What do your nights look like?

jenEP · December 2015

My DD is almost 2 weeks and we've generally been doing well. The days and early evenings are great, but nights are another story. I know some babies sleep 3-4 hr stretches at night and go back to sleep easily. My DD is not one of those. She has been going down ok at night and will sleep anywhere from 1-3 hrs at a time. The last few days she has been hard to get back to sleep in the early morning (4am-ish). It will take about an hr to get her back to sleep. She's not a super fussy baby outside of this hour. My DD generally only feeds for 5-10 min at a time, and I can't get her to eat longer. However, I also know she's a super efficient eater based on her postpartum visit, so I'm not sure if her short feedings are contributing to her frequent wake-ups or not. I'm just curious what other people's feeding/sleeping looks like so far, mostly so I can get a little validation that I don't have the only baby that wants to eat ever hour at night. What are you guys doing to cope when your babes are fussy and you're exhausted? Any advice is welcome!

Bombmom3 · December 2015

4 to 6am are the witching hours here as well. Otherwise he sleeps like a champ. It actually has to do with normal circadian rhythms - 4-5am is when most humans are set to come out of deep sleep cycles. As adults we rarely become consciously awake during this time and fall back into a less deep sleep. Babies, however, are still learning sleep patterns. Plus BF babies need to eat more often overnight than formula fed babies since it is much easier to digest. Also my pediatrician mentioned gas tends to bubble up in their lower GI tract around this time as well since they aren't moving as much as they do during daylight hours. Combine all this and you get a fussy, wide awake child in the pre-dawn hours! Way fun lol

ammnam14 · December 2015

DD has been wide awake from 4am-7am lately and it drives me insane. She was doing so well! All she wants is to cuddle during that time. During the day she hates cuddling and wants to stretch, so weird. I'm exhausted mentally and physically. My coping is to just try and enjoy it because she won't be this small forever. Wish I had more advice.

groovylocks · December 2015

My girl is a sleeper. So typically she'll wake up every 2-3 hours. She'll nurse for 10-20 minutes, burp and then have her bum changed. I'll hug on her for 5 minutes and she's out. I'm lucky now but I was like this. And became a righteous nightmare (literally) as a toddler when I developed insomnia that I still have to this day. This one is just like mum. She's gearing up.

But you know what worked for us? A heartbeat sound simulator. You can get them at any store that sells baby stuff. She gets one whiff of that and she's out.

slallen1 · December 2015

The last two nights have been rough here! She is almost 3 weeks old and has been waking to eat almost every hour. She isn't eating a lot, usually falling asleep mid feeding. There was a stretch from 1-3am that I couldn't get her down at all. The Dr thinks she might have reflux so I'm trying to keep her up right after she eats but I'm so tired.

jkloeppel · December 2015

DD is just over 4 weeks. Some nights she's up every 2-3 for a feeding and goes back down immediately, other nights she is awake and screaming between half of the night time feedings. It has gotten better since I've done more day time activity time and a bath/massage before bed.

lalg28 · December 2015

I'm jealous. If my little guy isn't eating at night he's crying from gas and reflux. I am exhausted. He does better during the day though but still kind of fussy.

JulieK79 · December 2015

DD is 4.5 weeks old. Recently she has started having one four hour stretch between feedings at night. Otherwise she's up every 2-3 hours the rest of the night. She usually passes out after eating for 10 minutes and I can get her back into her Rock n Play easily. There are times though around 5:00 where she is still wide eyed after eating and just stares at me for a good chunk of time before going back to sleep.

pupsicle23 · December 2015

DD will sleep 3-4 hours once she's down, but getting her there can be tricky. My hubby takes "first watch" from about 8-11 and gives her a bottle and she screams at him for a while. I get my sleep until the first feeding. We're usually up at 3:00 and 6:00 for at least an hour each. She doesn't eat long, but she takes a while to burp and is usually congested, so going back to sleep is a process.

I'm enjoying it while I can. DH goes back to work Monday, so I'll be taking over first watch.

Edited because I apparently can't tell time.

ETA after I posted this, my daughter was up every hour for the remainder of the night. Baby's gonna baby.

Court11152325 · December 2015

My LO eats just about every hour leading up to a 4-5 (if I can't get my act together and am sleepy) nap at night. The 4-5 hour nap is happening earlier and earlier. Last night it started at 10:30. After that she's up every 2 hours to nurse until the morning. She then goes back to nearly every hour nursing for the day. I thought newborns were supposed to sleep for 16 hours a day. This rarely happens.

