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1st night w/new baby was extremely ROUGH!

butterbeansmamabutterbeansmama
in Babies: 0 - 3 Months

Despite my best efforts of "keeping him awake" as much as possible during the day and cluster nursing (every 1.5 hours), he would only sleep 45 minutes at a time last night.

He is going to be a tummy sleeper just like his brother was, but even though he can lift his neck (he is pretty strong), I want to wait at least a week before we try that.

It didn't help that right before I put him down for bed: I nursed him, changed his dirty diaper, but him down. He woke up 15 minutes later, with more dirty diaper, so then I changed it again and put him back down. He woke up 20 minutes later and had soaked through diaper, jammies, receiving blanket, so then I changed him yet again. At this point he was hungry again. It was a vicious cycle until around 4:00am, when we gave up and this is how we got at least 3 hours of sleep: dh on the couch with H. :-) It will help when my milk "fully" comes in!

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Re: 1st night w/new baby was extremely ROUGH!

  • Big JBig J member
    He's pretty young to try to keep him awake during the day. Let him sleep, he will probably sleep better at night. Cute pic :)
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  • evaseckaevasecka
    I don't know how you feel about co-sleeping but that might help you in these first weeks.
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  • bakershakerbakershaker
    I agree...let them sleep all day..newborns need to sleep 16-20 hours a day!  I find the more they sleep in the day, the better the night is. When my daughter is fussy all day and won't nap long..we have horrible sleeps that night!
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  • MrsColvinMrsColvin
    More sleep during the day will promote better night sleep! If he is overly tired he will have trouble sleeping soundly. Also we coslept for the first two weeks... My LO needed that extra cuddle time as he adjusted to life outside. At the end of the two weeks he transitioned to his PnP beautifully.
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  • rosesandpeoniesrosesandpeonies member
    That is how my first night went...and my legs were seriously ten times there normal size and I was in pain from the csection.  Try the keeping the house light and talking normally during the day, and the house dark and quiet at night...that might help, but as you know a newborn is just going to do, what they want to do :)  Hope your next few nights are a little easier!
    DD (8/12/09), DD (2/8/11)
    BFP 12/16/14| EDD 8/19/15 |MMC 1/15/15 (9 weeks 1 day)
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  • punkin6144@yahoo.compunkin6144@yahoo.com
    our first night wasnt this rough but it was difficult.  and the more hunter stays awake during the day the harder it is for him to sleep at night cuz hes sooo tired.  i let him sleep whenever and eat whenever and he slept with me for the first week. good luck!
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  • adriennevlaadriennevla

    I dunno, from my experience when he sleeps poorly during the day he also sleeps poorly at night.  The better he naps during the day, the better he sleeps at night...

     That, and I cannot imagine that trying to force a tiny newborn to stay awake (outside of feedings) is very healthy for them.

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  • CalMum_MommaCalMum_Momma
    Are you really trying to keep a 4-day old awake?! I am obviously no expert in this area, but Jeez!!! That sounds horrible!! DS is 3 weeks old, and I wouldn't try to keep him awake! He sleeps 2-3 hours at a time at night, and goes back down right away after feeding and a change. This is pretty much his routine during the day too, except that recently he has begun to have 1-2 periods of wakefulness during the day that last about 1-2 hours in the morning and 2-3 hours in the evening. Other than that if he's not eating, he's sleeping, and I do not wake the sleeping dragon!!!
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  • MrsRebeccaMrsRebecca member

    I don't even know how to keep an infant awake. Even with my 2 month old, if he's tired, he sleeps.

    I agree with everyone else- I bet if you let him sleep more during the day he'll sleep better at night. DS slept practically 24/7 until he was at least a month old.

    He needs his sleep to grow!

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  • Mrs.BoomBoomMrs.BoomBoom
    He's a brand new baby.  At that point, I remember that there was no night, there was no day.  When I got him to sleep, I slept.  I ate yogurt and cheese because I could grab them quickly as I went to bed.  Eventually he learned night and day and we're doing much better now.  IMO sleep begets sleep, so, let LO sleep (and try to nap along with him)
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  • grapeape73grapeape73 member

    I don't want you to feel attacked, but studies have shown that the better they sleep during the day, the better they will sleep at night.  Babies under 2 weeks old need 20-22 hours of sleep a day.  Let the baby sleep. 

    Also, I don't know how you feel about cosleeping, but that is what always worked for us.She slept in my arms for the first month.   Now my almost 10 week old sleeps 6+ hours in her bassinet, nurses, then I swaddle her back up and she sleeps another 4 hours int he bassinet. 

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