Baby doesn't sleep.

aeterhune · January 2014

Does anyone else's LO stay awake all day? I have tried everything to get this kid to take naps, he won't sleep for more than an hour at a time though. At night, he will go up to 3ish hours but that's it. He has to be swaddled to fall asleep. We also have a sound machine and have tried having him sleep in a swing. He isn't a fussy baby, he just likes to look around and check things out. I know he needs to sleep but I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions? Sorry for the long post.

aeterhune · January 2014

Thanks, stupid bump app screws up the order of everything. I never even saw one of those. Though if anyone has any tips on getting LO to sleep longer, they would be appreciated. I didn't really see many comments on that.

aeterhune · January 2014

He is 8 weeks. He will typically sleep for two 3 hour stretches at night and then wake up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. During the day he won't hardly sleep at all. Unless we leave to go somewhere, he won't sleep for more than about an hour at a time and it can take a couple of hours of trying to get him to sleep.

aeterhune · January 2014

Also, we do swaddle using a swaddle me.

aeterhune · January 2014

DevynnMarie said:
I'm going to echo everyone else and say swaddle. Although C eats like a beast all day long so he never really naps either.

But he will sleep from 7:45 pm to 3:30 am every night then go back down till 7 am only if swaddled. If he's not, he wakes up ever 2 hours at night

I envy your long stretch of sleep!! We do swaddle but he still wakes up, often. Sometimes during the day (today for example) he will only take a one hour nap twice. The rest of the time the naps are less than 1/2 hour long and he is back to staring at things around him.

aeterhune · January 2014

I think you ladies might be right about waiting too long to get him to sleep. I haven't really noticed any sleep cues that he has, other than the occasional yawn. We will just try timing it after he eats and see how it goes. Thank you all so much for the advice!!

juliane2004 · January 2014

Sing2phins said:

The time he's eating counts as awake time, too, so be sure to factor that in. If it takes him 30 minutes to eat, maybe he only gets to stay up another 15-30 minutes.

Exactly this! Anything from when he last woke up is "awake time" (diapers, eating, etc).

Also, for us, if we saw a yawn, we were too late and our LO was already overtired and wouldn't sleep well.

Here's the awake time guideline:
0-4 weeks: 30-45 minutes
4-6 weeks: 40-60 minutes
6-8 weeks: 40-70 minutes
8-12 weeks: 50-80 minutes
3-4 months: 60-90 minutes
4-5 months: 1 hr to 1.5 hrs
5-6 months: 1.5 hours
6-9 months: 2 hours, give or take 15 minutes

For 8 weeks, I'd suggest trying putting him down swaddled after about 70 minutes or so.

And, you can try this method of swaddling (doesn't require special blankets like the swaddleme),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4VdZxwsu4

babymama619 · January 2014

One trick that always works like a charm for me (with many babies)... Swaddle and then put them in the bouncy seat in front of you. Use your foot to bounce it and don't do it too gently. I use the blanket to hold the paci in their mouth a little. My dd like the vibration on when in the chair. Don't make eye contact or talk to LO. Good luck.

GopherBaby13 · January 2014

CFox815 said:

juliane2004 said:

Sing2phins said:

The time he's eating counts as awake time, too, so be sure to factor that in. If it takes him 30 minutes to eat, maybe he only gets to stay up another 15-30 minutes.

Exactly this! Anything from when he last woke up is "awake time" (diapers, eating, etc).

Also, for us, if we saw a yawn, we were too late and our LO was already overtired and wouldn't sleep well.

Here's the awake time guideline:
0-4 weeks: 30-45 minutes
4-6 weeks: 40-60 minutes
6-8 weeks: 40-70 minutes
8-12 weeks: 50-80 minutes
3-4 months: 60-90 minutes
4-5 months: 1 hr to 1.5 hrs
5-6 months: 1.5 hours
6-9 months: 2 hours, give or take 15 minutes

For 8 weeks, I'd suggest trying putting him down swaddled after about 70 minutes or so.

