Ok I had my baby on April first by emergency c-section. He was in the hospital for a week and three days where I was only in for 5 days. (Mind you I live in South Korea and had to see a Korean dr for all this since the Army doesn't have a military hospital where I live.) I was finally able to bring him home. He did ok for the first few nights giving my husband and I at least 3 1/2 hours of sleep before wanting to eat. Now being almost a month old he's waking every hour and half at night but sleeps like 4 hours at a time during the day. And he went from eating 2 oz to two 4 oz bottles in just those two weeks. How can I get my son to sleep more at night instead of fighting sleep every hour and a half and waking?
I should have mentioned that I am not a new mom. I have a one year old son as well. I am also not trying to sleep train either, I just want advice on how to maybe get at least 3-4 hours of sleep at night like my new baby does during the day. I do have my mother in law here to help out but her and I are so wiped out and my husband is in the army and is at work all day. He does have weekends off but this is the first week back to work for him and he goes to bed early and doesn't help really at night because he gets up so early. My mother in law is here to help and she takes the baby all week, then my husband and I take him on the weekends. That was the deal we made so my husband and I could get some sleep. But the new baby is giving her a lot of problems, so I took him last night so she could sleep and he gave me problems too. I never had this with my first son because he gave us 4-5 hours then slept through the night at 3 months old. (BTW my new baby is only 29 days old.)
Feed him on demand. Let him tell you when he is hungry and wet or sleepy. Don't try to put him on a schedule yet! He is way too young for this~ Get The Happiest Baby on the Block By Harvey Karp. Great book and it will teach you some things that will really help you. Best wishes and everything you are experiencing is normal!
M
Co-sleep and offer breast as often as baby cries (of course check diapers too). Now that he's almost a month, he will be eating MUCH more often and need it overnight too. That is why breastfeeding and co-sleeping would be the ideal situation for everyone to get a lot more sleep.
So he is not even one month old yet, correct? Was he early?
This is normal- he will be waking every few hours to eat for many more months. Young babies do tend to sleep more during the day than at night, it's just how it is.
Try co-sleeping with him. you will get more sleep and he will feel secure. Maybe you could also try adding another 1/2 oz of formula or breast milk to his bottle before bedtime. Alo have him checked for an ear infection.
he's so tiny! brand new! you really really really can't sleep train him yet. it's so hard to be a new mom and so sleep-deprived, but you and your husband really have to take shifts, sleep every moment you can, and let your baby slip naturally into a more tenable rhythm. trying to force it at this age is not going to work and is going to make you all nut up (even worse than you already are.)
hang in there, mom!
khairete
S.
He's probibly going through a growth spirt and needs to eat. He's been a night person for the last nine months - you just slept through most of his activity. It will take some time for him to turn into a day person. Right now he just needs to sleep and eat but it will be on his schedule for awhile. Be patient, sleep when he sleeps and enjoy every minute of it - he'll be big before you know it!
Dr. Sears has some excellent advice on sleep issues with babies that can help you. But for now, it is normal for him to wake frequently for night feedings:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp
My second daughter was like this. I just didn't allow her to sleep more than 3 hours at a stretch during the day. I know it is hard to wake a sleeping baby when you, yourself are so tired, but if she was going to give me 4 hours of sleep I wanted it from midnight to 4am! :) Just wake him every 3 hours during the day to eat and try to keep him awake for a little while after he eats. Play with him, change his diaper, whatever. Even 15 mins. will make a difference at this age.
At night, try to feed him quickly and quietly. Only change his diaper if it is poopy. Wet can wait til morning. Keep it as dark and quiet as possible for night feedings, so he stays relaxed and will fall back to sleep quickly.
He should be sleeping longer stretches at night and shorter during the day in just a few days if you stick with it.
This is totally normal.
You can't make a baby sleep, and he won't sleep all night until at least 6+ months and that's a normal baby if he was early you can add on how ever many weeks he was early on to that.
Babies in the womb put on most of their weight in the last 2 months , he is going through a growth spurt. FEED HIM. it's called cluster feeding they always do it during a growth spurt.
sleep training isn't for newborns.
You can try co sleeping but do it correctly, remember he did just come out of you after being all warm and snuggley for about 9 months. then pow hes out in the cold world. Also you might try a sound machine, he's likely used to all the noise of the NICU and can't sleep in the quiet. Things are generally louder and more active during the day , having thngs so quiet at night will throw him off.
He is too little to have any kind of schedule. Just go with whatever until he is about 4 months. If possible, try not to co-sleep since that is hard habit to break. Just sleep when he sleeps. Congrats and goodluck!
