Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

I am overly exhausted and dont know what else to try so give me more ideas ladies.

DS will be 6 weeks old on sunday and for the life of me wont sleep longer than 4 hours at a time at nite. (if we get that we are lucky) thats not the bad part because i dont mind getting up and i understand he is a baby. Now he is in this phase where he wont sleep in the pack n play/ bassinet/ or crib. He will sleep maybe an hour or so in the swing. Mostly he wants to sleep in the arms of mommy laying on the couch. NOT GOOD!

What else can we do. I have tried bath time at nite cuz he loves his baths and he is so mellow after. He is drinking 5 1/2 oz of formula every 4 hours. Should i just lay him in there and let him cry himself to sleep. I have tried letting him lay on his belly but he makes me so nervous cuz he is just starting to turn and lift head. I have tried the sleep positioner and put him on his side. Nothing helps. I have rocked him to sleep and held him for 30 mins to ensure he is really sleeping then as soon as we lay him down.. EYES pop open and the screaming begins. What am i doing wrong? I feel like i am failing at this whole mother thing. Thanks in advance.

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

I have no advice since I am in the same exact position (My DS will be 6 weeks on Tuesday). Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone!

Any advise will be greatly appreciated from BTDT Mommies!

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

oh you are doing GREAT! To get 4 hrs a night in a ros at 6 weeks is AMAZING! DD is only 6 mths old and I'm lucky if I get that, but I am still BF.

Have you tried swaddling? at 6 weeks old they still need so much closeness and physical contact.

you are by NO means failing as a mom! if you can, nap when he naps. That helps TREMENDOUSLY.

maybe play some soothing relaxing music?

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

I am a new mom too. My DD is 8 weeks tomorrow. I would recommend reading The Happiest Baby on the Block. The techniques in that book have worked amazingly well for me. It's also an easy read. Even though I don't have any BTDT advice, I think he may be too young for cry it out.

The only thing I do with my DD is that I won't pick her up if she is making regular baby noises. Once it is a cry, I jump in to help her. GL

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

4 hours is actually pretty good for a 6 week old ( or at least in my experience wityh my own )...My DS was similar in the way that he liked to fall asleep in my arms, and had to be rocked...They do say to try to put the baby down when they are just starting to give sleepy cues and not to wait until they are fully asleep ....IMO, it is too early for CIO though...Is he burping ??? If he is fussy only when being put on his back, I always worry that it is an ear thing ( maybe mention his issue to his ped.)....I know how hard it is , you are definately not a bad mommy, your just adjusting and are not alone ....There are lots of good sleep books I have heard ( I havent read any of them myself yet) but maybe give one a try...Its hard to imagine now, but when he's a little older you will miss having him in your arms sleeping

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

DD is a month old and has about the same sleep pattern as your DS. I though this is normal newborn sleeping schedule? DD also loves to be held, I find that she does likes to sleep elevated, so I let her nap on the boppy during the day (supervised of course!) or she'll fall asleep in the swing. She won't nap in her bassinet during the day.
My mom and MIL comes to stay with us a few days during the week to take over night duties, so I can get some sleep. Needless to say, they've been huge help!



ETA: agree with pp, 4 hours is pretty good! DD wakes up to eat 2-3 hours, sometimes she won't go to sleep and eats every hour!

Message edited 3/22/2009 12:27:59 PM.

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

At 6 weeks my son changed....he would not sleep unless he was in my arms. Go get the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. That will help you understand alot of what he needs.

You really shouldn't let him cry for long periods of time at such a young age.

Is he swaddled?
Does he take a pacifier?

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

One of my sons is still up every 3-4 hrs at night and he is 18 weeks. Is he draining his bottles? Gas? Have you learned his cries...pain cry from cranky cry etc...like others mentioned binky? swaddle? white noise? For me its just a waiting game

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

4 hours straight is actually pretty good at that age!! My son was waking every 2 hours to eat at that time!! Aiden didn't like the bassinet also for a while -- too flat for him, so he was sleeping in bed with me. I ended up buying one of those little beds that allow babies to sleep in bed with parents. Anyway, he hated it, but it came with a wedge to elevate the baby a little bit. I ended up adding the wedge to the bassinet and it worked like a charm!! I think that they sell wedges for the crib and bassinet that give them a little incline -- it's worth a try.

