Or experts of infant sleep.
I know I promised a more detailed account of the whole delivery and hospital stay, but right now I am in desperate need of some sleeping tips. Aspen is staying awake a good portion of the night and sleeping soundly through most of the day. Sounds like she just has her days and nights mixed up, right? Well, I am not so sure. She nurses about every 2.5 - 3 hours during the day and then at night she becomes a ravenous eater, nursing about every 1.5 hours in the wee early morning hours. Also, when she is awake at night, she is fussy. Fussy until she passes gas or has a nice poo explosion. So then I thought it must be gas keeping her awake so I have been giving her Mylicon drops before each feeding. That helps maybe a little, but not enough for her go back to sleep. I can't tell if my diet is causing her to be gassy or if she's just getting too much sleep during the day or if she is just extra hungry at night. What I do know is that 4 hours of broken sleep is taking its toll and I feel like a zombie pretty much all day. This is where you come in. I am very open to any of your suggestions/tips/advice/criticism...
Sincerely,
One tired momma
7 comments:
Wow Debbie - bless your heart! It sounds like you've had a rough couple of weeks. I'm not an expert on infant sleep (I was lucky - Holland never had her days and nights mixed up, even from day 1), but if you haven't read Babywise, I'd recommend it. If she is sleeping too much during the day you can try keeping her up more, but just make sure it's not too long because then you run the risk of her being over-tired and then her sleeping will be worse. Also, they say that babies need more calories during the day so they'll sleep longer at night. If you produce "skim milk" like I did, you could try a bottle of formula before you put her to "bed" or since it seems like she's extra hungry in the wee hours, maybe try formula then.
At night, make sure there's as little stimulation as possible - don't talk to her, very low lighting, etc. so she gets the idea that she should go back to sleep.
As for the gas, try slowly pumping her legs like she's riding a bicycle. That can help speed up a bowel movement if she's got one or push out some gas :) You could also try changing your diet to see if that helps, but just know that if she is bugged by something you're eating, it could take awhile to figure out.
Good luck and I hope you get more sleep soon!
oOOOo I agree!!! and I have it! I'll drop it off this week! i read that book and it helped a lot! but i was also blessed with very great sleepers....
Man! I ditto exactly what Aleta said- great advice! Please let me know how I can help. I would definitely try the bottle before bed (even if you have to pump)- also maybe cut out chocolate. That's such a hard thing for me, but I think it does make them gassy. Good luck! Let me know when Toby wants to come over.
Deb....I go with Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Livvy was awful at sleeping and I didn't help because I had no idea what I was doing! In my book, they say that babies don't have a biological clock for a few weeks to the first month of life. The book says to keep stimulation down to a minimum to help curb day/night confusion. Hopefully Aspen will fall into a better schedule soon! The book really helped me so I would definitely recommend it.
Oh man, I'm sorry. I know what zombie-mommy feels like and it's not pretty. I'm pretty sure Mylicon drops are a parental placebo. Definitely analyze your diet. No broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, chocolate, or beans (obviously). I wouldn't recommend trying a bottle this early. Audrey figured out that the bottle was easier and breastfeeding was suddenly off the menu. And pumping sucks. Pun intended. I hate sleep books. They just made me feel like I was doing everything wrong with Elijah. You might just have to wait this phase out, unfortunately.
Sorry I'm not much help. "This too shall pass" and all that jazz.
Oh man, those newborn times are hard. I'd say try laying off dairy as much as you can - all 3 of my babies didn't like it when I ate dairy at all. With Eli I actually had to choose sleep over chocolate - that was sad day! By about 6 mos old, I could start working more dairy (and chocolate) back in - depending on the kid.
Oh, my favorite tummy helper was "gripe water" - I thought it worked much more consistently than Mylicon and it's super safe (though I did use both).
Other than that - my main advice is to try your best to calm down and know that this is just a stage. She won't be tiny and starving forever. But it will feel that way! You're doing great - keep it up, Tired Mom.
Wow, thanks for all the great advice! I've been experimenting with a little bit of everything you guys said and I think my diet has definitely been keeping her up at night. So I've been cutting certain foods out of my diet for the past few days and I think the culprit might be chocolate OR whole wheat (and hoping its the latter). She's been sleeping MUCH better the past couple of nights. Hooray! Thanks again for all help!
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