MOTN//Sleeping Help?

[Deleted]

To the BTDT mommas here how did you handle the early nights? I'm on hour 3 of babies on....help!

Also please share your bedtime routine!?

[mc13]

For the first few weeks, the babies slept in our room in rock n plays. When they'd wake up, MH help set me up with both babies to nurse (or we'd each take one to feed), then we'd each change a baby diaper, reswaddle, then lay back down/rock back to sleep. Repeat every 2-3 hours.

It's rough and exhausting but you'll survive! After a few weeks, their sleep with start to stretch longer and then they'll stop pooping overnight so you can skip the diaper change part.
W didn't start a real nighttime routine until about 9 weeks then a real bedtime around 12 weeks. Since about 12 weeks the girls would have 1.5 hours max of awake time then nap, repeat about 4 times a day then bed.

[pbandj714]

In the newborn days, mine were pretty sleepy, so sometimes we'd set alarms to make sure to wake them every 3-4 hours to eat since they needed to gain back some weight. DH would get up with me and we'd change diapers. Then he'd help me get them set up to nurse. Then we'd each feed a bottle (had to supplement with formula). Reswaddle and rock them back to sleep in the rock 'n plays, which were next to our bed. Eventually we got to the point where we'd wait for them to wake us up instead of the other way around, but we definitely did OUBU for the first 6 weeks or so.

[piccyami]

We set alarms because we had one tiny baby. Early on, they were in our room, so we'd get up, I'd grab the one that was awake, BF, supplement, give that one to H to change a diaper and re-dress/swaddle (Z struggled to stay awake), then he'd give me the other, I'd BF/supplement, he'd change the diaper and swaddle while I pumped. At first they ate every 3-4 hours and feeding/supplementing/pumping/changing diapers took 1.5-2 hours. IT was rough, but we kept up with the OUBU until the ped told us they could sleep as long as they liked.

[requiressnacks]

Hang in there, @jacks605! It really sucks, I know!

I didn't have a great method early-on. Basically I slept on the couch with the Rock n Plays in front of me. I fed every 3 hours and my husband enjoyed blissful nights of uninterrupted sleep. (eyeroll). I also did OUBU, which really ended up happening naturally. In the early days I set an alarm though, just to make sure feeding happened every 3 hours. MH would take the morning shift and I would go take a nap. We didn't really work together (which I kind of regret).

Now, at 12 weeks, we have a great bedtime routine and the babies are consistently sleeping for 7 hours. This didn't start until my small baby (DS) reached 9 lbs or so. We do baths every other night and just do a feeding in the dark with the sound machine around 7/7:30 p.m., then swaddle, then into the Rock n Play. They are usually quite drowsy and just go right to sleep. They sleep from 7:30/8ish until around 3:00 a.m.

[nomnom]

@jacks605 I have nothing to offer but sympathy. The first weeks are rough, but it does get better.

[richzep]

The early days are super hard. Do whatever works and whatever keeps them quiet.

We did two rock n plays. Swaddled every single time. One up both up.

Kind of worked on my son. He was on a 3 hour or so schedule. My daughter on the other hand was a nightmare. Every single hour she needed something. Every hour. It wasn't always food. But it was something. No routine or anything helped.

But 12 weeks was the magic number for us. It did turn around then. You're not destined for difficulty forever. I promise. Start a soft routine around 6 weeks so they get the hang of it.

Everything should begin to sort itself out around 12 weeks if you remain consistent.

Till then, you have our sympathy and our ears. We've all been there.

[jd]

Honestly, those early days are brutal no matter what you do, so I would say do whatever the hell you have to do to survive. Don't stress yourself out with establishing a routine and such. Like others have said, that will come with time and you can do it gradually.

Others here told me it would get better, and to be perfectly honest, the early days were so hard that I had a difficult time believing that it could get easier. By the third month,it really, really did though. Hang in there and just focus on survival for now. You've got this.

[fightersince83]

I'm not sure if this will be depressing or encouraging, but DD started sleeping longer stretches 5-6 hours around 8-8.5 weeks. She hit a growth spurt between 6-8 weeks that was pretty rough but things got better after that & then we were able to do a sleep training program and had her STTN by 14 ish weeks.

As far as how we handled things. DH STTN (annoying) but then would get up at about 6 and take over. I still had to wake to pump but he'd handle DD so I could get some sleep.

[bocaburger]

Feb 1, 2017 22:27:34 GMT -5 jd said:

Honestly, those early days are brutal no matter what you do, so I would say do whatever the hell you have to do to survive. Don't stress yourself out with establishing a routine and such. Like others have said, that will come with time and you can do it gradually.

Others here told me it would get better, and to be perfectly honest, the early days were so hard that I had a difficult time believing that it could get easier. By the third month,it really, really did though. Hang in there and just focus on survival for now. You've got this.

Ditto to all of this.