Newborn sleep

cmarruda

My son is almost three weeks old. He is EBF. We have been transitioning him into napping in the bassinet because before he needed to be held to sleep. We are trying to get away from that. At night he appears to be the fussiest. Having a hard time sleeping and expecting to be rocked etc. i just don’t want this to translate overnight because I’ve noticed at night he wants to be held and momma can’t do that. I’ll feed him. He’ll go in bassinet and immediately wake up and we repeat this process sometimes all night. Advice??

00kim00

I have no advice, just commiseration. I'm definitely feeling this right now, as I'm holding my 6 week old at 4am (and have been since my husband tapped out around 12:30). We decided to give the crib/bassinet a break last week since I was up and down all night every night, and both me and baby sleep deprived with no more than 30 minutes in the bassinet at a time. We (me and baby, not dad) are both better rested now that my husband and I are taking turns holding him all night, but this is SO not sustainable. We're trying to figure out the best strategy to get him in the crib and get back to it this week 

ltd-002

I feel you mamas! My little gal is ebf too, we are seven weeks and are room sharing with a bassinet.  In those early weeks I was maybe “sleeping” 20 45 min between contact naps/feedings and now we are getting bigger chunks 1.5-4hrs at a time. During the day it’s wild Wild West for bassinet naps and we usually do contact naps (bc mom and dad enjoy the cuddles!!) or baby wearing (do some light chores). Going into the evening I would legit feel “scared of the dark”, knowing I was going into an unknown number of sleeping hours (minutes?!). Each week got better for us and I hope it does for you too, hang in there!!! 

in general, this is what had worked for us for bassinet/better sleep at night: 
— making sure we go outside for 30min+ each day (help her start to understand day vs night). at first I tried around the same time each day and quickly realized that was unrealistic!! “Done js better than perfect”  
— stopped swaddling and use a wearable blanket / sleep sack (this immediately extended her bassinet sleep) - girl loves her arms out 
— knowing when to put her down: limp noodle test, raise her arm and drop it… if it goes limp and falls back down she is in deep sleep and I put her in bassinet. If her arm tenses or she pushes back then I know I need to hold her longer (I like this method vs “waiting 5 more minutes”) 
— when I set her in bassinet I make sure she is bum first/head last or lay her on her side, helps with startle reflex 
— my husband will leave his hands on her for awhile if he’s setting her down and thinks it helps, I don’t do this and I’m fine (usually lol) 
— making sure she is nice and full before setting her down. If she isn’t passing the limp noodle test I will burp her, check diaper and then offer her the other side. 

— if she is really fussy in the evening before bed and it isn't related to gassines, we will do a swaddle bath. Again, not specific to bassinet sleep but puts her in a better spot going into the evening stretch! 
— white noise and red light (vs yellow light) does this help? Idk but part of our night routine! 

— managing my expectations. I go into each night expecting to be up every hour so when I don’t it feels like a win  
— if none of this is working…. In those early weeks I would have my sister who is a night owl come by and contact nap with her between feedings (until about 2am) so me and my husband could get some sleep before that next stretch. 

sources where I’ve found helpful tips and tricks:
@heysleepybaby
@takingcarababies
the biggest takeaway is you can’t really “sleep train” before 4-5 months so it’s just coping to get the best quality sleep for baby and helping set a bedtime routine you until you decide how you want to move forward with sleep training or not. I also only take what serves us from these accounts/blogs I read and forget everything else (ie: My gal does not fit into any wake window math - she may be up for 1-3 hours without getting “overtired”) 

knottie_knottie1

My LO is EBF and also only sleeps when held. After many sleepless nights and much research, we decided to follow the Safe Seven. We all get much more sleep, are happier, and have more energy during the day as a result. Basically, my advice is do your own research and do what works best for you and your family. Every baby and situation is different

knottie7eb6786826f13660

I totally agree with @ltd-002 - those are the exact strategies that work for us. Hang in there mama!

theadorable

All of the mums at NCT group recommended the 7pm to 7am Sleeping Baby Routine: The no-cry plan to help your baby sleep through the night book so I tried it and it worked after a few weeks, now my little one takes most of her milk and sleeps well. The only other thing is she suffered from tummy pains so we used the Infacol which worked really well. Hope this helps.