How to Get a Little One to Sleep

Have you tried wrapping her in the "Swaddle Me" by Kiddopotamus. They sell them at BabiesRUs and Target I think. My little guy loves his and has slept very well in his own crib since we started using this. He is now 3mos old and sleeps 10 1/2 hrs. at night w/o waking up. It has been a lifesaver. Good Luck.

5 weeks is definitely too young to CIO - I am not an opponent to CIO - we did it at 7 months with our first, and she has been a wonderful sleeper every since. BUT 5 weeks is way too young. Esp. with nursing - mine nursed ever 2 hours during the day, and eventually did one 4 hour stretch at the beginning of the night and then every 2 after that, until she was well over 6 months.

Like others have said - try swaddling, or put the baby in something smaller - sometimes when they are so little and still used to the confines of the womb they feel "lost" in that big crib....ours would sleep well in her car-seat strapped inand set into the crib - also helps when they have a cold or reflux because they are propped up. Oh, and I would definitely try the pacifier, you can always wean them from it later - mine only gets hers at nap and bedtime.

You could try reading "Healhty Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, it worked wonders for us once we found it - check your local library for all these books - ask them to Interlibrary loan them if they don't have them locally....books can get expensive when you are still searching for the right one.

I think you may just have to bear with it, if you intend to keep nursing. I stayed home, so I figured that was my whole job - taking care of baby and house, and DH had to get up for work and had no time to nap, so I took all the night feedings. BUT, especially since you are going back to work soon, I think you should start trading off night time feedings with your Hubby - either pumped milk in a bottle or formula, so you can each get a decent amount of sleep, since you will both be working outside of the home. If you intend to pump for the baby - you better start building up your freezer supply now. The baby IS old enough that their shouldn't be a nipple confusion issue....we started doing a few bottles at 2 weeks and still nursed until 9 months. The bottles that worked best for us - least burps least leakage/least messy eating, and easy to clean in the dishwasher - also BPA free - were these:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1020...

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1020...

Best of luck!

Jessie

I have a 3 mo old little guy and was having similar problems... Not sure how you feel about a pacifier, but she may just need to suck on something and without your breast or a pacifier, she doesn't know what to do so she wakes and cries...

You may also want to consider different sleeping positions. I know that I will get a TON of backlash for this, but my son will ONLY sleep on his belly... we have taken EVERY other percaution to prevent SIDS and discussed the issue with our Pediatrician before I was comfortable trying it... We even bought a bebesounds motion monitor for security, but it works and at 7.5 weeks he went from sleeping 2 hour stretches to sleeping from 9:30pm to 8:30am!

It sounds to me like she just wants to feel secure. Try swaddleing her tight, using sleeping sacks, or rolling up receiving blankets and putting them next to her (under her arms) so she feels snug. Hope this helps.

I understand your swing issue. I didn't like it either when I could only get my son to sleep in the swing, but desparate people do what they need too. It is a temporary situation. In a couple months she will be able to position herself so that she is somfortable. I think it's way too early to let her cry it out. It's not permanent to let her sleep in the swing. Get some sleep.

WAY to young for cry it out - in fact to make any kid cry it out ... thats a really really tough call to make

please visit www.askdrsears.com. he has very good info on sleep, and reasons NOT to cry it out.
just do what you gotta do. this is SO SO SO normal for a baby this age. she WILL be better later, but its more successful and peaceful if you trust your instincts and be responsive and loving NOW. around a year baby's cry will change from an urgent cry that NEEDS a response no matter how silly it seems, to a less of an urgent cry (unless something is really wrong)
you will only notice this change if you keep responding and connecting with your baby now.
everyone tells you how great their baby is, how well they sleep through the night... those people are either liars or are sleep training/cry it out which is the same as disconnecting from your child. in order to keep a trusting, connected relationship, you just need to keep responding to your baby. it WILL get better, but never easier, and sleep might never be the same again :P

im not going to lie to you and say that my son slept well. he didnt. but i wouldnt trade a single sleepless night for the peaceful, calm sleeper i have - he NEVER fights bedtime, he NEVER screams and cries to go to sleep, and at 2 years old, hes NEVER crawled out of his crib. my son is confident and trusting that if he really needs us we will come get him out of his bed, and tend to his needs. he sleeps in our room, in his bed, so he never has to get worked up at night before we get to them....

anyway, you have to trust yourself, and follow your heart... dont listen to baby trainers, dont even listen to me if it gives you a stomach ache, - you know whats best for your child. just do whats best, and what gets you all the most sleep!

