He never sleeps!

sarahkatherine8

I know that newborns wake up often to feed...but it seems like Jackson is hardly sleeping between feedings! He is 4 weeks old today, but two weeks away from his due date. It seems like the sleeping has gotten worse over the past week, not better. I'm not sure if this is normal or if anyone else had this happen. I am just really worried that he is not getting enough sleep and rest to help him continue to develop properly. I don't think we are overstimulating him during the day, but maybe that is the case? The only time he does sleep for more than an hour is if we are holding him. Perhaps I'm just a tired Mama and this is totally normal, but I think he should be getting more than 1 hour of uninterrupted sleep at a time, right?

Any similar experiences or advice?

TriciaJoy

Robbie was the same way. I'd see all these posts worrying about babies sleeping too much and want to slug somebody. That was NOT a problem in our house, for sure.

Does J have reflux? Most of Robbie's sleeping issues were blamed on reflux. I don't know if it was all that, though I'm sure it contributed.

 Robbie is now 12 months actual and is still a terrible napper. HOWEVER, he's a GREAT sleeper at night. He pretty regularly sleeps 12 hours at night. Now, he might take 3 20 minute naps during the day, but at least he's sleeping sometime.

When he's awake is he cranky? Hungry?

To be honest, we ended up sleeping in the recliner for a long time. Have you tried letting him sleep in the swing or a bouncy seat? We have a papasan swing and it was the only thing that saved my sanity for a while. He would nap for a little bit in it. I'd keep it beside my chair and I'd nap with him.
But truthfully, the first month.. maybe 6 weeks, at home (Robbie came home on his due date) I slept an hour here and an hour there. It was ROUGH. (And my husband was really, really unhelpful at that time.)

Hang in there, girl. And honestly, if you have a friend who has offered to come over and help- let them.. you need some rest. I wish now that I'd called some friends and said "that offer? Yeah.. I need a shower and a nap. HELP ME."

 

RubyRed7

Ruby also had reflux... She slept often but for short periods of time! I kept track and discovered she was getting enough sleep in a 24 hour period, but I of course was not! I'm sure some of it is definitely normal.

Over time, and once we got her reflux meds on track, Ruby slept for longer and longer at night... Until last month when she stopped sleeping again! Good times!

Hang in there mama. I also slept holding her sometimes just because I was so tired. We tried the bouncy seat too with some success. Good luck!

sarahkatherine8

Everything you ladies say sounds so similar, I'm really starting to wonder about the reflux. He does not burp well, but doesn't spit up much either. He gets the hiccups all of the time. And when we let him fall asleep on his tummy while he's on one of our chests, he sleeps so well.

When he wakes up he is SUPER cranky. And he is either wet/dirty or rooting around like crazy for some food. He has just figured out how to really cry this week too, ha ;-)

My mom stayed over last night so that DH could sleep for work and we were both exhausted by morning. She even said that she couldn't believe how little J sleeps so that is when I started getting concerned. She offered to stay again tonight & I stupidly turned her down because I felt guilty that she was up so much last night!

We tried the swing for the first time today, worked for about 30 minutes. Have not tried the bouncy seat yet, will give it a shot tonight. Thanks for the tips, I will bring up the reflux to pedi!

Aidge

Sam was the exact same way as you are describing and what Trish said about Robbie. I too thought something was wrong, but it is just him! He still sleeps crappy for naps, but does 11 hours at night, which I will take over naps any day! He did well in the swing for awhile, but grew out of that, and does at times take 2 naps per day longer than 45 minutes, but this if not often. He also has reflux, but it is silent, and the meds have helped a bit. ?GL to you, and remember that it will get better! I won't tell ?you how long it took Sam to "even out", as you might punch your computer, but all babies are different and he may learn to sleep much sooner than Sam did! GL!

AviatorJJ

my sister has a full term 3 week old baby and she was just saying today how baby was up for like 6 hours! she was worried about her sleeping too. totally normal.

i read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child and i thought the suggestions in the book were a life saver.

RubyRed7

Oh, and I have to recommend Gripe Water! I don't know if ever really helped for reflux symptoms/upset tummies... but it definitely cures hiccups about 80% of the time! And DD loves it!