Sleeping Newborn - Riverton,UT

A couple of things- are you swaddling her? If not, that will help tremendously.
Secondly, if swaddling doesn't help, then I would suggest just taking her to bed with you so you can get some rest. Some people are not big fans of cosleeping (me being one of them), but sometimes you do what you have to. My baby girl slept right on my chest those first 3 weeks.

For a while at that age I slept in the recliner with Isaac in the sling on my chest. It had as much to do with having had a C-section and my "bed" being a mattress on the floor as it did with him but it might be worth a try for you!

She's less than a week old. I'd say it's normal, but call your pediatrician (or lactation consultant) for a weight check.

If you know she's getting enough to eat, then I'd say it probably won't last long. Sarah S. had good suggestions.

I slept with my daughter (third child) for the first few weeks. She wouldn't sleep unless I was right next to her. I had a 3 year old and 2 year old so I needed some sleep. Have you tried co-sleeping, I didn't do it for very long, just a few weeks while she was tiny.

Good luck - you are not alone in this! Enlist some help over the holidays... maybe there are friends home this week who would help with your other kids for a few hours so you can rest?

J.

Sounds like my son. We watched the video "The Happiest Baby on the Block". In 15 minutes he was asleep and he slept for 5 blissful hours! We did the things in the video until he was 6 months old it worked so well. Shushing still calms him down at almost 6 years old. I'm trying to remember them all. Swaddle (a must, and he teaches you how to do it so it stays in place in the video), side, suck (finger or paci-did not interfere with breastfeeding for us), shush, swing. I think that's all, but there may have been one more. If your daughter lost a lot of weight right after birth, or gains slowly, check into reflux. My 2 screamers were both (are still) reflux kids. The tips in the video gave us all good sleep, though, even without the meds. Good luck! I know what those sleepless nights are like. I'm so sorry!

First of all you DO know it's normal for every mother to feel like she'd like to toss that crying baby out the window, right? LOL Just don't toss!

Swaddle
Make sure the crib sheet where you lie her down is warm--cold sheets will wake them right up!
Make sure she if full and burped before bedtime
You've gotta find her "thing": shhhhushing, swaying, rocking chair, bouncing gently, sitting in a bouncy chair that vibrates, background noise or white noise, soft music.....keep trying til you find the magic trick.

Good luck!

First know that you are not alone!! The little one likely has day/night reversal. The hard part is between 1-5 am is not when you are doing your prime parenting. Try to increase the awake time during the day only by about 30 minutes, much more than that will lead to overtired, crying baby though. I would start by swaddling, loud shhhhhhing ( as loud as the crying right next to her ear), and swinging or gentle bouncing in your arms, and then breastfeeding until sleeping. These are the basic steps talked about in a book The Happiest Baby on the Block. I try these things standing and then move to the glider/rocking chair and try softly singing... I usually pick a song like rock-a-bye baby or momma's gonna buy you a .... but I make up new words to keep me laughing. I will often try walking around the house to reggae music with the baby in an upright position chest to chest. If all else fails I breast feed lying down and try to get some rest. I make sure there are no pillows/blankets and I do not roll in my sleep. I am hesitant to recommend co-sleeping most studies do quote an increased risk of SIDS, some however do state that there is a decreased risk. I would be VERY careful when baby is in bed with you.
I would also make your husband take an hour in the middle of the night so you at least can get one hour of sleep. Its a team effort.
Good luck!! It will get better soon.

She is so brand new and probably just not used to being away from you yet. I did not plan to co-sleep with my 2nd. He had different plans, however. :0) I gave in and let him sleep on my chest for 4 weeks...then I transitioned him to a pack n play in my room (took 1 week)...slept there well for 1 week. By 6weeks old, he was sleeping thru the night in his own bed/room! Great sleeper ever since! Might be worth it to follow her lead for a bit and see where it takes you. Good luck!

seems like Pam is back at it trying to guilt moms for not doing things the "pam" way.....maybe you need to make changes in your diet, something you are eating may be the cause. if you are thinking gas there are some abdominal massages you can do to help reduce gas or colic. please dont let people try to guilt you or make you feel bad. it is NOT true that "most" babies need co-sleeping. if your daughter needs it and you are okay with the risks then try it. but dont do it just because someone wants you to do things their way!

I doubt there's anything wrong with her. This sounds very normal for a newborn. They have been nice and snug inside a warm waterbed for 9 months, and this new environment is a drastic change for them.

Many babies respond to swaddling (though I never did figure out how to do that effectively). My sons both loved the swing and the bouncy seat on vibrate. Many times I would nurse them to sleep and then put them in the swing where they would happily sleep for a few hours. We also co-slept. This can be done very safely. Dr. Sears has excellent tips on safely sleeping with a newborn. Co-sleeping works for many kids because they sleep close to Mommy and feel safe and secure that way.

Hang in there! She's just trying to get the hang of this world, and it can be pretty overwhelming.

My girl did that with acid reflux. She'd wake up to nurse, scream scream scream, spit up, then want to nurse again and cry until she could. Rinse and repeat.

Doesn't sound much like what you're dealing with, but it's worth a check.

Otherwise, swaddle, swing, shush, ... (those are the only ones I can ever remember).

Congrats on the new bundle of joy!!!!!

