Crying Baby... - San Clemente,CA

Totally normal for a baby at that age. You have to think of them as still in the fetus stage until they are 3 months. The whole beginning of their life was spent in a dark, warm, moving, and "noisey" environment. Then suddenly they are pushed out into an alien world. Give her time to get used to it. Yes, you are not going to get a lot done.... for a while. That's normal. As the others posted, there are a few things you can do to get her a little more comfortable with the new environment. Try a sling, a swing, swaddle, have the radio on while she sleeps, one of those baby chairs that have vibration, etc. Try new things and see which one works the best for her.

But for now just try to relax. This will pass and it will get easier as she gets older. Just be patient... Good luck!!!

Get a Moby Wrap or sling...you can get stuff done and soothe your baby at the same time. You have months and months to go before you even have to start worrying about "spoiling" a child...though I even hesitate to call it that.

As for doing things "right"...you will figure out what is right for you and your family. Every baby has different needs.

Also, make sure she is swaddled before you start nursing and that may help her stay asleep!

Unfortunately for your house, not being able to do anything because you're holding your baby is kind of just what happens. BUT, it doesn't last forever - you are absolutely right for picking her up right away. I would put her in a moby wrap after she eats, she may need to be upright for a bit, or just near you to sleep comfortably. I read this here on mamapedia a few years ago and it has stuck in my head since, I am SO glad I spend so many many many hours in the rocker with my babies in my arms while the laundry piled up in the corner!
So quiet down cobwebs
Dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby
And babies don't keep

Hold that baby as much as she needs. You cannot spoil a baby by holding her too much. This isn't a power struggle between you and her. She spent the first 9 months of her life in your belly, she's in a strange place she needs all the comforting you can give her.

One thing you need to learn right away. You will always tell yourself before you have kids all of the things you'll never do, you probably have made a lot of judgments about things (pacifiers, cosleeping). You'll quickly find that people do these things for a reason. They can't get things done because they are taking care of a baby and THAT'S OK!

These days go by so very, very fast, in the blink of an eye when she IS 5, you'll be glad you took the time to answer her when she cries because she won't need you as much then and you'll miss holding your little baby girl.

Shut the world out, pull clean clothes out of the laundry basket to wear, and bond with your baby. You'll never, ever, ever regret it.

Personally, I think you are doing it right by picking her up and comforting her. Like you said, she is only 15 days old and you cant spoil a newborn. Go with the flow, do what feels right and don't worry about what the future holds. You think you can control and mold the temperment of your child and I am here to tell you cannot. Enjoy every snuggly moment....they grow up so fast.

My "baby' is 4 now and back in the day was what you descibed. Now, she is so busy being 4, I have to actually FORCE her to be held!!! (thats a joke people!)
My advice to you...find someone...find someone in your family that will hold, love, coddle, adore and be absolutely mesmerized with her....just to give you a break...and like they say (me being one) they are not cuddly babies forever!!!!

You can try a heartbeat noise maker... I don't remember the correct name, but I'd google it. It's a machine like a radio that mimics a heartbeat, so maybe the baby likes to be close b/c she feels safe by mommy. I agree with you on nothing goes ignored lol, she is a little bitty one.

I just looked on a website and I guess they have a heartbeat cd too.

When I first had my son, I was having the same issue. Then I read on BabyCenter maybe that it takes a good 20 min for a little baby to fall into a deep sleep and actually STAY asleep. So, I'd watch the clock and hold my son for 20 min after he fell asleep. Then, I'd lay him in his crib. It worked! I did this until he was maybe 4-4 1/2 months old when I gradually started to lay him down sooner & sooner without him waking back up. By 5 months I could just lay him down immediately after nursing and he'd fall asleep & stay asleep on his own. It was GREAT!

you may want to look into acid reflux as an option or something to rule out (my son had it and esp after eating fussiness was major and me soothing him helped) and you might also want to look into a good wrap like the mobi wrap so you can still do daily things and let baby sleep on you where she is comfortable. I did a lot of attached parenting and now that my son is 4 he is the MOST independant little thing I know who knows that when he needs my attention it is his. I suggest you look into attached parenting to see if it is for you as well as reflux and getting a good wrap.

