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D.C. Area Babies
two newbie sleep questions
DS has been sleeping in the pack and play in our room since he came home, to make night feedings easier. Now that DH is back at work, though, I generally end up taking him out of the bedroom to nurse at night anyway so DH can sleep. And DS is a surprisingly loud sleeper - he snorts, he grunts - and it keeps me up. He's only 3 weeks, though - is it too early to move him into his crib? We have a video monitor, FWIW.
Also, when are you supposed to start putting them down "drowsy but awake"? Because that . . . does not happen. We're still in the "by any means possible" mode of getting DS to sleep, which can mean nursing/rocking to sleep or letting him sleep on my chest. I don't want to start bad habits, but I also know from the few times I've tried that trying to lay him down when he's still even slightly awake means he will start crying almost immediately. In all honesty, he doesn't like being put down AT ALL during the day - I think I need to figure out the Moby soon because otherwise I'm never going to get anything done when I'm on my own (my mom is helping out this week).
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Re: two newbie sleep questions
Right now, he's just going to sleep whenever and wherever he wants :-) But we did move Warner to his crib for night time sleep right at around 3 weeks. And for the next one, I think we'll just start them in the crib right away...babies ARE loud sleepers!
I had no real routine or schedule with Warner until he was 8 weeks old. And I did use the Moby for him to nap sometimes during the day before then. But around 8 weeks, I started using the Babywise schedule (which I know some people think is horrible, but I'm not sure why, it worked great for us) and it gave our days structure and within just a couple weeks he was STTN.
For now, though, try not to stress over getting things done around the house. I know that's easier said than done and obviously there are things that have to be done. But at 3 weeks, he's just going to do what he wants (based on my experience, with my one baby
).
TTC #1 Cycle 14 - IUI#1=BFN, IUI#2=BFP | TTC #2 Cycle 8=BFP!!
Both our girls went to the crib in their own room when they were a month old. That was our tolerance for being kept awake by those grunts and movements. So no, I don't think three weeks is too soon.
DD #1 wasn't like this, but DD #2 LOVED the Moby. That thing was freaking awesome for me to have her sleep in while I was "hands free" and did stuff around the house. I actually thought at one point that she was sort of addicted to it so I started to lay off it (didn't want her to ONLY be able to sleep in Moby) - but now looking back I should have just used the heck out of that thing every possible moment.
My word of advice is not to worry too much about details of sleep at this point. Do whatever you can to get the maximum amount of sleep for both of you. It really wasn't until about 2.5-3 months (or maybe even a little later) that I started a bedtime routine and that she slept at all remotely consistently. As you can see from my recent posts, it's always a work in progress anyway.
Go ahead and try him in his crib - it can't hurt! Otherwise, do what works in the moment. He's not forming habits at this point!
This. :-)
One of the best decisions I think I have made regarding sleep was to move DD into her own room. I think I did it around 6 weeks but I should've done it sooner. DD made so many noises when she slept which would constantly wake me up. At first, I would respond to her when she made a movement or sound but my Pediatrician said that sleep patterns start early and that I should not respond to her immediately and let her fall back asleep on her own. Of course, if she is crying and really needs me, I get her and figure out what she needs.
When I first made her sleep in the crib, I felt so much guilt about it at first but I quickly got over the guilt after a couple of nights of good sleep for myself (selfish I know). I also think that sleeping on her own has helped DD's sleeping patterns because she is very good at self-soothing. Since about week 7 or 8, she sleeps about 8 hours/night. Occasionally, I hear her wake up in the night but then she goes back to sleep on her own.
As for the drowsy but awake, I think that is hard in the first weeks because the newborns seem to sleep all of the time and for me, I had no idea when they were supposed to be taking a nap so I didn't know when to put them down. Bumpie BH recommended the book "On Becoming Babywise" which really helped me. While I do not agree with everything in the book, it helped me to get on a flexible schedule which for us was 3 hour cycles of (1) Feeding, (2) Wake time, (3) Sleep time. When I first put her down drowsy but awake, she did cry. I would set my timer and let her cry for 5-10 minutes. If it was a blood curdling cry, I would get her but if it was just a regular cry, I would let her try to fall asleep and most of the time she did.
Anyway, I know that different techniques work for different people and I'm just sharing what worked for us. But my main message is that if you are ready to put DS in his own room, don't feel guilty about it (and you can always change your mind and bring him back into your room if you think it's too early). Also, if you think it's okay to let DS cry for a bit before falling asleep, that is okay too. In general, I think it's all a game of trial and error so I think it is VERY smart of you to start figuring out your own strategy now. Also, things change so fast...so right now, he may not want to fall asleep on his own but in a few weeks, that may change. Good luck with it - I know the first weeks were so challenging for me as I was trying to figure these things out but you are doing great. And, sorry this is so long - I got carried away with so many thoughts to share.
We moved DS to his crib at 3 weeks because 1) he was also a really noisy sleeper, and 2) I kept finding myself asleep in bed with him somewhere else in the bed b/c I'd fall asleep nursing.
He did just fine with the moving to his crib.
Do whatever you can to get DS to sleep. While "drowsy but awake" is a good ideal, it doesn't really come into play until they're much more aware of the world--at around 2-3 months old.
The Moby will help out a bunch. Definitely start using it!
We put DD in her own room/crib at 1 mo old, in retrospect, we should've waited
as for "drowsy but awake" I LOL at that, DD did not start that until we Ferberized at 9.5 mo
I think the 1st 4 mo babies can't form any habits so do whatever works for you and him
I also kept hearing about how a routine is good for the baby, and I agree it is, but we started it at 1mo old and I think it just recently took. Every baby is different
We moved DS from our room to his crib at 5 weeks and I think it helped everybody's sleep! As for "drowsy but awake", we didn't start that until 4 months. I have been using HSHHC, and it's worked great for us.
At 3 weeks, I would have done ANYTHING to get him to sleep. I let him sleep anywhere - bouncy seat, carseat, my chest, etc. He slept in his swing every night for a really rough 3 week stretch, but you do what you have to do.
Definitely try the Moby during the day - that was very helpful to me in getting stuff done around the house. He would just curl up in there and rest while I did dishes, vacuumed, laundry, etc.