Night Time Issues

[mommy2maddie]

My DS is now a little over 5 weeks old, he gets up every three hours in the night to eat which is fine and expected. The problem is once he is done eating at night, it is REALLY hard to get him back to sleep, he cries and whines, this results in DH and I getting little to no sleep. On top of this he is a spitter, and we hate to let him cry even a little, because he will spit up all over the place. Any suggestions on how to get him to go back to sleep so we all can get a little more shut eye?

[kara]

Could be reflux...if he's annunhappy spotter. Eating makes reflux worse. Typically, and I use that word loosely, they outgrow it around 8 weeks. Loosely because or DD didn't, but many do. Lots of burping, if he's gassy you can ask the pedi about gas drops, and prop the head of his crib (or bassinet or cosleeper) up so he isn't laying flat after feedings. We used heavy hard back books under the legs of the bassinet, but honestly, she slept in her swing and car seat alot at night until she got through it.

[heather j]

I'm going to go from another angle since Kara's covered the reflux possibilities. When he's waking every three hours, is he waking you to eat (crying, etc)? Maybe if you could set a clock to get to him before he wakes himself to a frenzy (at least while he's a little guy) that could head off the degree to which is waking. Also, we always kept it as dark as possible (and at least still be able to see a little!) when we'd go to feed/change them. I kept mine in gowns so that I wouldn't have to fuss with snaps and buttons and prolong the jostling (zippered fleece sacks in the winter). I would talk to him/interact minimally at night (I hope this comes across as it's intended and not like I'm a robot mama! LOL.) and just get him fed, changed, and back to bed.

The fussy/sleepiness won't last forever (which you obviously already know); it's just hard to remember when you feel like a zombie in the wee hours of the day.

[mother bear]

Well, er, for the first two weeks, with my second full-term child, I did the put the baby to sleep lying on mommy's chest thing (kangaroo care always put 'em to sleep right away). Then gently transfer to bassinet while asleep. Combined with the go to sleep while nursing on side in bed thing from time to time. Just until she figured out that night time is sleeping time, and day time is play time. I know, I know, lots of don't sleep in the bed with the baby warnings out there, but sometimes you gotta do whatever works.

My first one I set an alarm every three hours for the first three months, and she never did wake up unless I woke her up to eat.

I second Kara's suggestion of asking about reflux.

[kara]

We also coslept and kept it very dark. Loved the wipe warmer because it had the perfect amount of light to see, but not wake us up...anymore then we were. Ooo...swaddling also made a huge difference. Chang the diap and then back into the swaddle...tight.

[mommy2maddie]

We sometimes put DS in a bouncy chair that vibrates during the day and he sleeps really good but me and DH were a little concerned to do it all the time. Is it okay to do this? I mean it obviously makes him feel better, even when he is awake I can tell a difference when he is in it. I just heard this makes their heads a funny shape? How many of you have done this?

[kara]

Turn the vibrate off, and make sure he's safe and buckled in. I'm guessing at 5 weeks he's not moving around much. Their heads get funny shaped from laying on their backs with the "back to sleep" campaign. Having them propped up actually relieves some of that pressure. And remember it's temporary. We put the car seat in the crib, or bassinet, or the swing right by our bed. I wouldn't have him in another room while in the bouncer or car seat - keep him in your room with you.

[milesymommy]

We used the bouncy a lot with DS #1 and now with DS #2. I have read that prolonged bouncy use is not good for developing neck muscles, but DS #1 is perfectly normal for his age, even with a lot of bouncy time. We alternate - sometimes DS #2 (now 10 weeks) sleeps on dada's chest (he loves it), sometime cradled next to me after nursing, sometimes in bouncy in the bassinett, sometimes in the bassinett with a wedge (for reflux). I've learned to read him and know what he'll fall asleep to.

[kbunsey]

Do whatever works is what our Ped says. We nurse Kyle to sleep. Bottle feed him breast milk at night b/c it is a quick fill. Let him sleep on both our chests. Walk him back to sleep. Rock him to sleep. And Swaddle - tightly - like Kara said. We keep the lights low too and try not to interact - no talking during those diaper changes. Sometimes nothing works - like last night he was up from 4 until... I think my husband hasn't been back to bed yet. :-( We keep the monitor right next to our bed and I try (I say "try") to get to him while he's still in that waking mode, making little sounds before he's in the full on cries and wails. It is hard to tell sometimes if he's just making sounds and not actually waking up. The first week or so we woke him up every 2 hours to nurse b/c he was jaundiced. That was rough but he went right back to sleep. Don't miss the jaundice, but miss the super sleep.

[aundapenner]

I second Katie - do whatever gives him (and subsequently you) the best rest.

If that means sleeping in his bouncy seat, do it. He will not want to sleep there forever. :)

Sofia loved being swaddled. Henry didn't. But we found with Sofia that we were more willing to try stuff for more than well, just one or two times.

Sofia has/had reflux (as did Henry). Henry had meds (but that was back in Ohio). Germany doesn't do meds - just surgery IF it's required, which it wasn't in our case.

I discovered that I was overfeeding Sofia. I would nurse her nearly every time she fussed. And I discovered that I was waking her more often than not when she was sleeping - babies make lots of noises in their sleep. And they fuss but don't wake far more than we realize - or than I realized. When I let her really let me know she was awake and hungry (and mind you that didn't mean full-out screaming, that just meant making sure her cry was a hungry cry and that she was ready to be up) I found she nursed better (feedings didn't take an hour+ every time) and slept better.

Good luck!!!