No worries. You can't spoil a 15 day old baby. There is something called the "4th Trimester" and some babies have this at a higher degree than others. My son was the same way. The baby is accustomed to the comfy womb that you created for her and she is missing that security. There are multiple things that worked with my son. I would swaddle him and lay down in the bed with him while breastfeeding and he would remain asleep on his own. I also invested in a wrap and placed him in the kangaroo position. He loved this. The added bonus is you can get stuff done while he is in the wrap. If you decide to purchase wrap do your homework and buy something safe.... I loved mine and did lots of research. If you are interested the company that I purchased from is Lovey Duds and they have an on-line website. The wrap really helps with colicy babies in the first couple months after birth. There is also something called Pantley's Dance, which you can research on-line. It is a method of placing baby to sleep with motion/ being held. There is also a book that invested in and love. It is called the No Cry Sleep Solution. I hope this helps.

Most newborns like that "snuggled" feeling. That's why a sling or a moby wrap is so popular and why so many babies do well swaddled. We never really did that, but we did find that our boys slept well in the swing, in their car seat, in a bouncy seat. At this age, the best place for baby to sleep is wherever baby sleeps, So experiment and find what works for you.

I used to nurse lying down ("side lying"). I would put our baby in the center of our bed, lie down next to him, nurse him to sleep, then slowly get up. That was one of the ways I got him to take a nap. When I tried to nurse him and then lay him down he would wake up.

Babies want to be close to their mothers. If you were used to a safe, warm environment (the womb), wouldn't you want to continue having that? She sounds totally normal. I agree with a sling or something so that you can some work done, but I would also just enjoy being near her if I were you. Put her down, lay down beside her and cuddle, you probably need extra sleep, or will soon, anyway.

Please know you CAN'T spoil a baby of this age: her only method of communication is crying and she's trying to tell you something. All babies need to be burped after feeding to release any air/gas bubbles or their tummies get upset, that might be part of why she's crying.

Babies that little typically sleep better if they are swaddled, they don't know their limbs are their own and the movement of arms/legs can startle/scare them.

Some babies prefer to be held - my 3 month old really preferred being held all the time until recently (within the last couple of weeks). There is a great product called the Moby Wrap - using that I was able to hold her so she felt secure and safe and I could still do things around the house.

Hope this helps and good luck!

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My son did the same thing when he was breastfeeding - it was really frustrating. I'd start to feed him, he'd fall asleep, and would wake up immediately. I don't think he was getting a really good feeding, because he was falling asleep. With my daughter, who's 2.5 months old, we're doing better. My lactation consultant showed me a few ways to make her stay awake during feedings, to make sure she was satisfied: Tickle her under her chin while you're holding your latch, rub her cheeks and she'ss start feeding again, move her arm up & down, tickle her back. Anything to make her stay awake for a full feeding! This way, she'll be more full, and more likely to actually go down for a nap. You may also find that she needs to be swaddled tightly, or she might be colicky and sleep better in a swing for a while. Our son wouldn't sleep at all unless he was swaddled until about 3 months. And our daughter really like sleeping in a swing in the afternoons for some reason. You might have to experiment to find what works for you, but I suspect it's that she's falling asleep without finishing her feeding!
Also, I learned the hard way that babies do go through growth spurts where they'll want to eat constantly (every 1/2 hour) for a day or two. This is their way of getting you to produce more milk to support their growth. Every baby is different, but for us, it happened at about 2 weeks, and again at 2 months. After that growth spurt day, she'll go back to having more periodic feedings about every 2-3 hours. You posted earlier about getting chewed up by your hungry daughter. I really encourage you to get a nipple shield before you hit one of these growth spurt days. It will ensure you don't get injured repeatedly, and still get stimulation to produce more milk.