Hi, my name is L. and I just signrd up for this like two days ago.I really like it.I wish this was available when I had my first child 20yrs.ago!I want to say what always workwd best for me tohelp control when a new baby slept was definatelty the car ride!Make sure you get your vechicle good and toasty first(it has been soooo cold)and go for about a 10minute drive.I would recommend having her sleep sometimes in the carseat when you return.This is good for newborns anyway because they generally have a little reflux.

Don't let her cry it out. You and your husband are the only people she can depend on and she is learning to trust you and adjust to life outside the womb. Keep her close, wear her in a sling during the day, nurse on demand and pull her into bed with you or get a side car (like a crib but attaches easily to the side of your bed) and read Night Time Parenting by Dr Sears. AskDrSears.com is very helpful too. The book saved our lives when I thought I was going to never survive our first born!

The bottom line is sleep for everyone. Keep her in your room, either in your bed or right next to it, when she needs you, do not get up, turn on lights, walk around etc., just roll over draw her close, nurse her and doze off. Do not do anything stimulating for either one of you.

Three in a Bed is a great read too.

Take care and enjoy the closeness. She will be growing up and not wanting to be close to you soon enough.

Remember the days are long, but the years are short. Babies are babies for such a little time. Cherish it. Work will always be there. All the other stuff will be there.

Congratulations on your growing family. The holidays will be extra special this year.

Take care and snuggle down!
J.

we had the same issue with our son for nearly 4 months! Then I read "The Secrets of the Babywhisperer" and it saved our lives! I highly recommend it for sleep advice for little ones. Good luck!

S.,

Have you tried to swaddle her? I never had luck with my kids but, I tried. I nurse as well. It became habit to let the kid sleep between my husband and I or on my chest so, we could get some sleep. My husband would even let the baby sleep on his chest for awhile to allow me to get better sleep. That way he was invovled as well. She is young still and she will sleep longer adventually!

Best Wishes to you and Merry Christmas!

A.

All 3 of my kids had that same trouble. When they were that young I got the most sleep 1 of 3 ways every night. 1. They slept on my chest 2. Slept in carseat with blankets rolled up on each side of them so it kind of felt like they were still in womb and number 3 was last resort. 3. Swinging in the swing. If all else fails use the swing. They will grow out of it but for a while if it works use it and get your sleep, you need it with a 4 year old also. I have a 5.5 yr old girl, 3.5 yr old boy and a 22 month old girl. Stay at home during the day and work at night when hubby gets home.

The ONLY thing that worked for our daughter at this age (BESIDES CO-SLEEPING) was a bassinet!

BUT it has to be one that had a LIGHTED UP & TURNING mobile on top!!! That would hold her attention until she got too sleepy and fell asleep.

We got ours at Target (I've still seen them there) and when we bought ours, ToysRUs had them too.

I would nurse her when she woke up and put her back in the bassinet and start the mobile up and she would be out!!! We also did swaddle her every time we put her down for bed too.

I do NOT recommend crying it out. I never used that until our babies were over 9 months..... And then my idea of crying it out is: IF they don't stop after 10 or so minutes, I go get them...>LOL.

Put her in her swing if that's what it takes to get her to sleep. You can always try to move her to her crib after she falls asleep. The other posters are right, she is too young to CIO. You could try using a sleep positioner so she feels more secure. Good luck!

Considering she's nursing, I think the amount of time she is sleeping is pretty par for the course. You could supplement her last feeding of the evening with some formula, and see if that helps.

I think crying it out can work for older babies, but your daughter is WAY too young.

My son loved to be swaddled. We had a special velcro swaddler we put him in.

Do your research, but you may want to put her on her stomach. As another poster pointed out, she researched it first and had safeguards in place, and I have known several mothers who swore that the only way they could get their babies to sleep was on their stomachs.

I would also consider bringing her to a chiropractor. I have a friend whose daughter had colic for months, and she calmed slept like a charm after a few adjustments. I have a good infant/pediatric one to recommend in the St. Paul area if you're interested.

She's too young for cry it out (didn't work with my kids anyhow) and there's not really much you can do with their sleep schedule until they are about 3-4 months. Mary Sheedy Kurcinka's book, "Sleepless in America," can help you establish some good sleep habits for her. Good luck--I've been there and I know it gets exhausting. Oh, 6 -8 weeks is a fussy time in a new baby's life so that might be part of it too.