Infant Sleep - New Rochelle,NY

Updated on June 19, 2010
H.L. asks from New Rochelle, NY
12 answers

I have a newborn three week old and she's awake every hour of the night I don't really think it's due to hunger more lonliness and wants to be held also the fact that she sleeps too much during the day. I Usually breast feed her when she's noisy which I know isn't good but my husband has to be to work early I have to be up all day with a three year old that doesn't nap and I live in an apartment building where i'm disturbing a lot of people. How can I get her to sleep more at night and not be such a noisy sleeper if I try to move her to the living room she starts to cry. Or at least tell me when your newborn started to sleep more consistently. I can deal with every three hours but not every hour. Please help!
Thank you in advance for your help and any prayers that would help too!

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P.K.

answers from New York on

She is only three weeks! Just be patient. Have you tried a pacifier?
Right now you just need to go with what she wants. She will start
sleeping for longer stretches soon. Good luck.

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M.S.

answers from Des Moines on

This is the way newborns are . . . which nobody told me when I had my first! I was all upset when he was 10 weeks old and not sleeping thru the night - ha! He was about 10 months old before he started sleeping more than 5 hours at a time! I don't mean to burst your bubble but newborns will have their days/nights mixed up for awhile - it's just the way they are and even though I tried to change that with mine they just need to "grow" out of it. She does need to eat at night 'cause her tummy is so small and they digest breastmilk so quickly so go ahead and nurse her. As she gets bigger she will start to sleep better - I promise! I know the sleep deprivation is just awful but it will get better. Every baby is different so it's hard to say when she'll start sleeping better - for some people it's 7-10 weeks old, for other it takes several months. Just hang in there - it will get better - you're doing a great job!!!

3 moms found this helpful
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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

I have a different opinion than the other responses.

I, too, am a working mom and returned to work at 8 and 9 weeks respectively with my children. But, I also went back to sales position that required 100-200 miles of driving/day, so sleep was absolutely critical. The BEST advice our pediatrician was to let the baby tell us what they needed instead of imposing our schedule on them.

At 3 weeks old, your baby runs purely on instinct. She can't be trained yet. She probably has a much different personality than your other child making this experience much different.

I learned to cosleep with my kids out of necessity. I'd get them from their crib/pack-n-play, get myself situated to nurse, burp, and hold them to sleep. We learned after the birth of our second and having to move to formula so I could start chemo that nursing is a LOT easier than formula feedings in the middle of the night.

Our daughter coslept with us for a year (partly because of need, partly because of comfort for me), and she's an incredible sleeper now.

Your baby can't be spoiled at this age, and her cries are her way of letting you know she needs something - it may be milk, a diaper change, to pass gas, to be held and hear your heartbeat. I'd recommend taking her cues and doing what you can to help the entire apartment get a good night's sleep.

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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B.B.

answers from Detroit on

When she is awake at night how bright is the room she is in? It sorta sounds like she's got her days and nights flipped...

Our 4th is now 5 weeks old and all our kids have been good sleepers. I think one part of it is that I make sure to have bright lights and noise going all day then at night if she wakes the only light I turn on is a night light I have hung under her cradle... Just enough light to let me see her to change her and nurse her. The noise during the day probibly isn't an issue since you have another little guy who doesn't nap... How often does she nurse during the day? At that age ours would nurse every 2 hours on the dot... Then from about a week old would start sleeping 6 - 8 hour stretches at night... (My kids have all been over 8 lbs... the biggest was 10 lbs. Bigger kids tend to sleep longer since they already have bigger bellies filled up.)

Will she take a pacifier?
If you know she's not hungry at all, try the pacifier. But if it is a true feeding time, don't replace a feeding with pacifiers... :-) And try to keep her awake more during the day. Play and interact with her... Keep the play and noise to a minimum at bed time...
Probibly all stuff you already know and have tried...Keep trying and it will switch back.
ADDED:
Daddy is just gonna have to suck it up... My hubby gets up at 4 am and thankfully understands that mommy TRIES to keep her happy... But she also has to be able to fuss herself back to sleep... So if she's wimpering or fussing just let her be... If she starts crying then comfort her... She'll get the idea.
Good luck!

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E.C.

answers from Fayetteville on

You can put a raido in where she sleeps at night on low that little nosie helped my baby....He didnt start sleeping all night until he was 9 months old.Also newborns are suppose to sleep alot day and night.

