busy. Sometimes DD gets frustrated and I have to tell her "mommy isn't ignoring you, I'm just very busy". And then I ask her if she wants to help me, that's a good way to get some time with her while I'm tending to the babies or doing housework or cooking. It's hard with a baby, but it gets easier. There's no one magic trick that works for everyone, and I think it is much harder with two kids than it is with more, the older ones can at least entertain each other around here. I hope you find your balance soon! I've just been rambling on and on, so hopefully something good came out of it somewhere haha
So, I've been feeling like the luckiest mom in the world because LO slept for 9 straight hours the past 3 nights in a row...! I think he's 8 weeks? Anyway, today I literally had to wake him up when I got up at 9h. Fed him right away. He ate for 2 STRAIGHT HOURS. Haha.
Have you guys had your Littles sleep this long? He gets 2x 2h naps a day so not like he's not sleep deprived. And of course I'll tell my Dr at his appt next week. Just felt a little nervous all of a sudden that it's bad I let him sleep!
So, I've been feeling like the luckiest mom in the world because LO slept for 9 straight hours the past 3 nights in a row...! I think he's 8 weeks? Anyway, today I literally had to wake him up when I got up at 9h. Fed him right away. He ate for 2 STRAIGHT HOURS. Haha.
Have you guys had your Littles sleep this long? He gets 2x 2h naps a day so not like he's not sleep deprived. And of course I'll tell my Dr at his appt next week. Just felt a little nervous all of a sudden that it's bad I let him sleep!
My LO has slept that long before but that is the longest without waking. Usually she sleeps 7/8 straight. I think as long as he is gaining and happy during the day it's fine to let him sleep. But definitely see what the pedi says.
Not sure if anyone is still struggling with this, but thought I would chime in. My little one would not nap and was waking up regularly throughout the night until I started a specific swaddle. It's used by the mom's on call ladies. I know they're controversial but their swaddle technique works. Add in white noise and a bedtime routine and my little one went from no naps to 2 daily naps of an hour and a half and sleeping through the night in three days time.
Today I decided to start getting LO to nap in his room... So I guess I'm sorta nap training. He usually only naps about 1-2 30 minute naps during the day and he takes an evening nap from 4-7. Right now he sleeps in my room in a RNP, so I'm using that in the nursery now for naps... Then I'd eventually like to get him in the crib once he starts napping consistently and then hopefully into his room at nights. I'm hoping this napping isn't going to mess with his night sleep, but we need to get on a napping schedule and get him up in his room in a consistent sleep space. I never had to do this with DS1 bc he just really fell into an awesome sleep schedule of his own and napped in his crib, so I'm just hoping we can all have some patience and figure this out. Any tips out there from you guys who might already be going through this or have done it before?
It's crazy that LO will only take 30 min naps when I lay her down but laying with me she takes a 2+ hour nap. Wth is that about?? Well at least I got to lay down too.
@Ladybug2821 oh how I need a nap. I've been cursed with having horrible sleep patterns the past year so I don't think I've slept more than two hours at a time so I'm basically an exhausted pigeon every single day. What kind of annoys me is I always make sure H gets a nap on days/nights when I know he's had poor sleep, but the favor is almost never returned. I'm guessing he just doesn't consider that I'm probably tired too. Glad you got some sleep with your babe.
I could have written some of these posts almost word for word! My son was amazing. He would be up every 3 hours for a change and bottle and back down. By 2 months he was sleeping 10-5 would have a bottle and would sleep another few hours. My daughter is all over the place and doesn't like to sleep flat. We used the swing for a bit, some nights we got lucky and the bassinet worked, then we'd use the mamaroo and finally my cousin gave us the rock and play. The pediatrician told us she has to start sleeping flat or we are going to find ourselves with a kid who refuses the crib. My sanity cannot take it! I need sleep. I'm not willing to experiment. Sometimes there's a fluke and she sleeps 6 hours. Now she's every 3 hours but at least she goes back to sleep. She used to be very 3 and up for 2. I cried a lot. I go back to work 2/1 so I sure hope this gets better soon!
@Ladybug2821 oh how I need a nap. I've been cursed with having horrible sleep patterns the past year so I don't think I've slept more than two hours at a time so I'm basically an exhausted pigeon every single day. What kind of annoys me is I always make sure H gets a nap on days/nights when I know he's had poor sleep, but the favor is almost never returned. I'm guessing he just doesn't consider that I'm probably tired too. Glad you got some sleep with your babe.
I completely understand how that is. I can probably count on one hand The naps I've been able to take since having LO. And then my husband has the nerve to get up while I'm playing with the baby and be like I'm taking a nap. WTF?? Mind you I'm the one who gets up with the baby for feedings so I'm not quite sure why he needs a nap. I've been plagued with horrible sleep since about 4 weeks postpartum. It takes me a while to fall sleep especially after her middle the night feeding and then I wake up throughout the night several times to check on her. So I'm pretty much groggy every day.
Can sleep training be started with a nap? I moved LO to her crib for naps but I'm having a hard time laying her down without her becoming wide awake. It's getting really annoying. I just want to be able to lay her down and walk away but it takes so much work just for her little 30 min cat naps .
Re: Baby Sleep
Speaking of escaping swaddles... haha
to have worked for us! We rolled a long bath towel into a U shape and put it under his bassinet sheet. This way he feels close and snuggled. He slept 5 hours the first night we did it!
Anybody else's LO outgrowing their bassinet? Johnny is going to have to have a crib sooner rather than later. I wasn't expecting him to get so big so fast... behemoth child.
It's funny.. last night DH and I were watching the Bachelor so we didn't do our usual nighttime routine with DS, first time we've skipped it since starting a couple weeks ago... just swaddled him and rocked him to sleep. And wouldn't you know it, he had his longest sleep EVER! he slept 7.5 hours!! He normally does 4-5 hours, longest being 5~. Lol! We will be going back to routine cause I know that's good long term, I just thought it was so weird!
As far distributing my time with them all, the key thing to remember here is just because you can't give them as much attention does NOT mean you aren't giving them enough attention. And honestly the only thing you really can do is do your best to interact when you can, and be sure to explain why you can't when you're busy. Sometimes DD gets frustrated and I have to tell her "mommy isn't ignoring you, I'm just very busy". And then I ask her if she wants to help me, that's a good way to get some time with her while I'm tending to the babies or doing housework or cooking.
It's hard with a baby, but it gets easier. There's no one magic trick that works for everyone, and I think it is much harder with two kids than it is with more, the older ones can at least entertain each other around here.
I hope you find your balance soon! I've just been rambling on and on, so hopefully something good came out of it somewhere haha
DS #1 11/08/10
DS #2 due 10/20/16
Have you guys had your Littles sleep this long? He gets 2x 2h naps a day so not like he's not sleep deprived. And of course I'll tell my Dr at his appt next week. Just felt a little nervous all of a sudden that it's bad I let him sleep!