Post by Girlymama79 on Jul 30, 2015 7:45:31 GMT -5
This baby can tell time I swear. She absolutely refuses to go to sleep before 11 at night. But I can't complain because she sleeps 6-8 hours after that. Nurses and is back to sleep within 20 minutes.
LO is 7weeks+ we have no schedule and I don't even know how to go about getting her on one. During the day we feed pumped bm/formula every 3 hrs. She sometimes sleeps after eating sometimes not. Her last feed is usually 11/12 & she finally sleeps around 1. We tried making this happen earlier last night but she's stuck on that time. She then sleeps for 8-9 hrs. I know I'm lucky for this, but it freaks me out too. We only stopped waking her like four days ago. Before that I only let her sleep 6 hours. Do you guys think this is bad? She takes 5 oz before she sleeps whereas her normal feedings are 3- 3 1/2.
Post by periwinkledaydreams on Jul 30, 2015 10:17:44 GMT -5
Wow, Im amazed at how well so many babes are sleeping! My LO will be 6 weeks tomorrow, and we still have no real daytime nap schedule. We usually wake up when SO leaves for work around 7 and I bring her in bed with me, SL feed and have a nap til 9 or 10 if we don't have anywhere to be. That's where it ends though, the rest of the day naps go however she leads and highly depends on where we are and what we're doing I think.
Nights have been kind of rough. She has a short bit of happy awake time when SO gets home from work at 6 and then is fussy pants right up until we get her down to sleep around 8pm. It takes a slew of nursing, rocking, bouncing, singing, swaddling, gripe water, all the things until she eventually settles down to sleep. She's been stretching that first sleep longer and longer lately, maybe til 1 or 2am now, but once she wakes she will not fall back asleep for hours. Like, 2 or 3 hours. So shes back down about 5am until 7am, then cat napping 7 to 9. I talked to the pediatrician about it and she said we need to work on cues to let her differentiate night from day. I tried a few pointers she gave me last night and failed miserably, was up for 4 hours straight MOTN. So try try again we will do! Wish us luck!
Post by baytosa2013 on Jul 30, 2015 11:04:55 GMT -5
Charlotte is 8 weeks old today. She goes to be about 9:30 every night and will sleep until 4-4:30. I'll warm her a bottle, change her and then back to sleep till 6:30-7. Then we wake up and play smiley face games, change her diaper and get her dressed and face washed for the day and eat again. She's up till about 9 when we eat again and sleep for about an hour or so. Up again around 11ish change diaper and eat if she asks for it. She will stay up till between 1-2 and then eat again and back to sleep till 3:30-4. This time she's up till bed time. She refuses to nap after that time and she is always starving right at our dinner time haha. We really need to get that part of the routine down. She is a great little sleeper and has been since day one. I am GRATEFUL!!
N was a great napper but that's changing - he's 5 weeks (6 on Sunday) and his long naps are gone - just short ones. We have a very loose schedule - us usually DH gets up around 6 which wakes up N and me. DH changes N, and then N and I cuddle, nurse, and sleep until 8:30ish. He's usually up until about 10:30is and then down for a nap. Used to sleep for at least and hour to two hours but I think those days are gone. We usually get another nap around 4:30-5 and then I've been trying to set up the bedtime routine of bath, pjs, nurse and sleep. We usually have him in bed around 10-10:30 and then he sleeps until 2-3:30.
We have no schedule here yet. DD is 6 weeks is still up every 1-2 hours at night and feeds about that frequently during the day. She sleeps like shit everywhere but on me and hates her swaddle.
Ditto on the up every few hours at night... If I am very lucky, I get 3.5-4 hours the first time (but sometimes not!) and from then on its about every hour and a half. Although she does sleep in the rock n play at night, and the car seat (I feel sort of bad about this, but it totally works!) for her naps during the day.
Post by lunalovegood on Jul 30, 2015 13:15:25 GMT -5
We do not have a daytime schedule. I just look for her cues when she is hungry or tired. At night she nurses and falls asleep between 9-10, swaddle and sleeps until about 6am. She is a fantastic little sleeper!
LO is 6 weeks. No nap schedule; last week she would fall asleep in her car seat while out shopping and nap for 2-3 hours. This week has been off since I haven't been home. She's been asleep on me for about an hour now.
Bedtime is better. We usually get her in pjs and nurse between 8-9 and she's asleep by 9:30-10. She gets swaddled and sleeps in the RnP until sometime between 12:30-2 and is usually up again between 4-5:30. She's typically up for the day between 6-7.
