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Beyond exhausted

beanie1977beanie1977 member
in Babies: 0 - 3 Months
I know all of us are tired. My little guy (nearly 4 weeks) isn't sleeping well at all. He's actually fairly alert during the day, which I would think would make him sleep more at night but it's not happening.

He's waking every 2 hours, sometimes less. By the time he eats (we BF and supplement each feeding with formula) and then get him to sleep I maybe have 30 minutes before he's up again. Last night he was awake and crying for 3 hours.

I'm maybe getting 2-3 hours of spotty sleep each night, in short bursts.

I tried doing some day/night switching by shortening his naps during the day- no change at night.

I tried letting him sleep to his hearts desire during the day - I was told sleep begets sleep- and that made no difference either.

I'm not sure how much more we can take! He will sleep on my chest but I don't sleep well, and will sleep on the boppy, but again I don't feel comfortable and don't sleep well. None of the places we try get more than an hour nap except his crib, during the day when he can nap 3 hours.

I work from home and need the naps to get anything done.
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Re: Beyond exhausted

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    BigboobsmcgeeBigboobsmcgee member

    I personally think it's nearly impossible to work from home with a baby, especially a newborn baby! I wouldn't even be trying at this point.

    Unfortunately everything you are describing is completely normal. I know you don't want to hear that but it's true. And sleep begets sleep is also true except sleep is just terrible at 4 weeks.

    At this age you need to be letting your LO nap as much as he wants to during the day. Night time sleep is going to suck right now and sometimes babies at this age are up for an hour in the MOTN just hanging out. If he sleeps best on your then let him do that. Yes you will be tired but you really have no choice right? My first child slept on me for the first 5-6 weeks and then we let him sleep swaddled on his Boppy Newborn lounger. It wasn't idea but that's the only way he would sleep.

    I really think things don't get "easier" until the 3 month mark. And then they get better and better at 3 month increments. 4 weeks is TOUGH. Really tough but you can't give up, you don't have that choice.

    Have you tried the Rock 'n' Play? My daughter slept for hours in that thing starting at about 6 weeks old. We had her swaddled in the Rock 'n' Play until she was 4 months old and it was amazing.

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    Bickey11Bickey11 member
    Lol, there is no working with babies at home, too much to do! I have the option to with from home and I've always had to use day care, being a sahm is a full time job.

    That being said what you're experiencing is Normal and age appropriate, and just when u hit the breakiing point, your baby will just 'poof' sleep 8 hours straight one night but u won't be sleeping because u will be checking your baby's vitals all night! You will get there!
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    delujm0delujm0 member
    Bigboobsmcgee said:

    I personally think it's nearly impossible to work from home with a baby, especially a newborn baby! I wouldn't even be trying at this point.

    Unfortunately everything you are describing is completely normal. I know you don't want to hear that but it's true. And sleep begets sleep is also true except sleep is just terrible at 4 weeks.

    At this age you need to be letting your LO nap as much as he wants to during the day. Night time sleep is going to suck right now and sometimes babies at this age are up for an hour in the MOTN just hanging out. If he sleeps best on your then let him do that. Yes you will be tired but you really have no choice right? My first child slept on me for the first 5-6 weeks and then we let him sleep swaddled on his Boppy Newborn lounger. It wasn't idea but that's the only way he would sleep.

    I really think things don't get "easier" until the 3 month mark. And then they get better and better at 3 month increments. 4 weeks is TOUGH. Really tough but you can't give up, you don't have that choice.

    Have you tried the Rock 'n' Play? My daughter slept for hours in that thing starting at about 6 weeks old. We had her swaddled in the Rock 'n' Play until she was 4 months old and it was amazing.

    All of this. If you work from home, I suggest you get a a nanny or sitter for a few hours a day to watch LO so you can get stuff done. From weeks 4-9 LO would only sleep on top of me - naps, night, only on me. So I let her. Was I exhausted? Yup. But i was on maternity leave at the time, and she grew out of it. Working from home with a newborn is not going to happen without someone there to assist with the baby duties.
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    missdaccortezzmissdaccortezz member
    Everything will get better. I was so tired in the first month. I couldn't think of another time I was so tired. Remember this is the hardest job in the world, but you were made to do it! It will get better- just hang in there!!!
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    hbrooks09hbrooks09 member
    The first month sucks. Nothing could prepare you for it honestly. I'm on week 6 and LO is starting to sleep through the night pretty well only wakes up to feed. Hang in there mama! Also, I let my LO sleep on me until she falls into a deep deep sleep and then I lay her down. At this point just do whatever you can so you and baby get the rest you need.
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    Kfraz3Kfraz3 member
    edited November 2015
    Baby swing worked wonders for us. But now We have to work on weaning him off the swing.
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    rms924rms924 member
    I could have written this post. I am currently on Mat leave (2 weeks left) but I'll be working from home also. I had to hire a nanny because there's no way I could manage. Currently lo (almost 6 weeks) is napping next to me in bed. He sleeps in a cosleeper (summer infant) at night, but he wakes every 1.5-3 hrs (on a good night )! By the time 4am rolls around I stick a boob in his mouth and kind of fall of asleep. My husband is in the guest room and it's just lo and I in our king size bed. Then we will sleep until 6.

    Not ideal (his sleeping in our bed) but he won't sleep anywhere else. I tried this am to move him to his crib but the minute I walked out of the room, he woke up and started wailing. I swear he has radar for me haha but I can't bear to see him unhappy so that's that.

    I should mention...waking every 1.5-3hrs doesn't mean I get that amount of sleep. It's variable how long it takes to get him down again and I really only have 15-45 min of sleep. It's brutal.
    Me: 34 DH:38
    DS: 18 months   <3
    Dx DOR AMH .2
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