My first thought.....Is she getting enough to eat? I say that because I had some b'feeding issues and my daughter was not getting enough to eat so anytime she wasn't eating she was crying.

if she was born on Wed, she's about a week old, right? So, is she back to her birth weight? I know they dip a bit right after they're born, but then gain it back.... I thought the rule was within the first week (but it's been a while since I had a newborn). does she have the appropriate # of wet diapers etc every day?

if you know she is getting enough to eat then this is probably behavioral.

Does she use a pacifier? Controversial, I know. But newborns have an instinctive need to suckle. So, if she's not eating, she may still need to suck and she can't soothe herself without sucking. A paci will fix this.

Can daddy do the middle of the night feeding with either pumped b'milk or formula? that will enable you to get a stretch of sleep.

Is there anyone you know willing to help you? someone from church, your next door neighbor, a mom from one of your other kids' schools? You could pick up from school, if she will come over one night a week and do the overnights etc.

Call your ped and let them know. No, not at 2am. Call now. In the middle of the day. She can probably give you some suggestions. And at least you are establishing a documented pattern of your daughters sleeping patterns. That is relevant info for your Dr to know.

My daughter went through a phase (probably a couple weeks older than yours, I think she was about a month old) where she just had to sleep while being held. it lasted about a week. So that's what we did. We took shifts. She sorta "grew" out of it. But man was it tough!!!! Hang in there mama.

Welcome to my hell with my first born. Wants to be held and rocked constantly and wants to use you as a pacifier to get to sleep instead of falling asleep on her own. Yep.. been there. Her doc thought it was colic and acid reflux cause she spit up a lot. The only thing that worked for me was to switch to the bottle so she wouldn't be so attached to me cause I was her lovey. I hated doing it but it helped and by 3 months she was falling asleep on her own and we got her a projector over her crib and she loved it. We did the cry it out method to train her it's okay to fall asleep on her own. You start out gradually and check in on her and build on the time untill she gets used to falling asleep it sucks because you want to run in and comfort her but it works. Her docotr told me about it and gave me a pamplet on how to do it so I would ask your ped. about it.
Good Luck Mommy!!

She just needs to get on a night time sleeping pattern. Hang in there. See if you can get any help from neighbors or friends to watch kiddos a little during the day and do your best to adjust the new baby to night vs day. ie lights on and noise around the house during the day, dark/quiet at night etc. try a little bedtime routine, soft spongebath, infant massage, etc.

Good luck! Congratulations on your new baby!! I also have 3. My "newborn" just turned 8 months old - it flew by!

My son did that, except he cried from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. every morning. It lasted a month...longest month of my life! Nothing made him stop; not feeding, diaper change, rocking, cuddling, swaddling, swinging, riding around in car...absolutely nothing made him stop. And he wasn't hot or cold either. If he fell asleep while crying and was moved in the slightest way he would instantly wake up and start crying again.

I took him to the doctor because I was worried and after checking him out the doctor told me there was no reason for it. My son just cried for two hours every morning. I'll tell you what the doctor told me: it will stop when it stops, you can't do anything about it. I'm sorry because I know that isn't very encouraging. Just keep doing whatever you can to soothe her.

Good luck and congrats!

Any chance she has acid reflux? You might want to bring it up with her Doctor. There's a suspicion now that acid reflux is what contributes to the croup, or possibly what croup is and they just prescribe an acid reflux medicine which solves the problem. Just one more thing to consider as a possibility. Good luck!

Sounds like you have an adamant co-sleeper. Most babies are - you can continue to force her away from you when she needs you so much, or you can go with what she is trying to give you obvious cues to what she needs. Co-sleeping and breastfeeding go together very lovingly and seamlessly for most Moms who know they wish to breastfeed past 6 months.

Also, gas may be part of the issue... stagger gripe water and mylicon drops in addition to burping often during the nursing session and afterwards. Co-sleeping with my 2 breastfed children was a life saver!!

***ADDED***
For those who do not believe newborns need to co-sleep, maybe they should look at the studies stating that co-sleeping will regulate the newborn's breathing, keep a healthy heart rate, lessen crying, aid in nutrition, etc. Also check into "4th trimester". When it all boils down to - we are mammals, and mammals breastfeed, co-sleep and have certain instincts which aid in our survival.

It was the same way w/my daughter. I would nurse her around 10pm every night from 11pm to 3am she would just cry hubby & I would take turns walking w/her bouncing her everything. I talked to our pediatrician she really thought that she was just trying to adjust give it time...my daughter would only sleep upright & only for an hour at a time at night she only wanted to be held & to sleep upright on mine or hubbys chest...finally figured out the dairy that I was eating/drinking was really bothering her once I removed all dairy from my diet she was a completely different baby. Talk to your doctor. Congrats on your little girl!

I am wondering if she possibly has colic? How is she during the day? Many babies who cry continuously have milk allergies and do best with soy formula. If it is colic, then try inclining her mattress.

Dr. Sears has some good sleep advice here:
http://askdrsears.com/topics/parenting/sleep-problems

This sleeper has apparently worked wonders with colicy babies. The issue is though, you have to pad the inside and keep the child's head from staying in one position b/c it can cause pretty bad flat spots. There is a pocket where you can stuff foam/folded blankets and such in there. It is great for my friend's special needs newborn:
http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Newborn-Rock-Sleeper-Y...

It's also possible she still is in her in-utero rhythm of sleeping during the day and waking at night. Very common and it takes a little while for them to adjust.