Nighttime Sleep Problems with 7 Week Old

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp was the BEST book Ive ever read about "colic-y" babies. It helped my nephew and we are still using the techniques to help calm him when he needs to relax.

A few other moms mentioned speaking with a lactation consultant. My second son is now 9 weeks old- we delivered at Banner Gateway. The hospital offers a (free) Breastfeeding moms support group that is run by a lactation consultant. It is great to be able to have questions answered by an expert. We often talk about things like sleeping through the night, etc. Have you looked into something like this at the hospital where you delivered? It may help you get through this phase. I agree with many other reponses- it is just too early for her to sleep much longer than she already is. Hang in there- it will get better. Let me know if you would like the info for the group at Gateway.

Hi. I'm K. and I have four semi grown kids (12,14,15,and 16).I raised all of mine by the baby wise books...couldn't have done it any other way as they were so close together. However...that said, all kids are different. If you've tried extra calories and she won't take them, I'd see if she has trouble digesting something you eat. I'll give you a list of things my kids couldn't digest and let you work through it. According to our pediatrician, if you schedule feed, the food you eat enters your milk production after the second feeding. So if you nurse here at 8 and 11 am, what you ate at 7am will be in her milk for the 11am feeding. What you eat for lunch she'll generally get for dinner etc. According to the dr. the following is a list all babies generally have trouble digesting:
Dairy (all of it)
eggs
nuts
beans
broccoli
cauliflower
fish.
Some of my kids could also not digest chocolate (that was torture) or tomatoes from a can as they were too acidic.
I hope this helps. And feel free to ask questions if you'd like!
K.

Your baby is still pretty young, so keep that in mind. Once she is old enough to have rice cereal that will help out, with them sleeping longer. If you give it too early they will get constipated. Nursing babies do feed often because you are giving them the best milk momma's can give. Hang in there! You will soon get longer sleep. Remember this phase will pass.

In my personal opinion, do not allow baby to sleep with you. You will never get them out. My son was allowed to sleep with us, now he still comes in my room, lays on the floor next to my bed, our daughter was never allowed in bed. She cannot even sleep with us at all, she just can't do it.

Probably because Babywise is a bunch of BS. Ezzo.info, while extreme cases to be sure, is enough for me to stay far away from him and his sick ideas. He has also criticized LLL and made very derogatory comments about them. Yes you will find people who claim it works, and for some it does...but at what price.

Feed on demand, at your baby's demand. Follow your baby's cues and your body will eventually adapt. Breastmilk is digested far more easily then formula, and bf babies need to eat many many times a day and throughout the night. That's just the way they were made. Trying to mess with sleep patterns and nap patterns at this age is a recipe for disaster. I second getting a lactation consultant's advice as soon as possible. And Dr. Sears has The Baby Book and the BreastFeeding book..both great sources of info.

And by the way, even the most hardcore CIO advocates don't recommend any of this until 6 MONTHS old. The sleep sharing idea has been a Godsend for me because my children slept better while they were close to me....once I started research, I found out why. It doesn't work well for all children or parents, but even being in the same room can help. And for the woman who said "You'll never get them out?" LOL that's the most hilarious thing I've ever heard, never heard of a 17 year old still in their parents room or bed. My son willingly left at two, others have had their kids leave at later ages but when they were ready. I wouldn't do it any other way. You do what works best for your children, regardless of what "experts" say. This isn't mean to sounds harsh towards you, but it gets so frustrating to see so-called "experts" throwing out advice and not all of it is great.

I wish you luck, but from my experience, this is normal. When I had to return to work with our first son, he was 3/1/2 months old, and I was still up every 3 hours at night with him. What seemed to help him was to get him on a regurlar routine of 1 nap in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. After 4 pm, we kept him up at all costs. Only then did he sleep for 4-5 hours. I was very insistent on nursing as well, but due to medical conditions had to start suplementing with formula and he slept longer with that as well. Good luck! I know it tough going back to work when your exhausted.

