My little one started sleeping longer blocks a few nights ago, so I moved her into the nursery. If she stays in my room with me, she will just wake me up with her little sleep noises, and I really need sleep!
The first night I moved her, I woke up after about 5.5 hours of sleep in a full on panic: is she dead! I checked on her, and of course she was just sleeping. Then last night I woke up in a panic again.
I remember feeling this way when I moved my son into the nursery. He was a terrific sleeper, doing 7.5 hours at 5 weeks. What I don't remember was how long it took me to calm down and not worry about SIDs.
Any ideas on how to manage this anxiety, without bringing baby back into my room? She is only 6.5 weeks, and I feel awful about moving her next door, but we both sleep better if she isn't right next to me, and I don't want to accidentally parent myself into having a baby that wakes every 2 hours (like I did with my first).
My anxiety has gone way down, so I'm skipping the video monitor.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
baby monitor on low. It helps. You can hear them breath with the new technology. If you want to spend the money, you can do video.
We solved it with baby #1 by getting a video monitor.
Wake. Panic. OMGMyBaby! Press video button on monitor. Oh he's sleeping. Back to sleep. Baby's sleep undisturbed.
You could buy a video baby monitor,so you could look at her without going in her room.
Get an Angel Care monitor. It is a great sound monitor, but the real benefit is that it is also a SIDS monitor. It has a sensor pad that goes under the crib mattress and detects heartbeat and breath movement. It sounds an alarm after 20 seconds of no movement. We love ours and it helps a ton to relieve that panic. We have had a few false alarms, but mainly when the baby gets older and crawls up to one corner of the crib to sleep.
Video monitor. I did not have one with my first and I would end up waking him up in my panicked state by touching him to see if he was breathing - stupid LOL
Video monitor, or the Angel monitor that monitors the baby's breathing and movement. I've never used one, but from everything I've heard and read, they sound like they work well (except I've heard they're very sensitive and until you get the settings figured out, it will alarm often and scare the bejesus out of you). I believe these are recommended for babies that have SIDs risk factors (previous siblings had SIDs, apnea issues, etc). Just follow the recommendations and remember that you're first baby is totally fine.
I completely understand how you feel. I was terrified of SIDs with my first and ended up doing the same thing that you did (worrying myself into creating a terrible sleeper). But those worries went away much faster with my second. I also always kept a fan on in the baby's room to keep air circulating. 'Rebreathing' built up carbon dioxide is one of the newer theories so some pediatricians now recommend using a fan in nurseries.
What you are feeling is very normal. I second video monitor.
A video monitor saved me when we moved my first into the nursery at 9 months old. Every time I woke up, I would instantly panic but as soon as I saw she was sleeping peacefully I could get back to sleep.
With my son we had the video monitor. We hooked it up to the TV in our room and left it on all night so at any point I could look at him and see that he was fine.
I was okay with my daughter (2nd). But we still used the video monitor.
Now, when we finally turned the TV off at night.. looking at the monitor after the room being dark was hard..
Good Luck.
My son is now 15 months, and is still sleeping in bed with us, and nursing every 3-4 hours. Just thought that might help strengthen your resolve. I have created a tiny nightime tyrant, best to move them early so you dont end up in my position :)
If you have nothing in the crib besides your baby you can rest easy. So no bumpers (unless it is the mesh one), no blanket, no stuffed animals, and if baby can roll over then no swaddle. We also use a video monitor so I can check him without waking him up. Hope you get some good sleep. You deserve it!
We got an Angelcare baby monitor. It's similar to the sleep apnea monitors they use in hospitals. It senses the slightest movements that baby makes when she's breathing. You put the sensor under her crib mattress, and the monitor will beep if she stops breathing. It did actually beep for us, and then we heard her take a huge breath in - kind of freaky, but it proved that it worked. having that monitor helped us rest easy knowing there was something monitoring her. We installed it in her pack-n-play bassinet, and also in her crib.
Before, when she was in our room, we actually slept with earplugs so we wouldn't wake to every noise, but to crying (or the monitor beeps) for sure.
