Getting newborn to sleep, and stay sleeping

amother

Apricot

Mon, Aug 29 2016, 10:19 pm

My 3.5 week old has been up for the better part of the night for the past few nights. He wakes up, I nurse him, and he doesn't settle down, not in my bed, not in his bed. It's an endless cycle of "put-baby-down-listen-for-screams-pick-him-up-and-rock-some-more". Rinse and repeat.

I think he would sleep on his stomach, but I don't sleep well like that out of nervousness. I sometimes put him down on his stomach and flip him to his back, and then he wakes up again.

How can I get some semblance of a night of sleep again? In my rose-tinged memories, I remember my older children waking up, nursing, and falling back to sleep for 3 hour stretches. That sounds like an amazing dream right now.

amother

Aqua

Mon, Aug 29 2016, 10:29 pm

My baby is two and a half weeks old and I have the same issue. The only difference is that mine has to be on a bilibed due to jaundice. I finally put him on his belly tonight as he won't sleep on it otherwise. I know he will sleep on his back nicely in my bed though.

Have you tried nursing/bottle feeding him to sleep in your bed and just no moving him from when he falls asleep?

amother

Tangerine

Mon, Aug 29 2016, 11:00 pm

I usually go through this, I think it is a growth spurt, and the baby wants to cluster feed. So I just have to do it until my milk supply adjusted.

It passes within a few days, and they go back to sleeping peacefully.

amother

Apricot

Mon, Aug 29 2016, 11:12 pm

I already nurse in bed, and he falls asleep on me just fine, but I'm not comfortable like that. When I move him to the side, he wakes up shrieking.

amother

Aqua

Mon, Aug 29 2016, 11:15 pm

amother wrote:

I already nurse in bed, and he falls asleep on me just fine, but I'm not comfortable like that. When I move him to the side, he wakes up shrieking.

When I nurse in bed I lay down and lay him next to me and nurse that way and just move away when he is done eating. I find that he sleeps well that way.

susanp

Mon, Aug 29 2016, 11:22 pm

I bought the halo sleepsack which I used the first few weeks. It keeps the baby swaddled very tightly. Babies usually sleep best when swaddled well. Or u can just get a good swaddling blanket.

cinnabuns

Tue, Aug 30 2016, 12:07 am

I discovered my baby had reflux by 4 weeks old. Crying,unhappy, arching her back, only happy when held up right.. She didn't spit up, just super uncomfortable. Maybe look for signs of reflux?

And yes, swaddle swaddle swaddle, helps tons!!

amother

Yellow

Tue, Aug 30 2016, 12:49 am

My baby was put on meds at 6 weeks for reflux also. Screaming all day n night. She wldnt sleep for longer than 15 min at a time. I was loosing it. Bh the meds helped alot.

gibberish

Tue, Aug 30 2016, 12:54 am

After a talk with my pediatrician, I put my baby to sleep on his stomach. He wouldn't sleep otherwise, and the risk of SIDS is slim if you don't use blankets or bumpers and if a baby isn't exposed to second-hand smoke.

As an FYI - two of my infants were hospitalized within the first month and the nurses always put them to sleep on their stomachs. This was in two different hospitals.

rowo

Tue, Aug 30 2016, 1:56 am

Gibberish - They put them on their stomach in hospital when they have monitors and would be alerted to any changes.

OP - it can often take up to 6 weeks for a newborn to work out night and day. That at night we go straight back to sleep (what you remember from older kids) and that in the day we have awake times.
It's exhausting but it passes! Good luck Smile

FranticFrummie

Tue, Aug 30 2016, 10:02 am

It could be colic. You can try simethicone drops to treat it, or you could just grit your teeth and wait for him to outgrow it.

Colic drops never worked for DD. She screamed her head off all night long for the first 4 months straight.

It turned out that she was lactose intolerant, and in addition had a weak latch, so she was swallowing a lot of air when I tried to nurse her. I had to switch her to a combo of pumped bm and LactoFree formula by Infamil. That night she slept like a charm, and we didn't have any trouble after that.

amother

Teal

Tue, Aug 30 2016, 12:12 pm

My newborn was the same. Then I started putting him to sleep in his carseat. Now he sleeps 2-3 hours between feeds and settles down much better after eating.

FranticFrummie

Sun, Apr 30 2017, 5:38 am

mommy1and3 wrote:

Bumping up anyone has tips????

Have you tried all of the tips in this thread? How old is your baby?

I still say check for colic and reflux.

Iymnok

Sun, Apr 30 2017, 5:44 am

Happiest Baby on the Block. Follow it to a T.

Break up the naps during the day. There is generally one long stretch of 4-6 hours. Don't let it happen during the day. Wake your baby up after 2 or 3 so that the long stretch will be moved to the night.
Does your baby sleep during the day? Is it in a different location? Why does that place seem more conducive to sleep for your baby?

mommy1and3

Sun, Apr 30 2017, 5:47 am

During the day tried waking him was partially successful, but literally can't get him to settle down for the night, sleeps for 30 minutes and is up, I basically do the same thing during night and day except for bathing baby and putting to sleep in darkened room.