No schedule for us either yet, we just rely on her cues.
As far as getting her to actually go to sleep when we can tell she's tired but fighting sleep--best trick I've found for mine is to swaddle her, walk around and bounce (very gently), and shush while avoiding eye contact.
I'm so pro-nap schedule! My boss last year had twins who were the best sleepers I've ever seen and her main advice has been golden: don't just let the baby nap when s/he naturally falls asleep because most babies will keep themselves up way too long, get overstimulated, and then have a super hard time falling asleep. She told me to make sure I didn't let LO stay awake more than 1.5 hours during the day. So with that advice in mind, I've begun working on a schedule. Hayley is 6 weeks.
Optimally our day goes like this: She wakes around 5:45-6am. DH gets her up, fed, and changed. He plays with her for an hour, then wakes me to take her so he can leave for work. Around 7:30, I swaddle her in a sleep sack and put her in the RnP for nap. I sit next to it and hold her paci in her mouth till she starts to get sleepy-eyed. She puts herself to sleep at that point and sleeps 1-2 hours. When she wakes btw 9-9:30, we eat, take our walk, then play at home. She goes back down (same routine as AM nap) around 11:30 and sleeps 2-3 hours. She wakes around 1:00 and we eat, then run errands or play at home. I let her stay up a little longer, till about 3:00. Then she naps again (same routine) till about 4:30/5. DH gets home at 5:30 and plays/feeds her. She then sleeps from about 7-9:30. When she wakes, DH feeds her and re-swaddles her in a "real" swaddle with A&A blankets. She goes back down really quickly for the night (down by 10:00) and sleeps 3.5-5 hours the first stretch, then 2-3 hours the second with a dream feed in between.
The schedule has been pretty consistent this week (the first one that I attempted a schedule at all). We had one day where her naps during the day were a little shorter but I'm just glad she's learning to day sleep in the RnP!!! Using the sleep sack is crucial...if I don't, her day naps last 30-40 mins at most and she's miserable in between.
I've seen a HUGE difference in her disposition since I implemented the schedule. She must be like her mommy and enjoy structure lol
stinybean, The only problem about sleeping too much is if baby isn't gaining weight. Assuming she's gaining weight normally, ENJOY!!
Thanks for your response!
That's what I worry about because we ended up in the hospital when she was 5 days old because she wasn't waking to feed. She's definitely being gaining weight since her last appointment, but we only started letting her sleep unawakened a couple of days ago. I hate waking her and I worry that she sleeps too long. Ahhh motherhood is so hard.
Post by carolyngrace on Jul 30, 2015 17:12:27 GMT -5
mcp6286, I'm very pro-sleep schedule as well! And I've noticed that since I start putting DB down every hour to 1.5 hours he is napping much better. I think I was keeping him up too long. Usually he has one longer stretch of being up during the day.
Post by baileybaileybne on Jul 31, 2015 0:07:01 GMT -5
Ok I need your help. LO slept terribly last night: crying every 30 minutes from 2.30am then wide awake at 5am for the day. After a 2.5 hour stretch initially being the best run. Today, she won't sleep. Well, she falls asleep (on me, in her swing, in her bed swaddled) but wakes less than 10 minutes later. She finally had a sleep on me, which I've been trying to avoid but at this stage any sleep is better than none. After an hour I'm so tired myself that I put her in her bassinet totally sound asleep and less than 5 minutes later: awake. What the hell else can I do? The only daytime naps she's had in the last week, maybe 2 weeks, are in the car while we're driving then she wakes up as soon as the car stops (sometimes even just at traffic lights). I'm soooo tired today. She's 6 weeks 3 days. She was a good napper when she was a newborn. Help!
Ok I need your help. LO slept terribly last night: crying every 30 minutes from 2.30am then wide awake at 5am for the day. After a 2.5 hour stretch initially being the best run. Today, she won't sleep. Well, she falls asleep (on me, in her swing, in her bed swaddled) but wakes less than 10 minutes later. She finally had a sleep on me, which I've been trying to avoid but at this stage any sleep is better than none. After an hour I'm so tired myself that I put her in her bassinet totally sound asleep and less than 5 minutes later: awake. What the hell else can I do? The only daytime naps she's had in the last week, maybe 2 weeks, are in the car while we're driving then she wakes up as soon as the car stops (sometimes even just at traffic lights). I'm soooo tired today. She's 6 weeks 3 days. She was a good napper when she was a newborn. Help!
