How Do I Get Through My Baby's Sleep Problems?

Mary,
I may be wrong but it sounds like she is not eating until she is full. If you are diluting the breast milk then that is not sticking to her stomach so she may just be hungry. Believe me when I say that I understand that it is hard being a working mom. It is an adjustment. Be patient your it doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong. It just sounds like you are tired. ;0) Make sure she is getting enough to eat and try keeping her active so that she is tired when you put her down.

Hi Mary! I feel your pain about working nights and having a baby who doesn't sleep well, but! She is still really young. From what I have read, you should not be giving your baby water right now. She may be hungry since she is waking up to nurse and then sleeping after. Breastfeeding is so wonderful and by far the best for your baby so congratulations on the sacrifices you are making. The days and nights feel so long right now, but they go by quickly and you will soon miss the nights with your daughter. Try and be patient and remember she is still really little. This will definitely end. It is definitely hard. I nursed my daughter for almost 18months. She was still getting up around 5am to eat, but then would go back to sleep. The other thing I would suggest is to not keep her up so late. She may be overtired and that is why she keeps getting up. It sounds backwards, but if you keep babies up too long they will wake up multiple times throughout the night. It doesn't work to keep them up late to help them sleep late. I would recommend reading a book on sleep to help you through this. GOOD LUCK!

It is really hard at this point, and such a big adjustment getting used to being a mommy. I tend to agree with Caroline's response. Try to put yourself in your sweet baby's shoes. If you just wanted to be held for no other reason than to be comforted, but you couldn't communicate that...how would you feel? I believe that it is important to comfort our babies when they ask for it. In the long run it helps them learn to trust themselves because their needs are met by mommy. As I always recommend...check out www.askdrsears.com.

Aside from the sleep thing, I want to commend you on nursing! It is such a wonderful thing to do!!

hi-
your baby is still so young. 6 months? she's doing just what a 6 month old should be doing. you are not doing anything wrong. i think there is an unreasonable expectation that we should get these tiny creatures to sleep like we do. and then we get stressed when they don't. do your best. comfort her, be close by. try to balance out her needs and your needs. this will be a short time in the big picture. this is your baby time.

Hi, Mary!
It sounds like you are a great mom and working so hard! I understand the whole crying thing - it's hard, but I would recommend putting her down and letting her cry. She needs to learn to fall asleep on her own - it's a skill that needs to be learned. I hate doing that, but I've found that it's the best thing for the child and for me. You need sleep and so does she.
As a reference, I would recommend the book Babywise. We've used it with all four of our kids and they all sleep so well at all ages.
You're doing great - hang in there! (-:

Hi Mary!
Wow I really do feel sorry for you & what you're going through. I find it strange that the doc would tell you to dilute the breast milk. Breast milk is digested quicker than formula. That might be one reason for your little bit waking up like she does. To be honest, I gave up breast feeding & switched to formula when my son was young & he slept much better. I started off slowly went to 1/2 & 1/2 then total formula. It worked for us but it's what you're comfortable with. I remember sitting & crying & begging for 2 hours of sleep in a row.
Good luck & hang in there.

Personally, it's hard for me to not go to my daughter when she's crying. So my heart goes out to you. Have you tried keeping her up every other feeding during the day time? That will encourage her to nap at the right time during the day and hopefully sleep during the night. It took about two weeks, but she's sleeping through the night. It also could be that she's hungry. Babies grow really fast and seem to have ferocious appetites.