Geekmomma2 · December 2015

My nights with my DH, and sons is basically a game let's try not to wake up the other kid. One of my DS is over a year old and usually sleeps through the night. My newborn does not. The cluster feeder is a night owl and will be up at night. The daytime he's usually asleep. So right now my hubs and I take turns with baby duty at night with feeding. Play video games and nap in between. And switch within the night. It's so much fun!

teachmegs817 · December 2015

DS is 2 weeks old too. He sleeps anywhere between 1 1/2-3 hour stretches. The last two days he's been a little colicky after the 3 or 4 AM feeding. Last night around his evening feeding before we put him down for the night and headed to bed ourselves, he was up from 9:30-11:45. Fussy and acting as if he hadn't been fed. I had switched the nipple on the bottles we were using (ones from hospital that I'd pump my milk into) because he would suck the milk down so fast and become very gassy and his burps were awful. So I switched out to the Medela nipples. He actually had to work a little to get the milk out and he was eating relatively the same way he'd nurse from me. Not sure if that had anything to do with it, but I did switch back and am going to wait and talk to pediatrician before I make the switch on the bottles just yet. I do nurse and have to use a shield, he takes a pacifier when needed (not too often), and has bottles of my breast milk. I do not want to get him on 4-5 different kinds of nipples. Maybe it's in my head, but I feel like it's too much and I'm experimenting too soon with bottles/nipples.

neanerbeaner4 · December 2015

My baby is a sleeper also. He's not much of a crier either. They sound like pterodactyl cries most of the time. I'm trying to get him on an every four hour feeding schedule (he's bottle fed) so that my husband can feed him at 6 am before he goes to work (to get some baby time in before he's gone all day). Generally, I get up to feed him in the middle of the night (week days) because I am a SAHM for the time being, so it's only fair since I don't have to be up to work. Most times we know he's hungry because he will suckle the air or just be really restless. He's only cried once to alert us that he was hungry and that was my fault (went out and didn't think we'd be long so I didn't bring the diaper bag). I get very little sleep, regardless of his non-cryingness, just due to my paranoia and feeling like I need to constantly check that he's still breathing, but I can function just fine on three hours of sleep, total, a night.

They say the first one is usually an angel to trick you into having another one that will be the devil, and we hope to add #2 as soon as is healthy, so we shall see.

TomekiaB · December 2015

I can't say much about sleep patterns but I generally get really uncomfortably full at 11pm, 3am and 6/7am from engorgement. Sometimes I BF sometimes I pump while DH feeds a bottle while I pump enough milk to relieve some of the engorgement. I have to express some milk before I can even get him to latch (baby is 10 days).

Anyway, I went to a lactation clinic today because my let down is so heavy my poor LO is overwhelmed and sputters and gasps and frequently only feeds 5-10 minutes and only feeds on one side per feeding which is every 2-4 hours. Anyway, the lactation consultant said based on babies weight gain, diapers and my let down my baby is getting a ton of food despite the short feeds and to watch diapers not the length of feeding for adequacy. I asked about hindmilk and she said baby is even more efficient than the pump so as long as his diapers are normal not to worry about foremilk vs hindmilk.

BellaM110 · December 2015

My LO is 16 days old and It feels like every night we don't know which version of my son we will get depending on his level of gassy-ness. His witching hours vary but are usually from 9pm and can sometimes stretch as far as 2am. He tends to be a lot more calm And relaxed during the day and his crying fits tend to happen more at night. However we have had a few good nights where he will sleep for a good 5hrs straight without waking.

erikaalzet · December 2015

I am not alone! While our daughter has gotten better (now about 2-3 hour stretches at night in between feedings), there is almost always one slightly unpredictable patch of time where she will be up for like an hour or two in the middle of the night (for example midnight to 2 or 2 to 4). Our daughter is 7 weeks, 1 week adjusted (she was born at 33 weeks).

angelicac06 · December 2015

A month old and my baby sleep 3-4 hours from 10-2am (around there.) Then nurse for an hour and go back to sleep for 1-2 hrs between feedinds from then on out. I EBF. My advise to you is to wake up fully for feedings. I get out of bed, turn on the bathroom light and change his diaper then am on my phone or watch tv while I nurse him. I realized if I don't and am half asleep I'll get desperate and rush feeding him which backfires because he'll wake up quicker.

teachmegs817 · December 2015

Now that many of you have mentioned it, I am home on leave for the next 8 weeks, but have recently started talking with DH about how feedings during the nighttime hours are going to go, once I return back to work. As of right now, I am doing majority of the feedings and letting DH sleep. He may wake up during his 3-4 AM feeding and help out, but not always, and that's okay with me right now. Hoping that by the time I am getting ready to go back to work, the baby is on a more set sleep/wake up schedule, but we'll see. We've talked about taking shifts and rotating out who is up during the early morning feedings around 12/1 am and 3/4 am.

czirbs · January 2016

Our son has a really difficult time going back to sleep for 2-3 hours (depending on the night) between 11 and 3 - we have to walk around the house with him, bounce, sing, sway, and pat him until he wears himself out and goes to sleep.