Other things that work have already been mentionned includinf swaddling, using a pacifier and using white noise

good luck!!

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

DD slept in her swing for weeks. It was the only way I could get her to sleep.

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

6-8 weeks was the magic number for both of my kids. It will happen, 4 hours is great for now

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

Hang in there!! Alexa will be 7 weeks tomorrow and up until a week ago she was the same way. 4 hrs and then that is it but actually that is pretty good.

Now she will go all night but her last feeding is around midnight and then she wakes up again at 7am.

Have you tried a CD player with classical music. She didn't sleep until I added this into her routine.

I always had music playing for Andrew and to this day still do. Every night for almost 3 yrs

Hang in there. It will just happen out of nowhere

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

You're not doing anything wrong. Some babies just like to be held. DS is 3+ months old. He hated the crib, PNP, etc. He'd only sleep in my arms. We tried everything to get him down in the crib: sleep positioners, swaddling, light projectors, music, things that played sounds similar to those in the womb, etc. Nothing worked and he slept in my arms.

I'm going back to work soon so we finally decided that we had to get him in his crib. We swaddled him and used the sleep positioner. We also used the light projector and music/heartbeat sounds. We put him down, let him cry no more than 5-7 minutes. We picked him up, soothed him and then put him back down. It's really hard to hear him cry, but we knew we had to do it. The first night was absolute hell. It started out ok. It took 30-45 minutes for him to fall asleep. He was up 2 hours later and it took another 45 minutes to get him back down. Then, he was up again a little while later. He had 1 or 2 10 minute stretches of sleep, but basically cried for 4 hours. Every time I put him back into his crib, he'd wake up and cry. Finally, I gave up at 7:30 a.m. and brought him into bed. The second night (last night) was much better. He woke quite a few times and sometimes it took a while to put him down. However, he didn't cry for hours. Good luck! It's really hard when your DC doesn't sleep well.

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

At 6 weeks DS was up every 2 to 3 hours so I feel your pain. Now at 4 months it's completely different. Like the other girls posted, 4 hours is really good for 6 weeks. It is so hard the first couple of months but by the time DS was 3 months I've gotten so much more sleep and it has continued to improve. Now he goes about 8 hours. I think the bath time routine you are doing is good, we did the same thing, DS loves baths and it really makes him sleepy as well and I definitely think it helps him get into sleep mode. Is he napping enough during the day? I know at that age their schedules are all over the place. Hang in there I promise it gets a lot better! I don't know what time you are putting him down for the night but at 6 weeks DS went down really late, around 11/12pm.

Message edited 3/22/2009 10:19:25 PM.

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

Please don't let a 6 week old cry themselves to sleep. My son is 4 months old and is still awake every 2 hours to eat and I often have to hold him for naps.

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

definitely don't let a newborn cry themselves to sleep...

I think your baby is sleeping pretty well for that age.... they need to wake up every 2-4 hours to eat....

I promise you, it does get better.... around 3-4 months for us...

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

I agree with the others. 4 hours is pretty normal for that age.

The pacifier and swaddle-me also helped me out a lot. We still use them!

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

I would have killed for a 4 hour stretch at that age. You're doing a great job!

I highly recommend the Heathy Sleep Habits book as well as swaddling.

Both of my daughters hated to be on teir backs and wanted to be held rather than lay in the cosleeper. The first few weeks they each slept in the bouncy chair. But every night I would try laying them in the cosleeper. Eventually it worked.

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

MY son sleeped for 3 hrs at night till he was 4 months old
SOrry thats the reality, they are babies and need to be feed every 3-4 hrs... Just be thank full it s not every 2hrs
It will get better :)

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

a 4 hour stretch at night at 6 weeks old is GREAT! My DD is 7 weeks today and does 4-5 hour stretchs at night. She really only gets up once in the middle of the night to eat.

Re: Newborn and SLEEP HELLLLLP!!! BTDT moms or NEWS MOMS!!

Posted by MrsP747

I have no advice since I am in the same exact position (My DS will be 6 weeks on Tuesday). Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone!

Any advise will be greatly appreciated from BTDT Mommies!