Hi IM's
I'm a second time mum with a 7yr gap between kids. My youngest is 8 weeks old. She is a happy baby but doesn't sleep well through the day. She will only nap for 30 minutes max every couple of hours.
I feel like I'm about to fall apart! I average 4 hours of broken sleep each night and with her not sleeping in the day there is no chance of resting. I've tried swaddling, rocking, patting, leaving her in her cot until she gets upset, walking in her pram but nothing works. I usually give her a feed and then wrap her and try to get her to sleep. Am I missing something or doing something wrong?
4 Replies
Some babies are just like this unfortunately. It's time to ask from help from your partner. Express some milk and ask him to take the baby for a few hours during the day on weekends so you can get some sleep.
If you have supportive grandparents do the same during the day as often as yob can for an hour or two.
Your partner could also take an evening feed so you can get a few hours sleep and then swap over.
You just got to do what you have to do to survive it.
It could be worth looking to see if there's something else going on like reflux or food intolerance. My middle child was always a very unsettled baby, never slept longer than one sleep cycle, very very hard to get to sleep in the first place and she was gluten and lactose intolerant.
I had the same issues with my last baby. Turned out he had silent reflux, was lactose intolerant and had a small allergy to the formula he was on at the time. Changed formula new brand and lactose free added in zantac for the reflux and we went from not sleeping and catnapping to a wonderful sleeper
I think i might have written this...so little sleep it wouldn't surprise me of I did and couldn't remember! My wnd Mr 9wks was the same up last week. Dr said reflux and gave a script for something but it gave him bad gas and he slept just as little and cried more than before. I also tried tge Brauer's colic drops and they seemed to work well. He now seems to have miraculously grown out of it all of a sudden. He still has days where he won't sleep but not nearly as bad as before. Try a little bit of warm water just before a feed and it might settle her if it is reflux. It will also help her spew/burp up anything in her tummy that is making her uncomfortable.
I've found the saying the more they sleep the more they sleep quiet true, I resorted to letting him stay sleeping in the car when I got home, he sleeps so we'll in his seat that I couldn't bare to wake him (very closely supervised of cause) those nights he slept so much better than the others.
I really hope it passes quickly for you. But maybe ask Dr about reflux on your next visit.