My 2 month old baby wants to sleep all day and barely sleeps at night. He'll sleep pretty good for a couple hours the first time I lay him down in his bassinette, but from the first time he wakes up he eats, I change him and/or rock him and he'll fall fast asleep in my arms but as soon as I lay him back down he starts wiggling and kicking and crying again. he only sleeps about an hour at a time then around 4:00 am he wants to be up smiling and wants to play. I try to keep him up during the day but most of the time if hes awake he screams his head off and wants to nurse until he can go back to sleep. I also try not to make eye contact at night but it doesn't matter. Please help! I'm deprived of sleep and am starting to lose my mind. Any advice at all will be appreciated.
Could he be chilly? I noticed recently that my 3.5 month old was chilly. He went from sleeping 7hrs at night to waking up every 3 again. I started putting one of those light knit hats on his head and he's back to sleeping through the night.
I also swaddle him. Good luck and hang in there. It won't stay the new normal forever. ;)
C.,
Hello :) What has worked wonders for all three of our children is to set up a nighttime routine. Currently, with our 6 week old baby girl, that routine consists of keeping her up from around 8pm until bedtime (which, for her is typically 11:40pm). At about 10:30pm we give her a bath and then when she comes back into our room, where she sleeps in her bassinet, we have the lights off and the fan on (one of those little Febreeze fans from Target - helps to provide white noise). We do also have the tv on (to help us stay awake), but it is on very low. All of this is to create that nighttime/bedtime atmosphere so that she knows it is now time to sleep. After her bath, she usually has one more 4oz. bottle and she's off to sleep. She has been sleeping until around 6am or so, when she'll get up for another bottle and then sleep for another 2 hours. I would highly recommend trying this - it might take a littl while for your little guy to catch on, but hopefully it will help! Good luck!
K. :)
I would not engage him at all when he wakes at 4 -- if you feel like he's hungry, feed him, but if not, leave him alone and don't give him the indication that it's okay to be awake and playing, by staying up with him. He'll get bored and fall back asleep. Also, I would recommend making sure he's getting good sleep during the day -- obviously, not nighttime sleeping during the day, but good 1-2 hour naps through the day usually leads to better sleep at night. Counter-intuitive, I know, but good sleep leads to more good sleep; Not less sleep during the day leads to more sleep at night. Good luck!
Every babies different, but my daughter was the same way. She was up every 2 hours until she was 2 1/2 months old. I was getting very frustrated. Then we moved her into her crib, and she slept 6 hours the first night in her crib. You mentioned that he is still in a bassinet. She was born a big baby, and a very restless sleeper, and my theory is, that she didn't have enough room to move around in the bassinet. It's just a suggestion, but it worked great for us. She's been a great sleeper ever since. Hope this helps.
We have a 5 month old. Around 2.5 months he starting sleeping through the night. We found he sleept allot better when we transitioned him from bassent to crib. We also always use an extra thick sleep sack to keep him cozy. We also try and stick to a routine, no long naps after 5pm (bed time is 9pm) and bath time around the same time everyday. So far this seems to work good for us, but there are always some days where he just wants to stay up later, but I find it to be the days we did not stick to our schedule. Hope this helps.
Sounds like his little body still has day and night mixed up, which isn't unusual in our little ones. At night, try as much as possible not to stimulate him -- no eye contact is a great start. Don't turn on any lights, except maybe a small nightlight if you need to change him. At bedtime slather on a lot of diaper cream so you don't have to even change him unless he has a bowel movement. Don't talk, sing, or even whisper to him. Night has to be completely different from day. To this point, when it is time to start the day make sure and walk in the room with fanfare -- say "Good Morning, Baby!", open the window shades or turn on the lights, and pick him up or play peek-a-boo or anything that will get him smiling and cued in to the fact that NOW is the time to start your day together. When he does need to nap during the day, don't make the room completely dark and let normal daily noise continue so that day sleep is different from night sleep. Maybe even let him sleep in a swing or pack 'n play in another room to mark the difference. Eventually he'll get it -- until then, hang in there and try to sleep when he sleeps. You'll get through it!
Oh I remember the days! Keep trying to keep him up for long times during the day, play, even a bath to keep him busy. My #3 would always wake as soon as I put her in bed also. I tried swaddeling..she hated that. What I figured out was that she would awaken hitting those cold sheets. I put a small heating pad under her sheet, warmed up the bed while she nursed, TURNED OFF THE HEATING PAD and then put her in a nice cozy warm bed. Worked wonders. At night, not only don't make eye contact, don't talk, turn on lights or do anything to make that time amusing. Do the same thing every time so he understands there is a method to your madness.... a routine, he'll get it. Congrats and good luck!
i'm so happy you posted this b/c i'm going through the EXACT same thing!!! thanks!!
I'm a little surprised no one on here has said to actually read anything about sleep training a baby. We used the book "Babywise" and it was fantastic!! Our baby slept 12 hours at night at 10 weeks. You really really really should read it! It worked so well....the simple formula of the baby wakes up, than eats, "plays", then naps during the day and at night, if she needed to eat, it was feed her, not talk or play, but put her down. Don't rock him to sleep, you are not helping him to learn to fall asleep on his own. Both our girls are great sleepers, you just have to keep at it. Good luck!
I don't exactly have an answer to this, but I will most likly having to go through this too in a few months (( I am about two months prego with my first baby :D )). So once you get an answer on how to help, hopefully it will help prepare me for the future. :D
Also, good luck!!!!!!!
Sounds normal. Days and nights mixed up. I'd say to just meet your baby's needs and rest when you can during the day. This too shall pass! She's growing and needs to nurse frequently. This is why some mamas have their babies in their beds, which has some safety issues but can be helpful. La Leche League has a handout on Safe Sleep. You can probably find it at www.llli.org. You might want to get involved in a local Group, which you can find on that wesite as well. You and the other mamas of tiny ones can all yawn together then!
Luckily, I didn't have too much of an issue on this with my son, but I do agree with Nikki~
Make sure you keep just a nightlight on in his room for nursing or changing - just enough light to see by. (Any brighter and it makes the brain feel like it's time to wake. Ever notice that if you use the light in the bathroom yourself?)
He could be wanting to nurse for comfort - he is really hungry or not? Some breast-fed babies will do this. My son did, but he was also a grazer... still is at five when he eats! :P
Make sure you are sleeping during the day while your son naps - forget the house right now. You NEED to rest your body, too. Many moms forget this or try to do it all, and you really cannot. I tried to, and finally I gave up as it was too much. I found I was getting depressed - not with PPD, but just upset to where I felt I was useless at not getting my regular stuff done. I finally told myself "This is my baby - he needs me at my best, so I need to rest." and it is more fun to snuggle with him anyway! So that is how I did... I'd lay on the couch with him and both of us would nap - and it would be longer that way.
Sleep is needed not just for the immune system, but also to help keep your Breast Milk supply going.
Try to engage him a bit in the day - tummy time and play mats.
But keep his room at bedtime / nighttime dark. You may have to keep giving him a pacifier (if you have one) to get the point across - or realize it may be a stage. (I do have a friend where her son wakes at the same time. )
Make sure he nurses on both sides...don't let him 'nap' as my son would do that on me, so he fills up.
If he still wakes at 4am - you may want to feed him a 'snack' as nursing babies do get hungry faster than formula feed babies, and the nearness may make him sleepy again. Just make sure the lights are still off and you are very, very quiet.
Worse comes to worse - can he stay in the bassinet safely or does he have a crib where he can 'play' while you rest? You may be teaching him to have 'quiet time' early. (Obviously, you can't sleep in too long~ LOL - but you can rest for a bit longer.)