I know everyone isn't comfortable trying this at such a young age, but around 6 weeks is when we discovered DB could put himself to sleep, crying, in under 5 minutes. And if he didn't fall asleep it would at least tire him out a bit and then when we picked him up he'd go into a deeper sleep and was easier to put back down.
Post by baileybaileybne on Jul 31, 2015 7:48:53 GMT -5
Thanks so much for your replies. I caved in desperation and gave her a pacifier (I was trying to avoid introducing it out of fear she'd become reliant on it and cause a whole new problem). She absolutely loved it and fell asleep in seriously 15 seconds. She was so tired! She's just woken after 3 hours: heaven!
We'll see during the rest of the night whether it's necessary/effective/a nightmare.
I think ultimately if she can use the pacifier to learn to settle herself, it's a win. Wouldn't be so averse to a little period of fussing if so, but couldn't handle full blown crying for any length of time, at least not yet at this age. And I really hope you're right that it's a spurt and will improve!
Ok. So, my LO starts out the night in his Rock n Play, and we usually get a 3-4 hour stretch. Then he wakes to eat, goes back down easily, and then is up every 1-2 hours, unless I bring him into our bed, which my DH hates. He also wants to comfort nurse every time he wakes up a and will NOT take a pacifier. I'm exhausted and going crazy with this comfort nursing.
Joolschweets, usually the morning naps are shorter (1-2 hours) and the afternoon ones are longer (2.5-4.5 hours). I would really encourage you to give the sleep schedule a try! I never would have if my boss, Melissa, hadn't encouraged me to do so. Today, H fought her nap a lot. She was super squirmy, so I sat holding paci in her mouth for about 10 mins. Then she settled, so I left, but as soon as I did she broke her arms out of her sleep sack and starting yelling (that's what I call her mad cry...it's really more like a yell than a cry lol). She was wide-eyed and appeared wide awake. Before I worked with the twins last year, that would have fooled me into thinking she wasn't tired and I would have gotten her up. But it had been an hour and 20 mins since her last nap, so per Melissa's advice, I went back in, re-swaddled her REALLY tightly in the sleep sack, and put her back in the RnP. She was asleep within 2 minutes and has been asleep for almost an hour now. DH has been awestruck this week about how much happier she seems and how she ALWAYS goes to sleep after 1.5 hours even when she doesn't "look" sleepy. The naps fall at about the same time every day, but that's just because H wakes up at the same time every day. As long as you never let the baby be awake for more than 1.5 hours, the times can change day to day. The twins used to wake up any time between 6:00 and 8:00 am, so their nap times varied but the schedule never did.
Good luck! I'm in no way an expert, but I'm happy to ask Melissa any questions for you (we still talk all the time and I visit her/the kids regularly). She learned all this from a professional sleep trainer she hired when they lived in Manhattan. Her first child is a terrible sleeper, so when she got pregnant with the twins she knew she had to teach them better sleep patterns or she wouldn't survive. The difference between D and the twins is astounding...the sleep trainer's method truly worked for her and has for me as well.
Post by carolyngrace on Jul 31, 2015 9:58:42 GMT -5
Joolschweets, my DB's naps are very similar to what mcp6286 described above. I agree that often DB doesn't "look" tired, but he knocks out after just a few minutes.
Of course you still have to be flexible. Like this AM I put DB down an hour after he woke up for the day (like usual) for his (usually) hour-long nap. Well, it's been 2+ hours and he's still sleeping, so this will probably be the long nap for the day. I'm getting a lot done, but of course I wish I had gone back to sleep too!!
Post by mrsmonogrammed on Jul 31, 2015 10:05:14 GMT -5
After a craptastic few days napping, LO seems to be getting back into the swing of things. For bedtime we usually do jammies and nursing between 8 and 8:30, she's usually asleep by 9:15 or so. Luckily she sleeps basically through the night and tends to wake up around 4 or so for a 3oz bottle of pumped milk. Nap wise, she is ALL over the place. I'm trying to start having her nap in the crib, but she's taking forever to fall asleep. Usually we get 1 longish nap (2hr) , and a few shorter ones (45-1hr). But with such awesome night sleep, I'm ok with just ok-ish naps.