Dear K.: Forgive me if I'm assuming, but you sound like a first time Mom. Reading your note took me back almost 4 1/2 years to when I had a newborn and attempted to follow BabyWise. First of all, there's nothing wrong or unusual with your baby. She's doing just what a 7 week old should do--eat every 2-3 hours all day and all night. She's growing very rapidly and thus needs constant feeding for her tiny stomach. Contrary to what you have heard about others' babies who sleep through the night at 6 weeks, that is the rarity (even more rare with breastfed babies since breastmilk digests more easily and more quickly than formula--) rather than the norm. Most infants do not sleep for more than 3-4 hours at a time during the night until after 4 months of age when their bodies are developmentally ready for longer sleep. Please don't be tempted to start cereal "to help her sleep through the night" because research shows us it makes not difference. This may sound discouraging since you probably feel sleep deprived already and the thought of going to work after being up every 2-3 hours at night sounds impossible. Please know that these first 4 months are difficult, but go by pretty quickly and somehow all of us Moms make it through (I now have 2 and one on the way so I can empathize with your exhaustion). Second, I want to congratulate you on nursing your baby. It's not always easy, but well worth all the effort. If you are worried about your baby getting enough calories, be assured that she's getting enough if her weight is increasing by about 1/3 to 1/2 lb a week or more. If she is not gaining weight adequately, please seek help from a lactation consultant, usually available at the hospital where you delivered. Third, I'd encourage you to check out Dr. Robert Sears book entitled The Baby Book for another perspective. I found that my precious little girl never did fit the Baby Wise schedule and after I quit trying (after she was diagnosed failure to thrive at 8 weeks), I began to really enjoy mothering. There's no great "one size fits all" advice when it comes to babies. Babies will change your life forever but the good thing is that if you embrace the change some day you will realize that you wouldn't go back to the way things were before for anything in the whole world. Best wishes! R., Certified Nurse Midwife since 1999 and a happy SAHM for 4 years.

Hello,

This is what my parents did with me, I did with my daughter and my daughter did with her son who is now 7 1/2 months old.

About 7 weeks old you "which is the age of your child right now" you take 1 nipple and make the hole a little bigger and you place a little rice cereal in the bottle and it will fill the tummy and have them sleep a little longer. I nursed and so did my daughter and we would switch to a bottle for the last feeding before bedtime.

Trust me this works and it doesn't hurt them either. 3 generations of postive proof that it does.

Good Luck

It sounds as though you have a little girl who is very adept at nursing and getting what she needs quickly. An "aggressive" nurser can get all they need in under 5 minutes of nursing. Other children take longer, but it really is a personality thing, IMHO.

Also, some babies are ready to sleep through the night at that age and others aren't, particularly if they are growing rapidly. She may not be ready for this milestone. I know Baby Wise frowns upon sleep sharing, but you may want to investigate it a little as a means of survival if you must get sleep and are going back to work. I'm a working mom and slept through my little guy's nighttime nursing sessions. I would slightly wake once or twice in the night and switch sides for him and then drift back to sleep. He and I both woke up refreshed in the morning. I'm not saying this is the be-all/end-all solution, but it is worth giving it a go to see if that will help you be conscious at work. :)

In addition to the thoughts below about your baby being too young, I urge you not to worry about what it will be like when you go back go work. What's going on now has pretty much nothing to do with what her sleep will be like when she is 50% older and not with you during the day. Even if all were well now, it might not be then (that was my experience), and vice versa. So just focus on the now while you can.

Please be careful with Babywise - I believe that its expectations for infants sleeping through the night are completely unrealistic, and most medical societies have published against this method. Look it up and read the criticisms before you depend too much on its advice. I tried it and tossed it. Co-sleeping worked much better for us and saved my sanity. Good luck!!

HI Kristen- I have a 2 week old and have been speaking with many lact consultants and friends of mine that nurse. I have been told over and over again that baby wise is not appropriate for nursing infants due to the fact that breastmilk does not stick with them as long as formula does. I was told over and over to not try to get my son on a sleeping pattern at such a young age since it will change often with grown spurts and milk supply.
Have you spoke with a lact consultant? I would recommend it so you can get your questions answered by someone who is very familiar with nursing babies and their sleep patterns. Also try la leche league- they are great about taking calls. They have a website you can find a leaders number and talk with her.
Good luck- I know how important sleep is:)

Hi Kristen, I hope I don't sound to rude, but I think your 1st problem is your following "Baby Wise". I think that book is awful. I have 2 childern and with both I fed them when the were hungry and let them sleep when they were tired. My childern are now 4 and 8 yrs old. They sleep wonderfully!! They both sleep in there own beds, lights out, and doors shut. I would try to relax with the schedule, don't worry about how she sleeps during the day. It will all come together soon, even though I know right it doesn't seem so.

