I'm in baby sleep hell...

eebaehr · December 2012

I am living a nightmare...every night when I go to put C down in her crib she wakes herself up...over ...and over..and over again. Last night we played this game for over two hours! She is swaddled, which I know she hates, but I've tried letting her go without a swaddle and it's not possible...she's instantly awake. She has no problem falling asleep, she's usually out in five minutes and then I try to hold her until her breathing changes. But everytime she wakes herself up, fights her swaddle, screams and I rush in to start the whole process over again. It's exhausting and kind of heartbreaking to watch her be so tired and unable to give in. Last night she woke up 9 times before she went out for real.

Is this just normal six week old behaviour? Anyone else going through this? I don't let her cry it out, I'm just getting exhausted, and I feel myself getting tense the closer to bedtime it gets. Someone tell me it gets better..

gnomemom · December 2012

I don't have any advice. I just wanted to say my LO is also 6 weeks old and we are going through the same thing. He has been sleeping great up until a few days ago. Last night, we spent 3 hours trying to get him to go to sleep. He finally fell asleep and slept for 5 hours...and then woke up and was up for another 3 hours! We are dying. He has been extremely fussy, too, and he has generally been a pretty calm, happy baby. GL!

Kristen050 · December 2012

I'm right there with you, except my kid won't even fall asleep half the time. Instead he is fussy and screaming. It is so exhausting. Sorry you are going through it too and I hope it gets better for both of us really soon!

nessa57 · December 2012

perhaps its a growth spurt. i'm told they happen at about 6 weeks, and sometimes there's nothing to calm the baby down. i just hold my boy on my chest while sitting in the rocker, and if it helps calm him, then i'll just sleep like that. i hope this helps.

nessa57 · December 2012

i'm told at about 6 weeks babies have a growth spurt and sometimes there's no calming them. sometimes i just sleep on the rocker with my boy laying on my chest. i'd love to sleep in bed, but sometimes this is the only way for both of us to sleep. i know it's not much, but hope it helps.

eebaehr · December 2012

OMG it feels amazing to know that it's not just me! I was convinced I was doing something wrong

RachelEric · December 2012

This is us exactly. It usually takes at least an hour for him to finally stay asleep after I put him down, sometimes it takes 2 hours, and on a really bad night it could take 3 hours. I am starting to dread bed time. I just have to keep telling myself that it will pass, and soon he will be sleeping through the night ( I can only hope!).

kjsmith9 · December 2012

RachelEric:
This is us exactly. It usually takes at least an hour for him to finally stay asleep after I put him down, sometimes it takes 2 hours, and on a really bad night it could take 3 hours. I am starting to dread bed time. I just have to keep telling myself that it will pass, and soon he will be sleeping through the night ( I can only hope!).

This is us... I just told DH last night that I'm starting to hate bed time (and just night time in general). Days are so much easier...

hilsy85 · December 2012

Sounds pretty normal...I agree with making sure the swaddle is tight enough. She shoudln't have any room within it to move her arms/legs enough to wake herself up. Maybe try a double swaddle or a miracle blanket/swaddle me.

Borst-Plotz · December 2012

Dd was the exact.same.way and we bought the Rock n Play; it's a miracle worker! She sleeps so good in it. She just feels so much more cozy and safe in it. I know it sounds crazy but I promise, it's worth every penny!

Tapthathank · December 2012

Sounds pretty normal! But it WILL get better! What time are you putting her down to sleep? Have you started a bedtime routine? Where is she sleeping? Try an earlier or later bedtime. Bedtime routine (bath, swaddle, nurse/bottle, book, rocking) - and try putting her down when she is still awake but drowsy.

It will get better - good luck!

psychmusetls · December 2012

Our pedi said not to worry about it until 3mo. LO sleeps in a rnp in our room when we go to bed but we try to get her down in her crib at 7 - it almost never works. She'll wake up within 10 mins of going down. We started the routine mainly for us so we'll have it down by the time she's ready. Currently LO won't go down, down until midnightish. Pedi said that's perfectly normal and if she fights the 7pm crib for more than 45 mins, it probably wont happen and just let her sleep on us or swing, etc and try again the next night.

FrickandFrack · December 2012

We went through that around 6 weeks and I found if I sat there patting his back long enough a huge burp came out. I'm not sure if that was the problem but it seemed to help.

Calabaza78 · December 2012

I was just lurking, but I wanted to say that was how my LO was at bedtime, too. She would go down fine for naps, but at bedtime, she'd have a number of wake-ups before she was finally out for good. I either rocked and shushed her, or ended up nursing her again (clusterfeeding, perhaps?) Anyway, it seems to have passed in the last week or so (she's almost 9 weeks now.) Bedtime goes much more smoothly now. Hopefully it's a phase that will pass!

newly_naugler · December 2012

Have you tried a sleep sack? Both of my boys hated being swaddled because they didn't like having their arms confined. The sleep sack let them have the comfort of being wrapped in a blanket, but they stopped fighting to get their arms out.

It does get better. On bad days I just keep telling myself that this too will pass.

tortuga47 · December 2012

I feel your pain. Our LO was starting to sleep better, but now he fights sleep day and night. I'm lucky to get him down for a 30 min nap during the day. Night is slightly better. He falls asleep like your LO but wakes up easily. If I get an hour and a half sleep stretch it's a "good night." Around 3:30 I always have to rock and cuddle him for about two hours to get him back down. I'm exhausted and just hoping it gets better. I wish I had advice to give you, but instead I sympathize with you.

ilenegrace · December 2012

Borst-Plotz:
Dd was the exact.same.way and we bought the Rock n Play; it's a miracle worker! She sleeps so good in it. She just feels so much more cozy and safe in it. I know it sounds crazy but I promise, it's worth every penny!

This 100% babies do not like to sleep flat at this age the RnP is amazing!

SaphrineDragon · December 2012

As pp have stated: it could be a growth spurt. My lo still does not have a set schedule and bed time is still completely up in the air...its a pain now that I'm back at work and have to be up but gratefully when I get home we take a nap and we seem to do just fine despite not getting to sleep sometimes till 2am due to random wake ups.

At 6 weeks all's you can really do is go with the flow. i have found that when i don't approach her like she should be on a schedule, things tend to go better in my favor. The only set thing we have right now is a bath every night.

Also I cosleep with my lo and that really has helped when its time to sleep...I understand that its not for everyone but we both tend to sleep better together.

Hope this helps. You aren't alone.

jeffsteph1207 · December 2012

We stopped swaddling at about 4 weeks, we realized he hated being swaddled. We also started a routine then too. We give our son a bath around 8, and feed him around 830-845. My husband started a trick that worked wonders for us... he feeds him a bottle but when there is one ounce left, he lays our son down in the crib and gives him the last ounce to fall asleep with (he usually falls asleep while drinking that last bottle) we also have a pacifier right next to him to give him if the bottle doesn't work or if he wakes himself up.

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I'm in baby sleep hell...

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