Joolschweets, usually the morning naps are shorter (1-2 hours) and the afternoon ones are longer (2.5-4.5 hours). I would really encourage you to give the sleep schedule a try! I never would have if my boss, Melissa, hadn't encouraged me to do so. Today, H fought her nap a lot. She was super squirmy, so I sat holding paci in her mouth for about 10 mins. Then she settled, so I left, but as soon as I did she broke her arms out of her sleep sack and starting yelling (that's what I call her mad cry...it's really more like a yell than a cry lol). She was wide-eyed and appeared wide awake. Before I worked with the twins last year, that would have fooled me into thinking she wasn't tired and I would have gotten her up. But it had been an hour and 20 mins since her last nap, so per Melissa's advice, I went back in, re-swaddled her REALLY tightly in the sleep sack, and put her back in the RnP. She was asleep within 2 minutes and has been asleep for almost an hour now. DH has been awestruck this week about how much happier she seems and how she ALWAYS goes to sleep after 1.5 hours even when she doesn't "look" sleepy. The naps fall at about the same time every day, but that's just because H wakes up at the same time every day. As long as you never let the baby be awake for more than 1.5 hours, the times can change day to day. The twins used to wake up any time between 6:00 and 8:00 am, so their nap times varied but the schedule never did.
Good luck! I'm in no way an expert, but I'm happy to ask Melissa any questions for you (we still talk all the time and I visit her/the kids regularly). She learned all this from a professional sleep trainer she hired when they lived in Manhattan. Her first child is a terrible sleeper, so when she got pregnant with the twins she knew she had to teach them better sleep patterns or she wouldn't survive. The difference between D and the twins is astounding...the sleep trainer's method truly worked for her and has for me as well.
So does the sleep schedule basically entail putting them to sleep every hour and a half? Does sleeping on me for nwptune count?
The last few days N has only done cat naps - I chalked it up to visitors and a spurt. Today after reading about the schedules that seem to be working for some of you, I swaddled N about an hour after we woke up and wouldn't you know it, he's been asleep 2 hours in the swing! And my MIL kept telling me all week that he didn't need so many naps - ha! (He does - the kid was exhausted all week)
Joolschweets, usually the morning naps are shorter (1-2 hours) and the afternoon ones are longer (2.5-4.5 hours). I would really encourage you to give the sleep schedule a try! I never would have if my boss, Melissa, hadn't encouraged me to do so. Today, H fought her nap a lot. She was super squirmy, so I sat holding paci in her mouth for about 10 mins. Then she settled, so I left, but as soon as I did she broke her arms out of her sleep sack and starting yelling (that's what I call her mad cry...it's really more like a yell than a cry lol). She was wide-eyed and appeared wide awake. Before I worked with the twins last year, that would have fooled me into thinking she wasn't tired and I would have gotten her up. But it had been an hour and 20 mins since her last nap, so per Melissa's advice, I went back in, re-swaddled her REALLY tightly in the sleep sack, and put her back in the RnP. She was asleep within 2 minutes and has been asleep for almost an hour now. DH has been awestruck this week about how much happier she seems and how she ALWAYS goes to sleep after 1.5 hours even when she doesn't "look" sleepy. The naps fall at about the same time every day, but that's just because H wakes up at the same time every day. As long as you never let the baby be awake for more than 1.5 hours, the times can change day to day. The twins used to wake up any time between 6:00 and 8:00 am, so their nap times varied but the schedule never did.
Good luck! I'm in no way an expert, but I'm happy to ask Melissa any questions for you (we still talk all the time and I visit her/the kids regularly). She learned all this from a professional sleep trainer she hired when they lived in Manhattan. Her first child is a terrible sleeper, so when she got pregnant with the twins she knew she had to teach them better sleep patterns or she wouldn't survive. The difference between D and the twins is astounding...the sleep trainer's method truly worked for her and has for me as well.
So does the sleep schedule basically entail putting them to sleep every hour and a half? Does sleeping on me for nwptune count?
We follow the 1.5 he rule for sleep too. But not religiously as in sometimes it's closer to 1hr awake and sometimes a bit more. It doesn't matter where they sleep as long as they nap every 1.5 hours. Then as they get older it will double to 3 hr awake time and the first nap they drop is usually the evening one before bedtime. So the awake time before bed would be wake at 4 bedtime at 7 or wake at 5 bedtime at 8.
holliberry28 yes I count naps on me but am trying to transition H away from that so I can get stuff done! Yes, the major component is that baby goes back to sleep approx every 1.5 hours. Like @poppyc8 said though, sometimes it's closer to 1 hr if she actually appears tired. Then every 2 months my boss stretched the awake time by about 30 mins.
I can't stress how much the tight swaddle helps!!!
holliberry28 yes I count naps on me but am trying to transition H away from that so I can get stuff done! Yes, the major component is that baby goes back to sleep approx every 1.5 hours. Like @poppyc8 said though, sometimes it's closer to 1 hr if she actually appears tired. Then every 2 months my boss stretched the awake time by about 30 mins.
