At my wits end

Ceci131

I know all of this is just due to hormones & complete lack f sleep, but I'm at my wits end & feels so terrible for getting frustrated with DD. She nurses constantly, and I doing mean every 1-2 hours I mean constantly & falls asleep only while nursing & being held. As soon as I try to put her down, wakes up & starts screaming & rooting for the breast. She will not sleep anywhere but my chest, tried swing, bouncer, swaddled, rock n play. In the past 7 hours, she has nursed at least 9 times( 20+ min) & has not let me out her down. Anyone else in the same boat or successfully made it through this phase without cracking, because I feel like I'm going to lose it.

ClandestineX

How old is she? I went through this a few times with my little guy.

mben1119

Just know that this is completely normal, we've ALL been there, and it does get better. If you can, after nursing put DD down to sleep on someone else's chest, and get yourself a nice shower and nap.

finallyplanned

We went through that stage and survived. It is hard but it will pass. Just do what you can and don't give up. If you need to, put baby down in her room and let her cry so you can gain your composure back.
We found that a car ride works pretty well for settling her to sleep or just a ride in the stroller around the house.
As far as nursing, you can try stripping her down to her onesie to eat that way she won't be cozy and want to fall asleep. Just some suggestions.
Best of luck!

mnj05

Does she like being swaddled? For a while, if I put DS down after eating without being swaddled, he'd wake up crying. I got to where I'd feed him, swaddle him, rock him a bit and lay him down to nap or put him in the swing. It doesn't bother him as much now. Hang in there!

capstone52501

First off, hugs.   I know how you are feeling, boy do I.   My daughter (who is now 10 years old) was like this.  She nursed every hour on the hour for what seemed like for-e-v-er.   My husband and I slept on the living room floor for the first year because she would wake up at any noise, and at the time we lived in a small 2 bedroom house and my son had the other bedroom.

Like you I tried everything to get her to sleep and stay asleep, I was tired and frustrated. She didn't much care for the swing, and hated the crib.   she didn't like to be swaddled or not swaddled. She even hated the car seat for extended periods of time.   But somehow we made it through. 

Sadly I do not have any tricks to help you, I just kept trying different things.

I am not sure how old your LO is but maybe just let her cry for a few minutes when you try to lay her down.   The Pediatrician told me that they need to cry.

Our LO is 5.5 weeks and just this week I felt myself getting frustrated and was particularly exhausted that day.  I put him down for bed and  woke up and started to cry/fuss.   I just let him... for maybe 5 minutes.  He cried pretty hard for about 2 minutes then he calmed right down.  He was still awake but he wasn't crying, so I went and got him at that point.    Knock on wood, he is doing much better at getting himself back to sleep.

ShadyKull

Hang in there, it will get better! The nurses at the hospital told me that my baby would be eating every two hours after a few days. Ha! It was nearly all the time for a while, especially the first few weeks. At least for me, I think he just needed that constant comfort and closeness of nursing in those first weeks. Luckily I didn't mind too much. It took a while for the "every 2 hours" to be true for me. Just find yourself a good book or good shows and camp out of the couch if you can.

ilovemygirls

I had one like that- constantly on the breast & would not let me put her down until she was like...6+ months old. Even then it was not for long.  There are infants  w/phases & then there are NEEDY newborns/infants.  Mine was super high needs. I hardly got sleep for a year & then did CIO when I couldn't function any more.  That all being said- I survived & you will too..  She is 8 now & still needs SO much less sleep than any kid I've ever met. She's also much more emotional & needy than her younger sister. She's also very active, driven & very smart.  It's so interesting to see what that needy baby turned into

laurenrenee80

I can sympathize! I feel like I could of written this post myself. Everyone tells me 'it gets better'. I know it will, but these 8 weeks have felt like a year.