HI,
Looking for some opinions, I have a 6 week old who sleeps for 3 hours, up for about 30 then 2 hours, up for 30 then 2 hrs. she doesnt eat much at the 2 wake up feedings, but i thought by this age she should be sleeping a lil longer. what are some bedtime routine suggestions?
I start bottle at 8 and she falls asleep about 915, but as soon as i put her down she cries....she then eats a lil more then lay her down and cries....we do this about 3 times then she finally goes to sleep.
Her belly button came off, all but one lil tiny hard "scab", dr said it is OK. But since it hasnt fully come off ( waiting...ready for it too) I cant do bath routine.
OH...and suggestions for how to sleep....she HATES her back ( except when we nap then she will lay on it kind of tilted) I have tried a boppy, a boppy lounger, a nap nanny....nothing works. Maybe I should put her on her back and cry :( ?. I want to move her to her room within the next couple of weeks, but right now it would be more stress on me to have to go that soon and get her- so she is staying in the room with us. And she hates the swaddle ( i do swaddle her lower half though)
Also, when we nap sometimes i will put her on her tummy ( dont need anyone freaking out on me about that...) and she will go right to sleep. I am right the, very close so i am comfortable with it.
Any help is appreciated :)
thank you! i am going to hang in there and try the side/back sleep and see what happens. she sleeps in her pack and play , i really wish now i would have gotten the rocker. i do have a co slepper from target and i can elevate it up a lil. also i will try loving on her instead of feeding. thank
I will tell you what I did...let them sleep on their belly if that is how they slept better. I am one of the people that do not believe SIDS is from belly sleeping, (except for the fact that they may get more of the toxic fumes from the mattress). I did everything else right including no blankets, no smoking, wrapping the mattress, etc so if they sleep better on their belly, let them.
This is a really common problem at this age – so common it would more properly be called a "pattern" than a problem – but of course it really eats into your need for sleep, and that can begin to feel impossible after only a week or so.
At six weeks, your little isn't going to recognize a sleep routine yet, because she's still going through the massive developmental changes that will eventually bring her to where she CAN recognize patterns. So please don't just leave her to cry – the staunchest advocates of Cry It Out don't recommend trying that before six months.
Dr. Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby on the Block, explains in these short videos why he calls the first 3 months the Fourth Trimester, and explains why babies run pretty much according to their own needs for the first 3-4 months:
How-to's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6KnVPUdEgQ&feature=re...
Enhancing sleep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk5MUOMecHI&NR=1
Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu0TtxO-ocY&feature=re...
One thing I don't think Dr. Karp mentions is that the brain's day/night pattern, which is partly governed by the body's chemicals, is affected by daylight. Make sure your daughter is getting good exposure, especially early in the day, to natural daylight, which will help her brain produce the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin at night. Even during naps, the brain "registers" incoming light through the closed eyelids, so if daylight doesn't keep her from napping, try putting her near a big window with open blinds while she sleep.
Likewise, keep lights always low in late evening and through the night. If you need to attend to her during the hours of darkness, use as little light as possible, and keep it out of her face.
Unless she has any high-risk factors for SIDS, belly-sleeping will probably not be too risky. When my daughter was born in 1971, belly-sleeping was not even thought to be a risk, and virtually every baby I knew was allowed to sleep face-down. I have never personally known a family who lost a child that way.
Do check out what Dr. Karp has to say about infant sleep. I know lots of parents who have gotten good results using that advice.
Congrats on your little one!
Sounds very normal. At 6 weeks old your baby is too young for a routine and trying to force her into a routine is only going to cause frustration for you and the baby. Also, I am a midwife and is is perfectly fine to give the baby a bath even if her cord has not come off all the way. Just dry it off afterwards.
Lisa
Sounds like she is doing pretty well for 6 weeks. Right now her "routine" is going to pretty much consist of sleeping and waking the eating then sleeping--and you need to kind of conform to what she's doing--for now.
As far as the waking when you put her sown...she's still pretty new, so just hold her/rock her to sleep then put her down on a warm blanket/sheet so that's not what's waking her. Ir's safest to let her sleep on her back & if she's sleeping when you put her down, she will stay on her back. Master the art of the "transition" while not waking her. Good luck!
A 6 week old is not anywhere near having a regular sleep schedule, you are lucky that they have got a grasp on night and day. And until you can do a bath routine you'll probably just have to tough it out, but it won't be long! Try giving baby a leg/foot massage with the Johnson's sleep lotion and that might help. A 6 week old is no where near old enough to even think about Crying it out methods... And even though your baby seems to hate swaddling, you should really try a good swaddling technique and a gentle bounce with the baby. This period of time is typically referred to as the "fourth trimester" meaning, baby is going to be most comfortable with her former living situation recreated. - That is light rocking, swaying, and tight sleeping quarters. Babies also really like their sides since that most likely how they were in utero- so try laying baby on her side and then propping her with a rolled blanket behind her. Sleeping on her stomach is fine when you are there to supervise, but when you are not she will be better off on her back. Good luck!
Totally normal (I know that's hard to hear). At this age, do what works. It will be months before anything you do can be habit forming, so try not to worry about that. We did lots of different things. Our kids napped and slept in the swing, the bouncy seat, their car seat, on our bed (I used to lie down and nurse them to sleep the slowly roll away!)
Just remember, the best place for baby to sleep is whereever baby sleeps! Keep trying, you'll find what works with your precious one.
my daughter ALWAYS slept on her tummy from a couple weeks old because that is how she was confortable in sleeping. I am a stomach sleeper so i dont see a problem with it, maybe lay on her her stomach and make sure her face is not on the bed but off to the side so she can breath and no thick blankets or anything just something light over her
Check out thr Rock and Play by Fisher Price. Its a certified basinett byt allows baby to sleep at a 45 degree angle. I agree with PP that she is still young and sounds like you have a good routine started.
Just remember a routine is all about being consistent.
Good luck!
She is still a newborn, so this sounds pretty normal. Could you put her to sleep in the swing or a bouncy seat? Maybe she would sleep a little bit longer. With my kids they never slept well in the crib as newborns, but they did eventually transition in there.
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My son is seven weeks old, and up until two nights ago, he was following the same routine - sleep for three, then two then one or two. The last two nights, though, he has slept for four hours, then about two and half, so there is hope! I have not done anything different than before, and we don't have a set routine (I have not gone back to work yet), but he tends to follow the same pattern. During the day, he naps mostly in his swing. He sleeps in a pack n play bassinet. We have the fisher price rock n play, but my three year old uses it more than he does at this point. However, it did come in handy when he was congested a couple of weeks ago.