I can't stress how much the tight swaddle helps!!!
Thanks! I need to give this a try. M has been up since his 230 bottle, and it took me 50 min now to get him asleep now at 4:20. I guess we have keep working on it!
I'm so pro-nap schedule! My boss last year had twins who were the best sleepers I've ever seen and her main advice has been golden: don't just let the baby nap when s/he naturally falls asleep because most babies will keep themselves up way too long, get overstimulated, and then have a super hard time falling asleep. She told me to make sure I didn't let LO stay awake more than 1.5 hours during the day. So with that advice in mind, I've begun working on a schedule. Hayley is 6 weeks.
Optimally our day goes like this: She wakes around 5:45-6am. DH gets her up, fed, and changed. He plays with her for an hour, then wakes me to take her so he can leave for work. Around 7:30, I swaddle her in a sleep sack and put her in the RnP for nap. I sit next to it and hold her paci in her mouth till she starts to get sleepy-eyed. She puts herself to sleep at that point and sleeps 1-2 hours. When she wakes btw 9-9:30, we eat, take our walk, then play at home. She goes back down (same routine as AM nap) around 11:30 and sleeps 2-3 hours. She wakes around 1:00 and we eat, then run errands or play at home. I let her stay up a little longer, till about 3:00. Then she naps again (same routine) till about 4:30/5. DH gets home at 5:30 and plays/feeds her. She then sleeps from about 7-9:30. When she wakes, DH feeds her and re-swaddles her in a "real" swaddle with A&A blankets. She goes back down really quickly for the night (down by 10:00) and sleeps 3.5-5 hours the first stretch, then 2-3 hours the second with a dream feed in between.
The schedule has been pretty consistent this week (the first one that I attempted a schedule at all). We had one day where her naps during the day were a little shorter but I'm just glad she's learning to day sleep in the RnP!!! Using the sleep sack is crucial...if I don't, her day naps last 30-40 mins at most and she's miserable in between.
I've seen a HUGE difference in her disposition since I implemented the schedule. She must be like her mommy and enjoy structure lol
That would be amazeballs but my only concern is fitting in enough feedings for DD (we're EBF). I feel like by the time she's done eating and I finally get her to sleep, it's "time" for another feeding again!! -__- About how often would you say your DD eats a day?
mcp6286 we had a better day of napping even though we were out, I made more of an effort to get his paci in and get him to sleep even if only for 30 mins. Having said that he had 2 decent 2-3 hour stretches so is less cranky.
Our issue is he hates, and fights, the swaddle. Right from birth the nurses couldn't get him to stay in a swaddle, even with his arms by his face. He's a flailer! So nap time can be hard b/c he won't be wrapped or covered. But a quiet spot, a dummy and some cheek stroking seemed to do the trick. Like mrsmonogrammed though by the time he's down, I feel like its feeding time again. He eats about 8-9 times a day now.
Have you tried the swaddle where you use the extra blanket to pin his arms? That's what we have to do with H. She's been able to break any swaddle since day 1 too. This is the only swaddle that works! And I always make it just a little tighter than I think it should be. I thought it was mean at first but she sleeps so much better that I've realized it's actually kind of me to force it on her.
mrsmonogrammed, H eats every 2-3 hours. She is a quick eater (I think the bottle helps with that). She eats 3-4 oz in about 20-30 mins. Sometimes if she's swaddled tightly and sleeping soundly, she'll go 4 hours between feedings.
Post by musicfrk2002 on Jul 31, 2015 21:12:08 GMT -5
This kid has not slept at all since 9 am...it's now 9 pm. Hoping he sleeps well tonight. I think he is just becoming so interested in looking at everything around him and he can't/won't relax enough to sleep. Even blank white walls seem to be quite interesting.
Post by baileybaileybne on Jul 31, 2015 21:37:32 GMT -5
Ok ladies, I'm on the 1.5 awake hours train. Day one in progress. I introduced a paci last night when she was crazy overtired and used it once last night to stretch from 1 hour to 2 between feeds (awesome!) and other than that she hasn't wanted it at all (double awesome because I was worried about her becoming reliant on it). So far, awake at 6am, short nap at 8.30, asleep for a short nap at 10 (both in the car to and from breakfast) and currently napping since 11.30 - it's now 12.30pm. I know not every day will be this easy and I think she's just making up for a bad day yesterday but I've been so relaxed and had time to do things at home, I'm definitely going to keep trying this schedule. Thank you for all of your guidance, it's keeping me sane!
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