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October 2015 Moms
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Newborn sleep

jasminelukejasmineluke member
in October 2015 Moms
I'm sure this is a common question /inquiry. I have a newborn just over 3 weeks old. I know she is still young but she wakes up every 2 hours at night to feed and doesn't go back to sleep after feeding (usually fusses/cries for 20-40 mins). Because of that it seems she's only asleep for an hour or so minus the feed and the fussing. During the day I try to feed every 3 hours by playing/talking/distracting her when I know she's not hungry.
Any ideas on things I can do to help her sleep a bit longer or at least keep feeding not so difficult at night? I have swaddled her tightly, keep the lights low/dim, and keep the feeding at quiet and noninteractive a possible.
Again, I know she's young I guess was hoping to get some more rest between me and DH. It's been pretty tough on both of us.
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Re: Newborn sleep

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  • VallieS86VallieS86 member
    I also do what rue does and it seems to help. Although then I have issues wanting to put her down in the bassinet. Lol.
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  • swelniakswelniak member
    Are you positive she's getting enough to eat? The fussing after eating seems like she may want more.

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  • whitemn04whitemn04 member
    I had my guy 10/19, we've had a rough start not being home 24 hours and he had to go back to the hospital for light therapy and last night was our second actual night home. He will sleep pretty much all day then at night about 10 minutes after we lay him down he cries. He did this in the hospital too. We have the windows open to expose him to day light in hopes he can make a better transition from days to nights. We did put him in the swing last night and that really helped and we were able to sleep almost 2 hours. I think I need to start putting him in his crib during the day to get him used to it. It's all trial and error but it's so frustrating!
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  • jasminelukejasmineluke member
    Thanks for all the advice! She drinks 2.75oz pumped breast milk every 3 hours - I think may consider increasing to fill 3oz and maybe feed every 2 hours in evening so she goes to bed full? Any thoughts on that?
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  • ameares721ameares721 member
    Yes babies should go to bed full!
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  • MCraig1484MCraig1484 member
    My LO is 2 weeks and what has helped for us is to get 7-8 feedings in during the day. I feed him every 2-3 1/2 hours and let him sleep in between feedings as much as he wants. He's almost back to his birth weight so our LC said that we can feed him on demand at night, which means at his 10/11pm feeding I make sure he gets as much as he wants, let him get into a deep sleep and then we all go to bed and he'll sleep for a nice long stretch (4 hrs +). So for us, it's been all about staying very busy feeding during the day to help nights settle down.
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  • jasminelukejasmineluke member
    Gotcha will try this and let you know! Thanks again for all the advice - gubba work hard to get a good amount of feeding in during the evening hours and possibly a bath too!
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  • komorebikomorebi member
    Feed more frequently in the day and early evening. Not more per bottle,just feed baby more often. Most breastfed babies will cluster feed in the evening. So you can mimic that . I've found white noise to be helpful in the middle of the night too. Eventually they get better at sleeping but until they do try to rest when you can.
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  • ElleMF728ElleMF728 member
    Honestly, it might be just the age.  Neither of my kids went easily back to sleep after night feeds for a few weeks and sort of needed to figure out how nighttime works before they would.  It didn't take too long, DS2 is 10 weeks and will usually go back to sleep with no issues now although every once in a while he needs some extra soothing.  

    How does your routine go? I have more success when I change and swaddle before feeding, I also only change once unless I smell a poop.  
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  • jasminelukejasmineluke member
    I have tried to change diaper (if needed) in between the feed. She tends to has a gastrocolic reflex right after feeding for. Few minutes. Although I may try to change diaper and re-swaddle before feeding. Part of the problem is gas and we definitely try to burp her but still have issues getting her to go back to sleep. I hope you Are right though - with time I'm hoping it naturally gets better !
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  • dparker721dparker721 member
    I would second the feeding and her not being full. I was doing what the nurses at the hospital recommended to me and my baby would cry for an hour or so after eating. I started giving her more and we don't have that problem any more. She's 11 days old now.
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  • valerierose15valerierose15 member
    My little nugget is 4 weeks old and he's eating about 3.5 oz per feeding (based on his weight before and after eating). He is EBF. I think you may need to increase the amount of the feeding.

    Are you sure she's not still hungry during the day? And may not be getting enough overall, which may be why she's up all night trying to compensate for what she missed during the day.
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  • jasminelukejasmineluke member
    Hmm it sounds like I may need to up the amount of feed I'm doing 3 oz every 3 hours. Does anyone know exactly how much a 3-4 weeks old should be consuming. I pump and bottle feed for now
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  • mak1020mak1020 member
    My LO is 5 weeks and he eats 3-5oz every 2 hours or so. I am only doing formula. He also cluster feeds while going thru a growth spurt. Then he eats every hour or so. I usually feed him 2 oz then change him and then feed him the rest of the bottle . He is sleeping 2 hours at night. There was one night where he slept 3 hours.. Just one. He doesn't like to be swaddled but i think that I am going to try placing a piece of my clothing under the sheet. He is also colicky and has major gas issues which also wake him up in the middle of the night. I am up for any suggestions but I just chalk things up to newborn sleeping patterns... Good luck mommies
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  • kaza512kaza512 member
    Just had this convo with my lactation consultant. I have to pump because my daighter's palate is crooked and she can't latch, so I can measure what she gets. It should be 2.5 -3 times their weight in 24 hours. So if you baby weighs 9 lbs she should get 22.5 -27 oz in a day.
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  • arwestover3arwestover3 member
    So my only experience is exclusive breastfeeding, with no idea how much my child is getting, but what's worked best for us is feeding on demand, lots of burping, and tummy time during the day to help with gas. Also holding the baby like a football during the day, which helped with gas as well! Cluster feeding is normal at night, as well as whenever they're going through a growth spurt, so refusing to feed them if it hasn't been three hours yet could possibly be doing more harm than good at this age.
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  • arwestover3arwestover3 member
    @mak1020 maybe ask your pediatrician if a different kind of formula would be better? I've also hear awesome things about the anti-colic bottles from Tommee Tippee and Dr. Brown.
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  • mgillonmgillon member
    We had the same problem for a little bit - I think part of it was a growth spurt, look up a growth spurt chart online and our baby pretty much got restless around those times. I also moved her bassinet literally right up against the side of my bed instead of just being in our room - ever since she has been sleeping like a champ.
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  • mak1020mak1020 member
    @arwestover3 I'm currently using the tommee tippee bottles, they have helped a lot but he still has gas , I feel so bad for him. He has been up all night with it. And I did switch to a gentle formula. Here's hoping!!!!
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  • jasminelukejasmineluke member
    edited October 2015
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  • christina4436christina4436 member
    Similar issues but it's inconsistent. Some night she will sleep in between all feedings (2-3 hrs) and not fuss or spit up much and others she's wide awake after and wants to eat again in an hour and is restless until I feed her. I try not to feed her unless it's been at least 90 mins Bc she spits up. Not sure if that helps or hurts. I didn't think about feeding more during day. Good idea as we are kind of on opposite schedule right now. 3oz should be fine for that age though, my 6 week old eats between 2&3oz but she was 6 weeks early and small. Have you tried a paci? Sometimes settles her to where she will fall asleep at least for 30 mins. Sometimes trick though is keeping it in.
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