This was happening at just about every night feed until I read a suggestion to not change his diaper during night feeds unless it's really wet or he poops while eating, since the change and the light would wake him too much. It feels weird to wait for another feeding before changing him, but it doesn't seem to bother him.

We're also trying to be more conscious of having as much light in the house as possible during the day and as little as possible in the evening to help him start to get his days and nights straight.

bjamie · January 2016

My baby is week old. But ever since we came home from the hospital my baby only sleeps by being held. Hates bassinet, bouncer, swing, and etc... So this mom is very tired and feel like I have no choice but to allow him to sleep with me or I will not get any sleep. Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do to fix this?

kdoak2015 · January 2016

bjamie said:
My baby is week old. But ever since we came home from the hospital my baby only sleeps by being held. Hates bassinet, bouncer, swing, and etc... So this mom is very tired and feel like I have no choice but to allow him to sleep with me or I will not get any sleep. Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do to fix this?

My 5 week olds been like this from the start. We started swaddling her and putting her in her swing next to the bed. This worked for a week now it's back to mommy holding her the last few nights. Bedsharing is the only thing keeping me going.

JulieK79 · January 2016

Just venting - LO was up from 9- past midnight tonight. She was wide awake and wouldn't go to sleep. Then she woke up at 2:00am, ate for less than 5 minutes and passed out. I put her back in her basenette and she immediately woke up crying. This time I changed her to make sure she was awake, fed her, and again I'm about 3 minutes later she's sound asleep in my arms. I wish she would just eat more or stay asleep! Vent done.

jenEP · January 2016

@TomekiaB sounds like our babies are similar in their eating habits: fast and efficient! Good to hear that your LC wasn't concerned!

pupsicle23 · January 2016

Adding my own vent: We finally got DD to sleep shortly after midnight last night...and then the neighbors started setting off fireworks. I've become quite the grumpy old lady.

momotheflyinglemur · January 2016

We have instituted a unwavering nighttime settle down regiment. Feed, tummy time, sponge bath, lotion massage, and then thirty minutes of music apprecation with dad. The two of them hang out in dad's office and listen to music until LO starts getting real drowsy

ATolentino89 · January 2016

kdoak2015 said:

bjamie said:
My baby is week old. But ever since we came home from the hospital my baby only sleeps by being held. Hates bassinet, bouncer, swing, and etc... So this mom is very tired and feel like I have no choice but to allow him to sleep with me or I will not get any sleep. Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do to fix this?
My 5 week olds been like this from the start. We started swaddling her and putting her in her swing next to the bed. This worked for a week now it's back to mommy holding her the last few nights. Bedsharing is the only thing keeping me going.

This is us too. Sometimes I can get the heating pad to warm up the bassinet mattress enough to get my LO to sleep in it for a couple of hours at night but usually he's by my side all night. The sound of him breathing gives me reassurance. I plan to bed share until he goes longer in between feeds but right now it's the easiest way to get the sleep I need.

Knottie67744546 · January 2016

Yes. Bedsharing here too but only when he gets to his fussy times which is usually around 10pm. He only wants mommy. I feel so special. He usually falls asleep on the boob after fighting it for a while. I arch my bavk and lean back so that there is enough room between his nose and my boob.

eliseandbaby · January 2016

I'm so jealous reading about good sleepers. Our baby will not let us put her down & wakes up right away if we try out her down

rachel10488 · January 2016

eliseandbaby said:
I'm so jealous reading about good sleepers. Our baby will not let us put her down & wakes up right away if we try out her down

Our son was like this too and then we got the Fisher Price rock n play sleeper, have you tried that? It inclines and has a vibrate feature so now I can even put him in it at night awake. I swaddle him, put him in with the vibrate on and then put on a heartbeat white noise and rock him for 10ish minutes and he will fall asleep almost every time. Sometimes I incorporate a paci too if he's particularly fussy

mrs14678 · January 2016

Baby Q woke up at 4:30 this morning, after we put him down at 11..... Whaaa?? I woke up when he fussed, and when I saw the time I freaked out! But, hubby was up late and 4:30 was the only time he was up!! I hope this trend continues....!

JulieK79 · January 2016

rachel10488 said:

eliseandbaby said:
I'm so jealous reading about good sleepers. Our baby will not let us put her down & wakes up right away if we try out her down
Our son was like this too and then we got the Fisher Price rock n play sleeper, have you tried that? It inclines and has a vibrate feature so now I can even put him in it at night awake. I swaddle him, put him in with the vibrate on and then put on a heartbeat white noise and rock him for 10ish minutes and he will fall asleep almost every time. Sometimes I incorporate a paci too if he's particularly fussy

My son happily slept in the pack n play last time. DD hates it but LOVES the rock n play and sleeps in there every night.

eliseandbaby · January 2016

@rachel10488 and it's safe for baby to sleep in at night? Maybe I'll check toys r us today... I'll try anything

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