Mwob- anyone else sleeping in shifts?

Laroo0220 · April 2014

So I know baby girl is still teeny tiny and it's very very early on ( night 2) but so far we have been completely unsuccessful at her sleeping at all in her bassinet. She slept not at all in the hospital at night (like 10 min at a time and then crying and wanting to eat) and we hoped it was just the hospital but were home now and it's the same. We are just sleeping in 2 hr shifts tonight so we can both get some sleep, but this is not going to fly when dh goes back to work in a week. Anyone else have trouble with sleeping the first few nights and have advice? Thanks!

mamahann · April 2014

DH and I did exactly what you are the first nights we were home. LO only wanted to sleep while being held so we each took 3 hour shifts. Around day 4/5 we were able to put her in the co sleeper for short periods. She's been doing great in it until the last 2 nights. DH is back at work so it's tough. Hang in there, it'll get better!

MamaFantastic · April 2014

Our first night home was horrible. Nobody got sleep. Hang in there. It takes a few days to fall into a rhythm. Tag-teaming is a wise idea.

Andrewsgal · April 2014

The rock n play has been a lifesaver. The first night he slept on me. Now he is in his rock n play sleeping at least three hour stretches at night.

*sparky* · April 2014

I have not had this LO yet, but when I had my DS he definitely had trouble sleeping at first. He also had his days and nights mixed up so the first few nights were pretty rough. You are doing the right thing - do what you need to in order to get through it. If you think about it, your LO is used to being snuggled up inside you all this time - it is natural that there will be an adjustment to the outside world.

We would hold DS until he fell asleep and then put him down once he was out. Also, sometimes he slept in his swing, sometimes we would use a heating pad on the PNP mattress to get it nice and warm before we put him down. For this LO, we have a RNP, which I have been told a lot of babies really like at first. If your baby has to sleep on you for the first few nights, just roll with it. As others said, experiment with a few different things to see what works for your LO and soon you will be able to put them down and get some rest.

GL!

chichi589 · April 2014

Same boat as everyone else here.. We try the pack and play bassinette with no luck. So I have him with me til midnight or so and laying flat on me or the couch. Then when we go to bed he is swaddled with his hands out in the rock and play. He sleeps 3-31/2 hrs at a time so we have been able to get more sleep. Good luck!

MapleLeafMama · April 2014

Our first couple of nights were exactly that.... Shifts of dd sleeping on one of us. it's getting better and she'll sleep in her crib now for a couple of hours at a time.

AggieFroggie · April 2014

Rock and Play is wonderful. DS sleeps in it each night and it gives me a piece of mind that he is not laying flat after eating. He likes to be swaddled and really warm. He just slept 5 hours!
Try to see what works. Each baby is different.

Rrrrrachel · April 2014

Sounds like some day night confusion. Which is awful but temporary! Try to keep her up during the day. When she does sleep during the day do not make it quiet or dark or anything, just be normal. Babies have to learn that day time is party time and it time is sleep time!

I know the idea of keeping her up ever probably sounds exhausting! Here's some info from llli, too.

https://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbjanfeb95p14.html

AcaAwkward · April 2014

They are so used to being inside all cozy that the first days / weeks can be a real adjustment! Do whatever you can to get everyone to sleep -- experiment with swaddles, different devices (swing, bassinet, RNP, safe bed-sharing), etc.

For 3 nights in the hospital, I had to hold DS to sleep. Same with our first few days home. We started "practicing" putting him down to nap in the mornings when he seemed the happiest. At this point (9 days) he is sleeping nights in the RNP -- it took us several nights to gradually extend the time he'd sleep there.

