4 weeks old - I am so tired!

AJC&Maggie · July 2014

I have lots of help from family and DH, but I am just so exhausted! My boys are 4 weeks and eat every 3 hours (bottle fed). Can you share your nighttime routine with me?

sunkiss674 · July 2014

We had the same feeding schedule when my boys were 4 weeks old. Honestly it was tough, but if you can try to have DH do some feedings on his own so you can get a few hours of sleep in a row. For example my DH got out of work around 3pm he would do all the feedings once he got home up until like 11pm then I would do the over night feedings. I have to be honest with you I think I had a little bit of an unfair advantage because I worked night shift so my sleep was shitty anyways. It does get better as they get older, my boys are 6 months and mostly sleeping through the night now!

As for our night time routine, we didn't start anything until I started to notice the boys were going longer in between feedings. After that we would turn down the lights and feed them with only the tv on low, then we gave them a quick bath (my boys spit up pretty bad after feedings so the bath after just made sense for us), then in the crib awake with their little glow seahorse and off to sleep they went.

Hope this helps hang in there

Jenn06L80 · July 2014

It is so tough during the first couple months. The only thing that I did at nighttime was swaddling and white noise. My girls also sleep in their rock n plays. They started sleeping 4 hour stretches around 6 weeks and now at 3 months almost always sleep from 10-6.

I started out Breastfeeding and pumping but have now transitioned to 90% formula. Take all the help you can. I actually moved in with my parents for the summer until I return to work just to have more help!

zazu13 · July 2014

Hang in there @AJC&Maggie! My girls are now 4 months and I remember how hard the first 8 weeks were. When I did night feedings alone I remember changing/feeding/burping one, put back to sleep, repeat w/ the other, then pumping. I woke them to keep them on the same schedule until one started showing signs they could sleep longer stretches than the other. There were a few awkward weeks where their schedules didnt sync up. Eventually I gave up pumping which was a relief. It would sometimes take 2.5 hours to feed/pump then 30 minutes of sleep before starting the process over again. Get help if you can! I had a sweet neighbor come over 10-2:00 at night. I would go to bed and she and my DH would take care of the girls and do 10:00 feed. Then DH would come to bed and neighbor would do 1am feed alone. Then I would do 4 and 7am alone so DH could sleep and get up for work. During the day I would have a family member or chuch member come spell me for 2-3 hours so I could nap and shower. Now at 3 months my girls sleep thru most nights and are only up 30-40 minutes on the rare nights they wake to feed. Wish I was close to you. I would totally come help! My helpers are the only reason I survived the first 12 weeks!

NBA0703 · July 2014

I barely remember the first 3 months! I would feed them every 3 hours. Which was when one woke up, change diaper, feed, then wake the other and repeat, then pump. Then I would sleep like 45 minutes and do it all over again. I was exhausted and tried so hard to do it myself. Thankfully my husband knows how stubborn I am and called people to help me when he was at work! It was seriously a life savor! I would do all the night time feedings but family would come around 9am and let me sleep for several hours. I dont think I could of made it without them! I am so thankful!! Right around 3 months they started to sleep longer stretches and now they are sleeping through the night!! We probably dont do what some may agree with but we feed them around 7:00 or 7:30 and then take a nightly walk around 8 or 830pm. They sleep off and on during the walk then we come home and feed them and put them to bed around 11 and they sleep until 8:30 and 9:30am! It is too hot to walk earlier so this is when we do it because they are awake and nap at home and we would just sit there and I have some weight to lose and it is good for them to get out! I feel like a completely different person! This schedule works great so far!

ballygirl · July 2014

Hang in there - you are right in the thick of it but it will get better. I had tons of help from family too but it is exhausting. Sleep deprivation is no joke. I completely understand now why this is a form of torture banned by Geneva Convention. We had no set nighttime routine for several months, it was just chaos every night. I would keep the lights low starting around 6 or 7 at night and try to keep a calm ambiance in the house - sometimes soft relaxing music (Pandora lullaby station was nice) but honestly, the babies were the real dictators back then. They didn't sleep much, ate every 2-3 hours and would occasionally scream their heads off for hours for no apparent reason. We were in survival mode for about the first 3-4 months.

I know it is rough right now but just know that it is temporary and it will get better and all of this will seem like a chaotic dream in just a couple more months. For me, things started turning around at about 4 months and they started sleeping more consistently at night around 6 months.

KatieGummow · July 2014

I was almost EP so had to wake up every 3 hours for the first 6 weeks regardless of how they slept, so I am not any help.

At 8 weeks we started bath anywhere from 7-7:30 (using soap every other day), bottle, then bed in a very dark room with white noise. They would both be sleeping by 8:30 at the latest and would wake up at midnight, 3, 6-7. Now at 12 weeks they wake up 2-3, and 6-8.

whitehousem · July 2014

Mine are 9 weeks tmrw, but we started this routine a few weeks ago:

7/8pm bottle, swaddle, in RnPs in our room, white noise (we comfort them a few times if they cry but usually they fall asleep on their own)

10:30pm keep lights low, change, bottle (my DH feeds one and I feed one)

2/3am when I hear one starting to fuss I get up and make two bottles (I pre fill the bottles with water at 10:30 and add the formula at 2/3 to save time). I take both to our loft and feed at the same time (usually one in a boppy and one on my lap). Keep lights low, I do NOT change or unswaddle them unless they poop, which is never. Then they go to their room and sleep in bouncy chairs with white noise so they don't wake us with their noises. I'm usually up for 30 min. I burp them but they don't normally burp for me in MOTN.

5/6/7am one wakes and DH usually gets them each up individually and changes and feeds them. If they get up early, like 5am, then he or we feed them and put them back to bed for a couple hours.

If DH let's me sleep til 7am then I'm usually ok for the day.

Hope this helps!

nebrasskagal · July 2014

It gets better! We began sleep training when they were 10 lbs. they both STTN by 3 1/2 months old. They are 4 1/2 months now and sleep 11 pm to 6:30-8:00 am.

The hospital put them on a 4 hour feeding schedule by 4 weeks of age - that helped a lot too. My twins were born at 32 weeks.

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4 weeks old - I am so tired!

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