Newborns..up all night

Sorry for all the questions lately and TIA!!!!!

So she was up from 10pm-4am last night and DH and I arent sure what to do. It seems like she is so irritable at night. She fusses, wants to eat constantly, and will sleep for ten mins here and there. She is like a completely different child during the day.

I dont let her sleep more than 3-4 hrs at a time during the day and at night we do the whole keep the lights out, quiet etc.

It doesnt seem like she is gassy or constipated, although she has been spitting up a bit. Swaddling doesnt seem to help either.

Any suggestions?

Re: Newborns..up all night

she still has her days and nights confused most likely... DS was the same way.

i don't have advice other than to keep doing what you are doing, she will start sleeping more at night eventually

Re: Newborns..up all night

DD was the same way. She would wake up at 11:00 pm with her eyes wide open and just wanted to hang out... no interest in sleeping. If I even tried to put her in her crib, she would freak. I think a lot of newborns get their days and night confused. It eventually got better, but it does take some time. I think with DD it took a couple of weeks for her to get on a better nighttime routine.

Re: Newborns..up all night

If you are letting her sleep from 3-4 hours at a time...those naps might be too long. Try waking her earlier.

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Just keep lights dim, etc, make sure she gets used to the "night" routine of no tv, no stimulation, etc. Eventually she will get her days and nights straight. As long as it's not a gassy/reflux issue, that's likely what it is and you just have to keep doing what you are doing and ride it out.

Re: Newborns..up all night

You poor thing! Sleep deprivation is a b itch! I feel your pain sista! I would try and stimulate her more during the day so she's up more, hopefully that will help. Luckly for me DS sleeps a lot day and night...lol He's just a sleepy head.
Hopefully your little one will start getting into a better sleeping pattern.
XOXOXO
BOTB

Re: Newborns..up all night

I wouldnt even mind if she was up every couple of hrs to eat....but this is like up and fussy, dont know what she wants, try to feed her, put her down, crying, etc.

I would say maybe it is gas but she isnt passing gas much. How would I know if it was a reflux issue?

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DS is very fussy for several hours starting at 6 or 7 p.m. I BF and that tends to calm him and put him to sleep. Sometimes he'll fall asleep for 10 or 15 minutes and then just cry. He's fine during the day though. I don't think it's a reflux issue. He just seems to have a long fussy period.

Re: Newborns..up all night

Posted by headoverheels

she still has her days and nights confused most likely... DS was the same way.

i don't have advice other than to keep doing what you are doing, she will start sleeping more at night eventually

Re: Newborns..up all night

Not that I have much experience...my baby is only 2 weeks old. She sleeps a lot, both day and night. However, when she gets fussy I swear by the techniques I read about in Happiest Baby on the Block. We have a radio set inbetween stations that soothes her instantly and we also do the head jiggle thing. You lay the baby on his/her back on your forearm and the head rests in the palm of your hand, and you let the head move like jello in your hand. It's a slight jiggle movement. This also soothes her instantly.

I had also bought the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD and it really explains everything very well. I swear by these techniques. I hope they continue to work. Good luck.

Re: Newborns..up all night

Posted by headoverheels

she still has her days and nights confused most likely... DS was the same way.

i don't have advice other than to keep doing what you are doing, she will start sleeping more at night eventually

Message edited 2/6/2009 11:38:32 AM.

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Message edited 2/6/2009 11:46:30 AM.

Re: Newborns..up all night

It sounds like she might still be hungry, although I woudl call the ped and see if he/she thinks its acid reflux or if they recommend increasing her formula.

To establish night time, we only swaddle at night. After Jake's last feeding, we change him, swaddle and then into the bedroom with dim lights for stories. We try to rock him to sleep, but a lot of time we put him down groggy. He fusses for a bit, and then passes out (although last night was very fussy for him).

During the day, I don't really have him nap in the bassinet nor do I swaddle. He is more fussy during the day, but I think this routine has helped him not confuse days/nights. It's so early, its hard to tell.

Good luck, Jen!

Re: Newborns..up all night

This happened to DD when she was a few weeks old... she had her nights and days confused- she also was very gassy. During the day we didnt let her go more than 2.5-3 hours between feedings. Sometimes we had to wake her up. It wasnt always easy to wake her up, but usually changing her diaper or tickling her feet would work- i know they say to never wake a sleeping baby, but this is what worked well for us... pretty soon she was on a schedule and we knew the difference between when she was hungry or needed something else. good luck!! it does get better

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You are FF right? I had a few "issues" with the nipples of the bottles (I am using Dr. Brown's) where I thought DS didn't want to take his bottle, but apparently the nipple was "clogged up". This affected his sleeping issues.

It happens so randomly and I am not sure why because I run them through the dishwasher. I could wash them and use them again another day and no problem!!

(I even tried getting the bigger nipples but that just made the formula come out way too fast!).

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My kids tend to switch off - sometimes one sleeps more and the other is up all night and then other days they change it up. Sometimes I am really lucky and they are both up all night - yay!
They hate the crib, I have been letting them sleep in their bouncers, but last night I insisted on the crib. DD slept all night, just waking up for feedings, but DS was up all night, for the second night in a row.
IDK... they are babies, this is what they do when they are so little. I was waking them up and trying to keep them up during the day, but I feel this was worse - they would become overtired and it was horrible. I read somewhere that sleep begets sleep, and that seems to work for the most part.
I think your DD might still be hungry, try increasing the amount of formula. When mine were about 3 weeks they went from waking up ever 3 hrs to every 2 hrs and the ped said to increase the amount of formula they were getting (I BF during the day and give them 2 bottles of formula at night), and this seemed to work.
I know it is so frustrating not knowing what they want!

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Someone who is married to a doctor also told me to put a little more powder (but not water) in the last bottle too before you put them down for the night. It makes it a thicker, fuller consistency which helps supposedly w/ sleeping longer during the night.

Re: Newborns..up all night

The second week I was home we had the same problem for about 2 nights. She has been doing well ever since.

Your DD may have gas. We are using Mylicon and it seems to be working. Also, she may be hungry. Try increasing her intake by 1/2 an ounce.

As for her naps, during the day I would try to not have her sleep more than 3 hours. YOu may also want to play with her (bouncy, floor mat, etc.) to tire her out.

GL!

Re: Newborns..up all night

It does sound like she is mixing up days and nights. It is not too early to start a bedtime routine. Change clothes, feed, read a story etc, that way she'll start to know it is a different time of day.

My DD was a big time spitter upper. We did the Mylicon drops in addition to the Gentlease and it did work.

Good luck!

Re: Newborns..up all night

i would definitely not wake your DD during the day. newborns need a LOT of sleep - and her naps should not affect her night sleeping.

DS did the same thing. it sucks, but it's part of them getting used to being on the "outside."

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I agree that it sounds like Sadie has her day and nights mixed up. Like others said, keep doing what you're doing in terms of lights dim/quiet at night, etc. If she is bringing her knees to her chest and grunting, she might have gas. Try bicycling her knees to help the gas. We used baby gas X and gripe water when DS had gas and it helped him.

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I wouldn't wake her during the day my ped. told me the more they sleep the more they want to sleep so it's possible that she' overtired at night from not sleeping enough during the day. It gets better don't worry