And, you can try this method of swaddling (doesn't require special blankets like the swaddleme),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4VdZxwsu4

---------------------------------------------
Oh cool. I never saw this before.

::snicker::

Right?! You would think she was making money off of every hit that video gets!

ATXMamaDoll · January 2014

mishkaroni said:

Maybe if she put an edit saying all babies are different or something but apparently this way is *THE* way. OP - my LO sleeps about an hour for naps during the day and gets anywhere from 2-4 hour stretches at night. . . Unless, she's on my chest. Or my DH's chest. The last two nights I've crawled into her crib with my pillow so I could be slightly upright and just layed her on my chest. We both slept so great and when she would fuss, it was nothing to get her to latch and drift her off again. She slept until 9am. Do whatever works for you, try different things...as long as you both are getting rest it's a success.

Did you really get in her crib? Call me crazy, but what about the weight restrictions?!

ATXMamaDoll · January 2014

mishkaroni said:

mishkaroni said:

Maybe if she put an edit saying all babies are different or something but apparently this way is *THE* way. OP - my LO sleeps about an hour for naps during the day and gets anywhere from 2-4 hour stretches at night. . . Unless, she's on my chest. Or my DH's chest. The last two nights I've crawled into her crib with my pillow so I could be slightly upright and just layed her on my chest. We both slept so great and when she would fuss, it was nothing to get her to latch and drift her off again. She slept until 9am. Do whatever works for you, try different things...as long as you both are getting rest it's a success.

Did you really get in her crib? Call me crazy, but what about the weight restrictions?!
Yes I did. My crib is fine. Pretty sure Im not the first person to ever do this.

I am positive you are not, but it's not the best idea, IMO.

cagoldi · January 2014

mishkaroni said:
Good thing I didn't recommend anyone else to do what I did but my crib is sturdy as fuck so I think I'm alright.

I have wished I could get into his crib. I'm a chubster, so I wouldn't dare do it myself. But I'm jealous you can!

ATXMamaDoll · January 2014

GOBLU1274 said:

ashleyross said:

mishkaroni said:

mishkaroni said:

Maybe if she put an edit saying all babies are different or something but apparently this way is *THE* way. OP - my LO sleeps about an hour for naps during the day and gets anywhere from 2-4 hour stretches at night. . . Unless, she's on my chest. Or my DH's chest. The last two nights I've crawled into her crib with my pillow so I could be slightly upright and just layed her on my chest. We both slept so great and when she would fuss, it was nothing to get her to latch and drift her off again. She slept until 9am. Do whatever works for you, try different things...as long as you both are getting rest it's a success.

Did you really get in her crib? Call me crazy, but what about the weight restrictions?!
Yes I did. My crib is fine. Pretty sure Im not the first person to ever do this.

I am positive you are not, but it's not the best idea, IMO.
Good thing she didn't ask for it, then.

@ATXMamaDoll

The cooments don't really bother me, but I like the gif. Also, I am not the first person to share my opinion about posts, and I obviously won't be the last....especially among some of you gals. I do have to say, it's nice to see some more regulars again.

aeterhune · January 2014

You guys are awesome. I'm also curious as to how you got in the crib. I have heard of people doing this, I don't think I could lift my leg high enough to get in though.
ETA: I'm tired. I didn't even see your post above mine

cagoldi · January 2014

Uh oh, my LO is knocked out on my chest, unswaddled, on the couch...

This is the norm for our morning nap. I don't have the energy to put him in the crib in case he gets upset . Besides that, I'm going back to work soon and our snuggle time will decrease dramatically. I'm taking some nap cuddles while I can get them.

aeterhune · January 2014

mishkaroni said:
Step stool?

Uh oh, my LO is knocked out on my chest, unswaddled, on the couch...

Hope you don't need to pee anytime soon!

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