Putting baby on a schedule

GatorNurse

Hi mamas! I'm going back to work in about 3 weeks and this staying up all dang might business ain't gonna fly. Trying to figure out how to out Baby Caroline on a schedule. Things to consider though ate that we can't bathe her every night (she's on an apnea monitor, can't replace leads that often) & she sleeps in our room right now bc of the monitor. I feel like she barely naps. She'll sleep for like 30-60 mins then wakes up. Right now, she sleeps in the RnP. Any recs on books? 

Thanks! 

jenmikw

By your ticker she should be about 4 weeks adjusted.  She's still in the newborn stage.  DS didn't start sstn (7 hours between feeds at night) until saturday when we was 5.5 months adjusted.

GatorNurse

She is 4 weeks adjusted. I dont expect her to STTN but literally, she DOES NOT sleep at all, lol. I get that she is going to obviously wake up to eat every 3-4 hours but when my husband gets up for work and I haven't gone to sleep at all...yeah, that's not very conducive to working, lol.

urbanflowerpot

I don't think you're going to be able to put her on a schedule since she's NB - you can try a routine, but...sorry not what you want to hear. She might be flipped like PP said.

My favorite sleep book was Dr Sears' "Baby Sleep Book" and "Healthy Sleep Happy Baby" though I don't personally agree with the training methods. I just found the information in that one particularly helpful/useful in understanding infant sleep cycles. HTH!

jacque_z

Is she not still on the NICU schedule?  We stuck to that for quite a while. 

bhilyer

Tell us about your day.  How often does she eat?  Are you swaddling her for sleep?  What's the longest stretch you get from her in regards to eating?  Is it possible that she has a medicine acting as a stimulant?

GatorNurse

I guess maybe starting a routine is more what I'm looking for. She eats every 3-4 hours during the day but doesn't seem to get much restful, deep sleep in between. She 'll fall asleep in my arms if I'm rocking her then as soon as I lay her in the RnP she grunts herself awake. I've been trying to do a sleep-diaper-eat-play kinda cycle but it doesn't seem to be helping much. She's on Zantac for reflux twice daily. I'm just getting NO sleep during the week & I'm a nurse. This current "schedule" is not going to work with working a 12 hr shift where it's pretty important to be alert, lol. At night, she'll go up to 5 hrs once...sometimes. Last night she went from8-1230 then stayed awake between the 1230 & 330 feed then I tried twice to get her to sleep then lay her down. Finally I gave up & was so desperate for sleep (I've got a cold) that I held her in the chair & we both slept til right now. I just woke up & put her in the RnP so of course she's squirming & grunting.  

bhilyer

It's so hard to work when your LO doesn't sleep.  Hopefully you can get a routine down to help with her sleeping patterns.A couple of suggestions:

~when was she weighed last?  LOs can outgrow dosages quickly, so she may need an adjustment.  Also, if she's uncomfortable you may want to try another medicine.  Zantac didn't work for either of my boys.

~do you swaddle her?  You may want to start swaddling for all sleep.  I did that with both boys and it made a world of difference.  

~ get a Moby!  It saved my sanity with JS.  He was the worst sleeper and needed to be held.  I know your LO is still on O2, but I've worn H several times as well.

~ Since you can't give her a bath daily, maybe try a massage at night before "bedtime".  There are several videos on YouTube showing baby massages.

~Is her RnP in your room?  As long as she's not screaming, I think it's okay to put her in the RnP awake.  You'll have her hooked up to her monitor and you're right there.

~Is it possible for you and your husband to split the night?  Like if her last bottle is at 9, you take 9-1 and he takes 1-5?  That really helped us in the early days.  That way each of you get one longer stretch of sleep.

 

Good luck!   

GatorNurse

Thanks for responding, ladies. We went to the pedi today and she upped her dosage of Zantac (like you said, bhilyer, she was not at the highest dosage for her weight, so hopefully she'll be good for another month or so at the new dose). I am definitely checking into buying a wrap. Since she's off her O2 now during the day, and they told me I can give her a break from the monitor as long as I am watching her then I want to try to start wearing her. Do you guys know if the Moby is like one size fits all? I'm a bigger gal and dont wanna waste the money if it won't fit

She is definitely grunty, but we put her in the RnP awake and hope for the best. I'll usually let her fuss for a few mins to see if she can work through it and put herself to sleep but once she starts screaming, I try to soothe her and put her down again as soon as I can get her to sleep. The past two nights she has done pretty well, going down around 9, then getting up obviously around midnight then again around 5....I can do that! THAT is tolerable, and more like what I expected with a baby her age. 

Thanks again for all the help!