Another thought...are you BFing? If your milk isn't fully in yet, it might be more difficult for your LO to get full enough to sleep for any stretch. Keep feeding on demand and hopefully her sleep will regulate a bit more once your supply is in.

allyandmike24 · April 2014

Thankfully, LO is sleeping longer stretches at night (3-4 hours) and cluster feeding during the day every 1.5-2 hours. I nurse her around 9, pump a bottle and then I go to sleep. DH stays up with her and feeds her at 12-12:30 and then he puts her down to sleep in the bassinet. I wake up and nurse her around 4-4:30 and then he gets up with her around 7 and feeds her before he gets ready for work. She usually goes back down until 8:45 or so, so in total we're both getting a decent amount of sleep. So far, it's working really well- we'll see if it lasts.

sozay23 · April 2014

Another vote for the rock n play. We went out and got one on day 3 and I now worship whoever invented this product. It is miraculous and worth every penny. IMO

MissWhis · April 2014

Our girl slept amazingly the first 5 nights at home - she'd wake up every 2 hours to eat, but then go right back down in the PNP bassinet in our room. I thought we lucked out with the best sleeping baby ever.

Fast forward to three nights ago - she will only sleep next to me and wants to nurse constantly - sometimes not even eating, but just with a nip hanging out of her sleepy little mouth. We try to do some shifts where daddy takes her, but she's just not having it these days. I guess she figured out dad =/= milk.

Last night I resorted to sleeping in the spare bedroom so she could be in the center of the queen-sized bed and I could lay next to her and feel less worried about bed sharing (something I never planned on doing). Not ideal by any means.

Today we're going to set up the cosleeper and also test out the swing. I'm dealing with some frustrating and scary pregnancy related health issues (will the fun never end?) and that, combined with a needy, fussy, cluster feeding baby, lack of sleep, and sore nipples has this mama pretty tearful and overwhelmed today.

Best of luck to all of you. I hope we all get a few solid hours of sleep soon!

Laroo0220 · April 2014

Thank you so much for all of the advice ladies! I do think a lot of it is due to my milk not being in fully and her not feeling full and just wanting to suck. It's coming in more today as evident by the massive amount of spit up I've seen after feelings. I don't have a rock and play but may have to go purchase one....in the meantime I will try the swing and bouncy chair and also try putting her in the bassinet during the day when she is sleepiest to see if she can get used to it. I feel pretty good after my 4 hrs total sleep so worst case I can handle this for a little while at least. Good luck tonight ladies!

Avion22 · April 2014

Rrrrrachel said:

Sounds like some day night confusion. Which is awful but temporary! Try to keep her up during the day. When she does sleep during the day do not make it quiet or dark or anything, just be normal. Babies have to learn that day time is party time and it time is sleep time!

I know the idea of keeping her up ever probably sounds exhausting! Here's some info from llli, too.

https://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbjanfeb95p14.html

This.

We had a REALLY hard time putting LO down the first few nights, and he fussed all night. Now we try to keep him stimulated as much as we can during the day -- we keep him downstairs in the main room of the house where we are, we maintain a normal volume, take him outside for short walks in the sunshine, and when he sleeps it's in the RNP.

"Bed time" is at 8pm (we picked an arbitrary time), so at 7pm we feed him, change his diaper, put PJs on, then bring him back downstairs into a DARK QUIET room for about 20 minutes for snuggles. He falls asleep in my arms, then we VERY carefully take him upstairs to DARK QUIET room to sleep, and we just listen on the monitor. From that point, I wake him every 3 hours for a diaper check and a feed (10, 1, 4, then we all get up at 7). This way I'm only "waking up" twice in the middle of the night to feed him. Obviously he sleeps a lot during the day, so the times we picked for "bed time" and "morning" are pretty arbitrary, but that's when we switch from "night time" light/noise levels to "day time" light/noise levels.

Kyllarae · April 2014

Our first night home was awful. I spent the majority of it crying because she wouldn't sleep in her crib and wouldn't nurse either. I slept on the couch day 2 and she slept in her reclined bouncy seat right next to me. It was the only other place she would sleep. The past couple days though we've gotten into a little routine that seems to be working. I'll wake her up and change her diaper (which gets her awake enough to eat), give her her bottle, and let her fall asleep again upright on my chest. After 15 minutes or so of her being asleep I re-swaddle her arms, rock her a minute or two and put her back in her crib. She hasn't had any problems since. Hopefully things start to get easier for you soon, too!

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