sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

any advice would be appreciated!!

my dd is 7 1/2 weeks old..shes a very content baby, but i feel like she would stay awake all day and nite if i let her!!

she has started to take 2-3 hour naps during the day, and when she wakes up to nurse i keep her up for at least an hour if not more after that..during the day she is ONLY NURSING..at nite, another story..

im formula feeding, which in theory i thought would help her to sleep better too, but it seems she went from giving me 4-5 hours at a stretch (4 weeks) to now, when she BARELY gives me 3 hours at a time..ONCE IN A BLUE MOON 4 hours..
when she wakes, i will sometimes give her back her binky and get another hour out of her, but thats it..and most of the time, she wants to be fed..when i feed her at nite, shes getting 4-5oz depending on what she'll take..usually just 4 or so..she goes right back to sleep, the longest it takes it about 40 minutes to change feed and get back to bed..but..when shes doing this every 2-3 hours, its TERRIBLE sleep for me..

when does this get better? i remember my ds sleeping through the nite at 7 weeks old
should i be setting up a new pattern??

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

anyone??

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

Can she take more formula at night? Have you tried swaddling?

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

formula at night and nursing during the day, am i reading that right? if you nurse at night does it make a difference?

DD#2 is 3 months and is still all over the place at night. she was giving me 5 hour stretches here and there, and then out of nowhere was up every 3-4. i'm nursing and have decided to just go with the flow.

i remember DD#1 set her own schedule/routine over time. i'm hoping to see the same with DD#2. i won't try to intervene until 4 or 5 months, or when i see she nurses for a minute or so and then just passes out (then i think she just wants comfort). but for now it seems as though she still wants something to eat so i'll nurse and put her back to bed...

hubby is out of town on business so i'm right there with you in the sleep deprivation department

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

I really have no advice b/c I've been going through the same thing. DS is 10.5 weeks old. He's EBF and is typically a slow eater (45+ minutes). I usually got 2 hours of sleep in between feedings. Then, for several days, he started giving me 1 long stretch of 4 or 5 hours. After that, he'd nurse every hour or two, but at least I got one long stretch.

Now, he likes to nurse for 5-15 minutes and then go back to sleep. I love that his nursing sessions are much shorter at night now, but he wakes up every hour or two. I try to wake him up to nurse more and tide him over, but he won't wake up. I'd rather go back to sleep quickly too, but I hate waking up so often. It's so exhausting. I hope it gets better for both of us soon.

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

Every 3 hours at 7.5 weeks sounds pretty typical. As she gets older, she'll hopefully give you more. I say hopefully because my almost 4 month old is STILL only giving me 3-4 hours between feedings.

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

Jamie, maybe up her formula intake and see if it keeps her more content and sleeping for longer...

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

This is probably a long shot here, but when she's waking up more frequently after being formula fed, is it possible that being uncomfortable is whats actually waking her up and she is feeding to soothe herself ( like meaning her belly isnt tolerating digesting the formula as easily as the BM ) ??...

Maybe somehow alternating formula and BM at night would help ??

My DD is 7 weeks and is FF only, she only gives us 3-4 max at night - we go to bed kind of late so techniccaly she only wakes up 1-2x while I'm sleeping so sometimes it doesnt seem too bad and others I'm zonked the next day , so I feel your pain ! Good Luck !

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

My son did this for a week when he was about 7 weeks old and then he started sleeping 5-6 hour stretches.. It was the storm before the calm

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

thank you for all the replies, to answer some of you quickly, shes definately full after her 4-5 oz..she wont take anymore then that, and shes definately not still hungry...i swaddle her every nite, so shes comfy in that department..she does use a binky but weve gotten her to not use it for sleeping purposes because i dont wanna have to go in there every time she spits it out..sometimes she falls asleep with it in, and i take it out before i lay her down..she actually found her thumb last nite :) so maybe thatll start to help..
i just hope this gets better..im so exhausted

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

At that age DS was on a very similar schedule, up every 2-3 hours to feed, I was nursing and supplementing at night. I think it is good that she is taking 4-5 ounces. Sounds like she isn't ready to sleep longer yet. DS just a few weeks ago started giving me longer stretches, anywhere from 4-7 hours, but still I have off nights with him, he's 3 1/2 months. But it has gotten A LOT better.

Re: sleep deprivation is REALLY starting to get to me

I really don't have any advice but wanted to send you My DS NEVER slept as a newborn (not until he was 10 mos actually) and would go all day without sleeping unless he slept ON me and would get at most 7 hrs of sleep during the night in 1.5 to 3 hour intervals - I tried everything but that was just him. On the bright side - he is now 17.5 mos and many days sleeps 12 hours and naps during the day too! IT does get better - hope it doesn't take as long for yoU!