Maybe you could try to supplement formula closer to bedtime, for longer sleep time.

Good Luck!! I promise you'll get to sleep again. :)

C. S.

My first nursed every two hours. My second every five. The third somewhere in between. I think every child is different. Is she small. My first was 6 lbs. 8 oz. and I believe she could not eat much at a time and this caused her to awaken. Each child is different and some have very small stomachs. I think the Ezzo's and their programs are great, but only you know your child. I think that is our job as parents to really know our children.

Take care and God Bless,
K.

Hi K.,
First, let me say I'm a satisfied Baby Wise Mama with two beautiful, healthy children (Despite all the BS about it on the web!)

My only suggestion, if you are following the routine of feed, play, sleep, is to just wait.

7 weeks is still too early. My first son started sleeping through (10 hours a night) at 11 weeks, and my second son started at almost 9 weeks. Even the book says not to expect anything until after 8 weeks.

Be a little patient (trust me, I know how desperate you must be feeling - lol), and the rewards will be amazing!
Good luck, and pleasant dreams soon!!!
t

If you're worried about your child's caloric intake, talk to your ped. If the baby is gaining weight at the right rate, you're fine. Keep in mind that breast milk does digest faster than formula. She might really be hungry. Seven weeks is still quite young to expect her to be sleeping in long blocks. You will hear other moms brag about their kids sleeping through the night at eight weeks and younger, but no two kids are the same. My daughter was a wonderful sleeper. When I went back to work at 12 weeks, she was only waking for two, ten minute nursing sessions a night, but otherwise slept from 8pm to 8am. I felt fine at work the next day. My son, with whom we tried every trick in the book, woke up every 90 minutes all night long until he was 11 months old. We swaddled, gave him pacifiers, even tried a bottle before bed with some rice cereal mixed in the milk and countless other miracle methods. Nothing worked. Just know that they will eventually get there. He's four now and I'm not dead with fatigue.
I'm sorry your tired. Try to get some rest when you can. My boss was even good with me taking naps at work when I was pregnant. Maybe if you get creative, you can find "break" time and space when you start back at work. Good luck.

The book that saved my sanity with my baby was "The Happiest Baby on the Block" which was recommended to me by a fellow mother friend. It focuses on what they refer to as the 5 "s's" 1) swaddling 2) sucking 3) shooshing 4) swinging 5) side/stomach position. When these 5 things are done (or even 2 or 3 we found) it magically calms your baby. Originally thoguht of for babies with collic has now been found to help all kinds of babies. With this our daughter was sleeping through the night by 2 months old.
Before I practiced this idea I felt like I was always thinking my daughter was hungry and she would spit up a lot becasue I think I was feeding her a lot in a panic of not knowing what else to do. With one bottle/breast feed session followed by the 5 s's it worked like a charm every night until she hit about 6 months and then she would sleep on her own without the 5 s's method all through the night. Give it a try...I hope you find as much success as myself, my sister, and my friend have had.

Your baby is pretty young to be trying to force a schedule and sleep on. It will come when your baby is ready. Here are some links about baby sleep patterns:

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsleepthrough.html
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp
http://www.llli.org/ba/May99.html
http://www.ezzo.info/babywise.htm

Hi K.,

I am not sure what led you to choose Babywise, but you might want to re-evaluate the techniques you are trying to apply. There is a lot of information just online that points out the weaknesses of this approach.
Sure, Babywise has some tidbits of good advice mixed in, but there are sources of advice on infant feeding out there by REAL lactation experts. And REAL child development specialists. (the main author of this book is neither)
Having a lactation expert come to visit you in your home is not so expensive. They often weight your babe before and after a feed to see how much they take in. That could reassure you about the intake issue. And they point out better books that might fit your needs and concerns.
Good luck!