DS2 is 2 weeks old and in the last few days has decided that he will not sleep in his bassinet, it's on my chest or nothing.
Is this a common newborn thing? How long should I expect this to be happening for? Whilst I love the cuddles, the house is starting to look like a bomb site, but more importantly, I feel like a second rate mum to DS2, I miss spending one on one time with him
I'm trying to find the right sling for us so that may help a little but I'm really starting to struggle with this and I'm missing my bed at night too, the recliner appears to be the most comfortable choice for us while this is the go.
He also isn't sleeping for long periods either, maybe 1.5 hours max and then it'll take me 2 hours to get him to sleep again after feed, change and a small play time. That doesn't seem to be enough sleep for a newborn does it?
Please tell me I'm not alone and that this will get better!
3.30am and im sitting here with dd in my arms. she wouldnt settle in bed , we co-sleep, so here we are. sitting in the dark. shes asleep, but if i put her down she will wake.
i think its pretty normal, my sling helps me in the day, and i got one of those baby rockers, which is the best money ive spent in a looooong time. she will sleep for hours in the. and i can put her in awake and she will go to sllep. great to give me time with dd1.
also i have one of the big balls, like a birthing ball. and i bounce on the with her and shes asleep in ten minutes, saves me walking up and down the house all day/night.
mine tend to settle a bit once they get used to being out.
i do alot of reading with dd1 while im trying to get dd2 to sleep. hugs
you're not alone. when DS was born, he was generally a good sleeper. but i do remember nights where he would only fall asleep on my chest. so i would lay there uncomfortable for 3 hours at a time lol. all i kept thinking at those times was, "just make the most of these times,because before i know it,he's not gonna wanna cuddle his uncool mother" hehe. it got me through the tough times.
exactly the same here - my poor DD
i thought newborns were supposed to sleep - mine sure dosent. as soon as his head hits the bassinet he is awake
big hugs
If I put her down - she wakes up. Its driving me bananas. I don't care about the house work because I do it at night when DH is holding her, or when she eventually DOES friggin sleep - but my other 3 kids are suffering I think.
It's reassuring to know I'm not alone with this, I'm really hoping a sling will help with this, at least during the day, now I just have to find one that works for us!
i found DS slept so well in the hug a bub cos you can kinda pull a bit over to hold their head on ur chest. but its really fiddly to initially put on. but if you can get the hang of it, its really comfy for them.
My little mans favorite place to sleep was on my chest but enough was enough and I decided to try tummy sleeping (same position as on my chest) and it seems to have worked (touch wood). But DS3 has amazing neck control.
Not alone at all. Ds2 was exactly like this and slowly got better. For the first 12 weeks he had most of his day sleeps in the hab. The secret with the hab is to do it up really tight and watch the DVD as it makes more sense when you see someone do it. We co slept at least part of the night till the last week as he was getting up at least 3 or 4 times a night and not settling after a feed. If I fed him in bed we would drift off and it was bliss. In the last week he has finally got the whole sleep thing and is only waking up around 4 or 5am for a feed and is going back to sleep. Its bliss but has taken us almost 7 months to get here which is probably not what you want to hear. It gets better, I think we forget how hard the newborn phase is.
With DD2 we had to use the close carrier almost full time for the first 6-8 weeks. i found that this really gave me some freedom as they are totally supported and i was able to do boring ol housework and play with DD1 at the park without too much balancing acts etc going on. at night she also would only want to sleep on my chest so there were nights where i propped myself up with a load of pillows on my bed and we did just that.
Also, this is a huge transition for everyone. i remember experiencing a period of almost grief (ITMS) about the change in relationship that the new baby meant for DD1 and I. that one took a good few weeks to work through. but you do get through it and before you know it that gorgeous newborn is just that bit bigger and you are all back in a new rythmn and you'll be wondering how it is that time has gone so fast!
My DS was not a great sleeper. During the day he would rarely sleep for longer than 45 minutes. He would wake after the first sleep cycle and refuse to go back to sleep. It was a different story if he was on me though. I'd suggest to keep practising with the hug a bub because it was amazing. DS would fall asleep in it and stay asleep for hours. I would even put it on before going out, drive wearing it in the car, so I could just pull him out of the car and into the hug a bub.
I wish I could tell you that he learnt to sleep better quickly, but his day naps stayed short (although he kept having two naps a day until he was well over 1 year old), and he would wake every 2-3 hours over night for breastfeeds until he was about 16 months. Then it went to 1-2 feeds during the night until the month before my DD was born. He was 19 months then, and has been sleeping perfectly through the night since then. He co-slept in our room (in a cot that had it's side off and was flush with my side of the bed) until he was about 14ish months. We only get the very occasional night (like last night) where he wakes crying and needs one of us to go in to his room to resettle him. I think that he might sometimes have nightmares that causes the wakeups.
My DD is a totally different story. She started sleeping up to 6 hours over night the week she was born, and she sleeps up to 7 hours in a row during the day! I'm amazed how much I miss her while she's sleeping!
When she's awake and I want to play with my DS as well, I try to play games that she can be involved in. Sometimes we put the Wiggles on tv and all dance (me holding DD), or we do things sitting at DS's table, like puzzles, the matching game I made with his little animals and photos of them etc... That way I don't feel guilty about not spending enough time with him. That doesn't mean I never have those moments when I feel like I'm neglecting him though!
a couple of things you could try, wear a tshirt all day and then put it over the mattress so he can still smell you when you lay him down. Also make sure the bed isn't cold, warm it up a lil bit first so it's not such a shock to go from warm mummy to cold bed!!
Another one saying your not alone. And another one whose house looked like a bomb hit it and felt she was neglecting her other children too.
Turned out DS had silent reflux and since going on meds he's settled from doing this a huge amount. Im not saying thats what your little one has reflux, just saying thats what caused and fixed ours. We have also just started tummy sleeping too like a pp mentioned, i wont have him on his belly without the movement monitor on though. I dont like sleeping him on his belly at all but it seems to keep him more settled.
I understand how frustrating it is, i had days where i couldnt put him down at all.
Newborn sleeping... Or lack of!
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