Newborn won't sleep!!

[Nic]

Just a thought......

I have been known to put baby in cot/moses basket and let him suck my little finger until he falls asleep and then gentley remove my finger. i found that this didnt wake him but placing him in the cot after he was asleep would. Not a pacifier but works just as well- equally now my baby doesnt need my finger he puts himself to sleep but it did seem like for months on end I had a finger in his mouth. Plus it allowed me to have finger in his mouth and toddler sat on my lap so I got some time with her as well.

It is hard giving enough time to number 1 when you have a newborn as well, just try and get your son involved in baby related activities. My daughter loves undoing the diaper of her brother (I have allowed her to be far more hands on than I would have imagined). He is definitely not wrapped in cotton wool like his sister was!

 

[thanka2]

Thanka2- I wish I could be a baby wearer sometimes but it's too much strain on my back. Even with her in the carrier for a while is painful and she's barely above 4 kgs. She was sleepy for the first 3 weeks, then woke up, until now when she wakes up after a short time, she is usually annoyed that I stopped holding her. After a long time, she's just hungry. Yes, shes ok once shes down for the night, but getting her down takes a lot of effort. She needs to really be all sucked out and just exhausted. My 2 yr old is awesome with naps and sleeps, but believe me, I have paid the dues and also spent a lot of time on him, making him a good sleeper. I have less time to do that with this one.

Me too with the back problems. I still have this dumb slightly herniated disc in my back that crippled me after my son was born but I also did some pilates earlier on this pregnancy and I think that may have helped a bit. I've bought a Moby Wrap and also an ergo and I'm just going to see if either of those help this time around.

Well, that's awesome that she was at least sleepy for three weeks--least gives you a chance to get your bearings a bit after birth--I'll hope for the same thing with this one! It's also nice that your efforts, even though they are hard work, are rewarded with her sleeping a bit at night--to me, for a newborn, that's just amazing--never had that experience. I think you're getting somewhere. She's just in that "4th trimester" they talk about in "Happiest Baby on the Block."

Also great that your 2-year-old is sleeping well and not causing you additional stress with tough sleeping habits--looks like your hard work with him was a good investment too.

 

[zyxwv]

Sorry to hear about the sleep. My 5 mo old often needs to be re-settled during her naps as well. Every once in a while she will go 1.25-2 hrs straight but often she needs from 5-30(ugh) mins of re-settling 30 mins to 1 hr after she goes down. My now 26 mos son was the same way, but like you, I was able to sort him out a bit younger than #2 and it was probably b/c I was 100% focused on him and at the time didn't have help either.

Would you consider having someone come in PT (yes, may need to be local or illegal) for a couple of hrs a day to play w your son in the house so you could put in the work in on at least one nap per day with the baby?

If I didn't have help, #2 would def be in the baby carrier a lot and b/c that isn't an option for you, I'm struggling to come up w a "fix". You could also try the Annerly sleep clinic. The price is $1,200 so not a bargain alternative but she may have ideas.

Nic - how are you managing a 5-7 bedtime routine with #2 and no help? I am struggling to establish a meaningful bedtime routine for #2 around #1's dinner and bedtime without having my helper feed #1 or put either down. I've wound up putting the baby down after #1, as every time I tried to put her down first, she would require extra settling and it would push back my son's well established routine too long and cause him to be overtired.

 

[Nic]

zyxwv- 4.5months in when 5pm hits our house runs like a well oiled machine, there are days I live for the sanity of 7pm!
During the day I confess no.2 has no real structured sleeps and often ends sleeping in the bjorn while I am out and about with no.1 but I always make sure we are home by5. We all sit at the table and no.1 has dinner (she turned 3 last week so can feed herself, albeit there is quite a bit of mess!) and no.2 has half a feed (he is bf). After dinner I bath them together then no.2 gets out first and I dress him while no.1 gets to play a little longer in the bath. When baby is dressed he gets to have a kick on No.1's bed while I dress her. Then no.1 gets into bed and has her milk while I sit next to her and read to her while giving no.2 the second half of his feed.
When I have finished reading (usually she gets 3 books) I tell her I am going to out her brother to bed (who has usually fallen asleep) and give her a kiss and 9 times out of 10 by the time I get back to her room she is asleep in bed, rarely is this after 7pm, never after 7.15.
No.2 then sleeps until 4am when he needs a feed and resettles or if I am lucky he will go until 6am.

With no.1 I was a strong believer in routine, I havent been able to implement one for no.2 other than 5pm onwards and it doesnt seem to have too bad an effect on him. Different child I guess. I chose to accept no routine for naps during the day as long as it didnt adversely affect his night time sleeping and so far it seems to be working out ok.

How are you getting on with your 2?

Reading all these posts makes me thankful I am not the only one out there battling these problems.

 

[Shenzhennifer]

zyxwv - I actually have someone helping me that I hired for 2 months but she will be stopping soon, unfortunately. It's been amazing. Although she does take my son out from time to time, and accompanies him to playgroup twice per week, it's not enough time to do anything with #2's sleeping. I usually struggle just to shower, eat, check email and take a breather. And most of the time she is actually awake during that, so... I might just have to wait til she is a bit older and then do a kind of sleep training with her, like I had to do with my son. But like others are admitting to, I might just have to forget about the notion of her having regular or set naptimes. I'm actually ok with that, it's just the NON-sleeping part that I'm a bit withered about.

Nic - When did you start bathing them together? And getting dinner done and all that accomplished with no helper? Wow! I've had hired help since my #2 was born and I can't see how to accomplish that in the timespan. Awesome you. It was easier with #1 with the bathtime routine. He always went down for the night afterwards (with many nighttime feeds, of course), but with #2, routine is not catching on yet. Maybe because older brother is still full of beans after his bath and screams and jumps on the bed and sings right up til he falls asleep. Who can sleep through that? Plus, I still sit with my older one a few minutes before he goes into his crib then I have to help him put his sleeping bag on. Hard to do while breastfeeding. I've tried!