How do you stay sane?

shakinros · August 2012

My baby girl is having one of those days where she absolutely cannot fall asleep with less than 3045 minutes of soothing. Once she's asleep, she only stays that way for about 20 minutes. Repeat until feeding time. Then repeat again after feeding. This has now been going on for 16 hours straight on the day DH went back to work. Every time she wakes up again, crying, I want to cry. And I've done that most of this evening.

I'm sure everyone has had these days. What do you do to keep yourself sane in the midst of cluster feeding or lack of sleep?

PNWmommy · August 2012

Just breathe & know it won't last forever... it's ok to put her down somewhere safe & walk away for a couple minutes. This too shall pass...

Tash13 · August 2012

PNWmommy:
Just breathe & know it won't last forever... it's ok to put her down somewhere safe & walk away for a couple minutes. This too shall pass...

This. I also stick her in the sling and walk around with her or just lay skin to skin. Seems to help soothe sometimes.

irer · August 2012

ThIs also agree re: baby wearing. Hang in there.

Mrs. Rohde · August 2012

it's rough for sure I agree with the pps. Put her in her crib and just give yourself a minute to calm down.

Babies have lots of growth spurts too. DS went through a bunch already and he's only 5 weeks. If you've fed her, changed her, burped her and she's not too hot/cold then there's not much else you can do. Luckily (in my case) the cluster feedings only lasted at most 24 hours. I watch tv so i can focus on something other than how exhausted i am. Also drink plenty of water and snack often-those days are super draining and keeping your strength up will help you have more energy-that helped me Smile

I hope your night gets easier. Also, if she sleeps longer than usual later on to make up for the crap sleep before, I would just let her sleep. Catch up on your own sleep too. She will wake when she's hungry. (At 2 weeks my pediatrician said to feed DS every 2-3 hours during the day and every 4 at night.)

Good luck!!!

Manda-Kay · August 2012

I watch a lot of TV because DS is up a lot from 125. I don't have cable but there's usually one show I can tolerate. I hand him over to DH at 5:30 do I can get some sleep.

bigbootyjudi · August 2012

I put him down, if only for a minute or two, so that I can breathe. I get a drink of water, turn on some music and dance and sing with him in my arms. The music really helps me keep my calm and he usually falls asleep. If nothing else, I wake my SO up and ask him to take over.