W.T. asks from Madison, NJ on August 03, 2008
10 Week Old Won't Sleep More than 3 Hours at Night
The title says it all. Between pregnancy and this baby, it's been since January that I've not slept for any stretch of time! Here's a general schedule:
-- 7PM falls asleep on his own; wakes at 7:30 to eat, then we swaddle him, give him a pacifier (which he loses after 5 minutes); then we let him cry 5-10 minutes and he goes to sleep by 8:00
-- wakes up at 10 or 11, I feed to "top him off", back to sleep, swaddled with paci
-- wakes at 2:00, from 2-3 is a battle of putting paci in and he sleeps for 5 minutes, then drops it and screams. Meanwhile, he wiggles out of his swaddling, smacks himself in the face, and screams more. Eventually, I give in and nurse.
-- wakes at 4:00, unswaddled again. Asleep by 4:30, some crying involved.
-- wakes at 5-5:30 to feed
-- Sometimes goes back to sleep unti 7:30 AM
I've tried lots of swaddlers: Kiddopotamus, stretchy blankets, sewed 2 blankets together. He escapes them all, and I really try to swaddle him tightly. Eating -- he eats every 3-3 1/2 hours through the day, and has wonderfully chubby thighs.
So -- thoughts on swaddling, feeding, crying-it-out? I have been napping with the baby from 9-11 each morning (best sleep I get!), but I really ought to be back at work by now. I'm not even asking for "sleeping through the night" -- 4 1/2 hours would be heaven! Thanks, friends!
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K.D. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
This sounds like a reasonable schedule for a 10 week old. I wouldnt rush it. I know you are desperate for sleep, I feel for you there! But it's too early to expect the vavt to sleep much longer at a time. I know some babies do, but not all. Try a soothing sound machine next to his crib, like with ocean sounds, heartbeat, soething like that? good luck
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P.K. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
My advice would be, forget the swaddling. It is not for
all babies. Maybe he is waking himself up trying to get
out. Worth a shot IMO. Good luck.
K.H. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
This is what babies do, and it's completely normal. The WORST possible thing you could EVER do is let him cry. FEED HIM. It's also obvious that you are not feeding him enough.
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M.D. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
Hi Wendolyn,
First, congrats on your new baby! Something that you might want to try is to pump a bottle or add an ounce or two of formula to a bottle. I am a nursing mother myself (my daughter 5 months old) And when she was younger that's what we did. It helped her stay asleep because she was satisfied. The only reason I suggest this is because you said that you should be back at work, She will have to have a bottle eventually so now might be a good time to start. If you do decide to give her formula or a bottle , I do suggest that you use only one type of bottle and nipple and try not to use a pacifer, if you want to continue to breast feed. It could also be something that your eating that might be bothering the baby's stomach. I had a lot of issues with stuff my daughter couldn't digest! Chocolate, dairy, gassy veggies, spicey foods etc... Hope you can get some sleep with these suggestions!
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D.D. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
Up all day with the toddler and all night with the baby. You must be a zombie! I'd say swaddling doesn't work for him so don't bother; you're just driving yourself NUTS! Don't let him cry it out for the same reason. At 10 weeks old they are too little to self settle.
Throw him in a pack and play beside your bed and just nurse him as much as needed. Do you have family close by? Maybe someone could watch both your little ones and allow you to get in a nap or two.
Just remember that it seems like you'll never sleep again but pretty soon he'll put on enough weight to be able to hold him for longer periods of time.
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A.R. answers from Rochester on August 04, 2008
I think if you just give him what he needs, it will eventually work out on it's own.
At 10 weeks, he hasn't figured out how to manipulate you, so letting him "cry it out" is probably counterproductive. All he knows is that he's hungry, or needs you, or is tired, or is uncomfortable, etc. (i believe that) the only thing they learn by crying it out is that it takes that much more of a reaction to get their needs met....
Maybe you should just listen to him - it doesn't sound like the swaddling comforts him (it doesn't for all babies), maybe it even irritates him more than anything.
If his needs are being met, you will all be much happier. Although it's exhausting to nurse that often, you may have to resign yourself to nursing every 2-3 hours for a while (it will seem like forever, but it will probably be just a month or so). Maybe you could pump, and enlist your husband or parents to give a couple bottles so you can sleep? My oldest was an every 2 hours nurser for a while - he was my only one at the time, can't imaging dealing with that AND a toddler....
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A.R. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
Have you tried the miracle blanket? My baby is only a few weeks old but she also could get out of every swaddle until my friends recommended the miracle blanket. She sleeps so much more soundly. Unfortunately I don't have advice for the sleeping since my little one is also nursing every three hours. I have also looked online to try to find advice on how to stretch babies night time sleep to longer periods - advice in books such as the Contented Baby and The Baby Whisperer is helpful but not concrete enough. The only other thing I have read that might be helpful is that if the baby doesn't nurse for long enough then they don't reach the hind milk and therefore don't stay satiated. Good luck!
1 mom found this helpful
K.D. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
This sounds like a reasonable schedule for a 10 week old. I wouldnt rush it. I know you are desperate for sleep, I feel for you there! But it's too early to expect the vavt to sleep much longer at a time. I know some babies do, but not all. Try a soothing sound machine next to his crib, like with ocean sounds, heartbeat, soething like that? good luck
1 mom found this helpful
N.R. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
We had very similar issues around 3 months. I think my little guy was going through a growth spurt and started teething early...got first teeth at 4 months. This book helped us a lot.
http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp...
You have to pick what is helpful in the book. Some people want babies to cry it out that young, but I always felt like my baby still wanted to eat, and I just did not agree with "forcing" him on an adult sleep schedule.
I totally believe in swaddling and someone gave us the BEST swaddle blanket:
http://www.miracleblanket.com/index.htm
It seemed to work very well. Our baby could get out of other swaddles in no time, but he did not learn to escape this one until he was about 4-5 months.
Your baby might need to go to sleep earlier. I know that sounds crazy, but we do bath at around 6, and then jammies, book, and nurse while swaddled. That puts him to sleep and he would stay to sleep for awhile. When he woke up at that age, I would change him, re-swaddle, and nurse back to sleep. He did not learn to fall asleep on his own until about 4-5 months...so at that point he had to be nursed/rocked to sleep.
We also used a noise machine with a soothing calm noise that helped him from waking up to any noises in the house.
Every baby is different, and I am just sharing what we did. I know how hard it is to be waking up so many times at night. I also took that 9-11 nap with my guy, and it always helped me after a tough night. Sometimes, when I just couldn't do another wake up at night, I would bring him into bed with me and nurse him on my side and let us both sleep for a couple of hours.
Hope something in here helps, if not just the fact that you are not alone in this and it is a normal thing...just a very hard for everyone involved!
Best of luck and let me know if you want to chat about any of this.
N.
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C.L. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
are you feeding him at 2 when he wakes up or just giving him his paci? I would feed him and put him back down..you might get your long stretch there...from 2 until 6 maybe. He's too young to really be going more than 4-6 hours w/o eating. Thats just my advice. I have a 6 month old who has been sleeping through the night since he was 14 weeks. He seemed to have had the same schedule as your little one...every baby is different...and they will sleep through the night eventually!!! Good luck!
C.F. answers from New York on August 04, 2008
A 10 week old breastfed baby should feed every 3 hours or so, so it sounds as thought hes right on track!! I know sleep sounds great, but he's still a newborn adn needs to nurse frequently... If you're so inclined, you can try feeding a bottle of formula at night since formula lasts longer in their bellies, than breastmilk... just remember, they're only little once!! :)
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