Eco-Friendly Family
Options
Does it really get better?
Ladies, I need some encouragement. DS is 10 weeks old and I feel like we've made no progress in the last 6 weeks. He won't sleep at night. He won't nap anywhere except my arms, then it's not always for very long. He fights sleep. I have to rock/bounce him to sleep every time and he always cries. When he's awake he's usually crabby and fussy. I can't take him anywhere. I can't do anything around the house. I haven't slept in 2 months. I'm going back to work in less than 2 weeks and I'm freaking out. I've come to terms with the fact that I have a difficult, fussy baby that is a bad sleeper, but I feel like it's never going to get better. I feel like it's one step forward, 3 back. He was sleeping great when we were visiting family for Christmas (almost 6 hours one night!) but now he has a cold and is a mess. He's been crying all day and was up all night. The poor thing is hoarse now. I feel like I will never have a normal life again! Did anyone else feel this way? Does it really eventually get better?
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Does it really get better?
It really does get better. Really. Not to discourage you at all but with both my boys around 9 months I felt like things started getting back to (our new) normal. Those first however many months can be rough...breastfeeding, teething, colds, not napping, not sleeping through the night. Once one thing gets better, another gets worse. It can seem like it's always something. It really does get better though (for me anyway) once they start back to sleeping longer stretches for naps and night, getting more proficient at nursing, being happy with distractions and playing, starting solids and not nursing around the clock, etc.
Hang in there mama! Babies are so overwhelming!
Big E (6) & Little E (2.5)
It really does get better. Really. If it didn't, I wouldn't have a second baby
While I can't imagine going back to work with a 12 week-old (a giant perk of being Canadian), you'll survive.
Thanks ladies! It's good to see that you survived and had 2nd babies!
I do have a moby, but sometimes he won't fall asleep in it, others I'm too tired to carry him.
Totally.
S was a mess the first four months. A MESS. Then she got better, but not "easy". I felt like 9-10mos was where we really hit our stride and she just became a complete joy 24/7.
The first bit is just rough stuff, but you'll get through it. The going back to work at peak exhaustion is horrid, but you'll get through it, too. Promise.
Maybe a dumb ? but do you wear him?
I didn't hear a peep from #2 because I wore him for like 4 months straight, no lie.
It does get better. It does get easier. I think I posted the same thing a few months back, at least something similar.
The most honest thing someone posted back to me was, "Babies are hard." You get through it and they are so much fun when they become interactive.
((hugs)) we know what you're going through. Is there anyone who can help out?
Tales of the Wife
I do wear him a bit, but he doesn't always love it. He is a very restless sleeper. I have had my mom and some friends help out. And DH is a HUGE help, I would seriously die without him.
It's so nice to know I'm not the only one going through this!
I was just reminiscing with DH tonight about how miserable the first few months with DD were. It seems like a different world and a lifetime ago! She is SUCH a different baby and things are insanely easier. It really has gotten better...I never thought it would, but am SOOOO thankful!!
I'm sorry things are tough for you. Hang in there!!!
Another dumb question - do you swaddle? Have you watched Happiest Baby on the Block? We watched it our first night home from the hospital after ds was born and... well, it at least gave us some suggestions about stuff to try.
Even, then, though... it was still incredibly rough. My son sounds like he was a very similar baby to yours... 45 minute naps max - sometimes he'd sleep in his swing, but usually I had to hold him. When I went back to work, he was still waking every 2-3 hours, so DH had to start getting up at night to help me (I'd been the only one getting up before that - he was working and I wasn't, so it seemed like he should sleep). Ugh. I thought I was going to die. Seriously. I was so tired. Some days I was too tired to sit on the couch with the baby, let alone go to work where I do things that could kill people if I mess up from not paying attention!
Here's my motto (excuse the poor english, I didn't invent the motto, just adopted it from an old friend): "Ain't nothing to it, but to do it." Take one day at a time, do the best you can, trust that it will be good enough, cut yourself some slack. It definitely gets better!
Hugs!
ditto babyluv. babies ARE hard!! i marvel every day that people have more than one and that i may get to a point where i think we can manage another and dd is 7 months now! those first 12 weeks were soooo hard. everyone kept saying it would get better and it seemed so far fetched and hard to believe, but i swear that it did. or that i got more 'seasoned' - not sure which it is exactly, but it wasn't as hard as it was.
just take everything one day, sometimes one hour, at a time. dd still only really naps on me, usually for only 45 mins at a time, doesn't love being worn and when she'll tolerate it i have to be in constant motion which doesn't always work for me. it helps me on hard days to remember that it's not forever.
*hugs*
my bfp chart!
our hippy baby blog