Sleep Problems with My Month Old Baby

Hang in there:) My daughter had bad reflux too and we were told to put cereal in her bottle. I think little ones have thier own schedule at this point. There is no easy way to fix it.
My best advise would be to try to get on some sort of eating schedule. I understand sometime when they are hungry they need to eat...but trying to become consistant w/feedings will help a great deal w/when and how long she will sleep.
I felt like a zombie with the twins for the first few months...but getting them on a schedule made all the difference in the world:)
Take care

One month old? Newborns have no schedule. Did your older child bless you with sleeping through the night upon birth? I'm sorry to sound so rude. I can't believe what you expect from your brand new baby. DO NOT put cereal in a bottle EVER. DO NOT feed cereal to a NEWBORN. Babies do not eat solid food until MINIMUM 3 months old, and six months preferred. Never put food in a bottle. Food is eaten from a spoon. If your baby can't eat from a spoon yet, then the baby is not mature enough to eat it. All a newborn is expected to do is suckle milk from your breast or a bottle, poop, pee, cry and sleep. All without a schedule.

My firstborn woke me up all night long for a long, long time. She didn't sleep through the night til she was 3 YEARS old. Even sleeping through the night is considered 11pm til 5 or 6am. THat means 5-6 hours, not 10 hours like you want.

I'm so sorry for how I sound. I feel for you, I really do. When my first was 6 months old I looked into information on sleep deprivation and whether or not you could die from it, because I thought I would. It gets better. Please don't expect so much from your brand new baby. She's just learning how to regulate her own body temperature outside of her environment from the previous 9 months, and consume what I guess is formula and process it. Please don't add to her stress by giving her cereal as a magic sleep potion.

I hope tonight and the next nights ahead are better for you and your family. God bless,

Hi L.,

I do agree that you can't expect your one month old to sleep on a schedule or through the night. But, I am sure that is not what you are really worried about. I know exactly where you are coming from. You are just so tired and get frustrated so much easier when you are sleep deprived. All you want is just more sleep. I have a 2 1/2 month old and a 13 1/2 month old, and I know it makes it so much tougher to have that older one still be so young. Plus, with having that older one, you have certain expectations of how things will go with the younger one. And, you now have experience so you know if something is not right with your younger one. I have been going through the same thing. Everyone keeps telling me not to expect my younger one to sleep as good as my first one and all that. But, that is not really what my problem is. It is just that I know that something is not completely right. And, it turned out that I was right, my younger one has the reflux too. So, anyway, I don't really have an answer for you, but I just wanted to let you know that I completely understand, and you have every right to be frustrated and to be looking for answers if something doesn't seem right with your child. Just trust your mother's instinct. And, I just have to say that I love www.mamasource.com so that we can vent out some of these frustrations even when we maybe shouldn't be having them. And, for the most part, everyone is so supportive and if they can't answer your question at least you can just get comfort in knowing someone else has been there. I am sorry that you didn't get that entirely with this question. Hopefully that won't stop you from posting in the future.

Hi L. -

I agree that 1-month old babies sleep and eat with not too much of a schedule (or at least mine did). And he slept a lot as a newborn...then the catnapping began! So, I have certainly been there and read most sleep books out there. I did not try organizing his daytime sleep until he was 4 months old..and that may have been a little too late. He seemed to work out his day/night confusion on his own. He also has reflux.

One thing I did notice that was very helpful and very difficult with my little one was to work toward a routine, but I let him lead it and developed it around what worked best for him. Obviosuly, he is human, so some days he wasn't as hungry, others more hungry, but for the most part, I tried organize it. If you watch them and maybe even chart his days, it will help you to see the pattern. It will take a little time, but it should pay off in the long run. If she seems to be sleeping too much during the day and not at night, try stimulating her more in the day (but not too much, fine line there! Make sure she sees plenty of light (preferably daylight) and interact as much as possible (i know it is probably tough with another little one). At night, when you go in to feed/change be sure to stimulate as little as possible -- no bright lights. Do not interact...get in and get out! I know it sounds awful, but this will help her learn night is for sleep. I am not saying to do it in an uncompassionate way, but the idea is to meet the needs and nothing more (at night time only)! Daytime can be for all of the cuddles/kisses/love and playing. I hope this is coming off the right way...it sounds really harsh and I am really not harsh at all!!

Once she is older, her sleep will start to organize and lengthen. They say that in many babies this doesn;t happen for at least 3 months. But, if you start working toward it now, you will be that much farther ahead. If catnapping is still an issue at 4 months, e-mail me and I will give you all the pointers I have! For now, try and be patient and keep telling yourself "this too shall pass". I know it is tough when you are sleep deprived, but if we look at the owrld through a newbrons eyes, they are going through MUCH more than that!!!

Good luck.

While I have very limited information about your family and situation, it doesn't seem very unusual at this age for a baby to still have her days and nights mixed up. I don't really have a solution for you, but maybe you'll be comforted in that it's pretty normal.

I don't know if you know this, but the latest opinion on infant nutrition is *not* to put cereal in your baby's bottle. It doesn't make them sleep longer, and it can affect their ability to self-regulate hunger later in life.

What is the reason your giving your baby cereal in her bottle???? Did the doctor tell you to do so?? I know that now a days you only do that if the doctor recommends it. They say that there is no proven fact that giving your child cereal makes them sleep longer. My pediatrician told me to only swaddle for 2 weeks from when their born and then stop. The reason he told me that they will start to not want to be so confined after two weeks of age or they will get restless. That happened to my daughter. It was no longer confortable for her. I think you need to asses the situation and see the obvious. Your husband is right in the sense that they feel when you are feeling that things "REALLY SUCK" !!!! Good Luck

If you are putting cereal in your babies bottle to make her sleep longer than you aren't serving the babies needs, you are serving your own. I'm sorry if I am being judgemental, but I really believe that babies should not have cereal in their bottles at one month.

Yes she will grow out of it. Newborns sleep in no particular pattern. Stop giving that baby cereal. She doesnt need it. Cereal will not make her sleep longer or better (as you can tell it is not working)

Some babies sleep more than others. My daughter kept me up at night a lot. My son slept well from the first day.

Your daughter will sleep eventually. 'The first weeks and months are the hardest - pretty soon the baby gets a schedule and life is better.

I know it is hard to be so sleep derprived. Maybe someone can come watch both kids so you can take a nap.