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L.B.

answers from New York on

my answer may annoy a lot of people. i have 6 children. all were breastfed. all were put in the bed with me and when they woke up i just stuck them on the breast and fell back asleep. they are all bigger now. 9years-19years. none of them sleep in my bed. i know docs say you shouldnt in case you roll on them, but i never did. sleep depravation is exhausting. dont worry about your neighbours. babies cry. if they dont like it they can move. you on the other hand shouldnt be getting yourself stressed about keeping the baby quiet. she probably wakes up to suckle and for comfort. whats wrong with that?

C.C.

answers from Little Rock on

H.,
I glad you r seeking advice. I wish this site was here when my youngest was born. She was the SAME WAY. I tried everything with her the one thing that worked was, she loved to sleep in her carseat and swing.I know that wasn't the best thing sometimes. But hey even the wery needed sleep. I also wrapped her semi-tight in a blanket (like the hospital). Babies love to feel like they are still in the womb. Does your hubby get up with her? May on his day off he can get up and you can try to sleep in.

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J.P.

answers from Boise on

I think that she doesn't know yet night from day. My daughter is 5.5 weeks old right now, so I am speaking from immediate experience. :) I think that making sure that night is different from day is important for her. At night, there is a blanket over her playard tent (we have cats we are keeping out), it is dark, and we have nature sounds on the iHome. She is fully swaddled, and feedings are dark and quite, and she isn't changed. During the day, I have classical music on the iHome, the blinds are open, and the blanket is off the tent. I also feed in the living room.

At first she was really awake during night feedings, so I started doing the side lying position. She sometimes needed a finger to suck on to get her back to sleep after feeding, and we might fall asleep together for a bit before I woke up again and moved her back to the bassinet. After a couple of nights, she would pretty much feed and fall back to sleep. There are always those off nights, but she is doing great now.

During the day, make sure that she isn't going more than 3 hours between eating. It works for me to keep her awake after feeding, then putting her down, and feeding when she wakes up (or I wake her up). It helps her learn when she should be active and when it is bedtime.

With my son, I was always trying to keep him quiet for my husband, but when I finally realized that my husband had to suck it up so that my son could learn how to put himself down (he was about 7 weeks, and it was a weekend), everything seemed to come together.

Good luck.

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S.A.

answers from New York on

This is what i did and it worked for me. During the night if the baby woke, I did not turn on the light or change him unless he pooped. I would just pick him up gently nurse him, no talking and put back to bed. They catch on really fast that night is for sleeping. Also,crying at this age is a lot quieter than older, so I suggest you really try to train her now. noone likes hearing their baby cry but sometimes we have to be strong. Dads have to adjust too and help by being understanding. They are not going to have undisturbrd sleep with a newborn in the house. In the morning I always gave a big smoochy good morning! Enjoy your babies.
S.

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H.S.

answers from Cleveland on

My son started to sleep better when I put him on a schedule when I went back to work when he was 9 weeks old. Some people aren't the scheduling type but I had to do this because I was still nursing and pumping and needed him to be able to eat right before I left work and immediately when I came home. At 9 weeks he was eating at 6, 9, noon, 3, 6, and 9. It wasn't until then that all of a sudden he starting sleeping longer through the night. (Not to mention the couple of times that my husband and I purposely kept him awake the couple hours before his 9 p.m. bottle so that he might start to sleep more). There were a few times he woke up in the midddle of the night but I did not feed him, just gave him back his binky or cuddled quietly and then put him back to bed. Finally he just stopped waking up ... until he started teething that is. LOL. I think at 3 weeks though he was still eating 2 to 3 times a night ... it's so tiring!! Are you using a schedule at all during the day or feeding on demand?? I was feeding on demand until I went back to work but I wish I was on a schedule sooner because as soon as I did that it was almost like magic! I did, however, give him formula before bed at that time too instead of nursing (& just pumped) because I thought it might keep him fuller longer. Don't know if that contributed or not but I like to say that it did. ;-)

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J.G.

answers from New York on

Do you swaddle? I found that to be the best at sustaining sleep.
Highly recommend the DVD happiest baby on the block & a swing!!
Many of my daughters early nights were spent in a swing!
Good luck!!

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A.B.

answers from New York on

Have you tried swaddling her? That's what worked for my daughter. Sometimes infants wake themselves up when an arm or leg moves and they can't get back to sleep on their own yet. If you swaddle, arms and legs are secure so they can't move during sleep and wake themselves up. Infants are still adjusting to having so much space around them so they don't know how to control their body yet. Check out the DVD "Happies Baby on the Block" (I think that's the name). Your daughter might resist the swaddle at first by try it anyway. It's the only way my daughter could sleep until she was able to sleep on her belly.

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