She doesn't sleep much at night?

TiffanyJaynexo

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The most she has slept through one night is about 3 hours, yet she can sleep for hours in the day time! :roll:

I find it very hard to settle her when we get into bed, I've let her sleep in my arms twice now rather than her sleep in her moses basket. I know some babies prefer their mothers arms to their own beds but I don't think this is the case with her because she sleeps very well in her basket in the day time, she's been sleeping for hours in it this evening, and she also slept in her bouncer for a good few hours earlier, she slept so well I had to wake her up for a feed/to change her nappy.

She was active in the womb at night when I was pregnant so I'm thinking maybe this is the reason why? It's just a little awkward at night because mine and my OH's body's instinctively want to sleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow, but this proves impossible when Grace won't settle. I've slept more on the sofa than my own bed the past few days.

Is there any way I can make her more settled/comfy in her basket?
I tried wrapping her up tightly but I know she can sleep well without being swaddled because she's fast asleep in her basket right now with just blankets over her.
We tried a dummy as well but it kept falling out of her mouth and I ended up having to get up every few seconds to put it back in her mouth.
 
We used to try make a difference between day and night. So at bed time we had a warm bath and a massage then a warm bottle . We would swaddle her then and before popping her into her basket we would heat her basket with a hot water bottlefor a few minutes and take it out before outting her down and keep the lights off . it takes a while to get a nice sleeping pattern , lily woke every three hours for a feed for the first few weeks and it is a bit exhausting but it gets better :hugs: xxx
 
^^wss...we've done the bedtime routine since LO was born and although she probably didn't really understand then she's really good at going down now (13 weeks).

I also remember someone recommending putting something into the cot with your scent on it...like a t shirt or teddy or something so LO feels close to you!

HTH xx


Sent from my nearly buggared iPhone!!
 
Yup that helps ! I used to put the girls cot sheets under my pillow to let them have my scent when I put them in the cot .
 
Sounds like day and night is muddled up, it'll take some time but starting a routine will help and gradually introducing a proper bedtime will help. Also remember shes brand new, you need to learn what she likes. Isla prefers lying on her side, always had done. I didn't realise for a week or so after she was born.
 
Definitely try to get a nighttime routine going. When LO was newborn we would give him a top and tail bath at about 9pm ish, a bottle and he would normally fall asleep during this feed, we'd then swaddle him and put him in his crib and go to bed ourselves. For the first few weeks he would wake every 3-4 hours for food, but would go down quite easily once he was swaddled.
We also stopped changing his nappy unless it was dirty at night so he stayed as sleepy as possible when he woke for a feed.
Good luck, it does get easier. If your LO is napping during the day, make sure you nap too so you cope better with the nighttimes. xx
 
a 4 day old baby cant really tell the difference between day and nite and they need fed round the clock anyways so u wont get her into a routine early unless its a natural thing to her ( my oldest slept through the nite from 3 weeks)
by 3 months babies can tell the difference between day and nite.my preg book says make sure u get it dressed in the day make normal household noise during the day leave the curtains open if u put down for day naps but make sure when its nite to to change in pjs bath or wash and shut the curtains.apparently i never slept at nite and ive had sleep pattern issues all my life and its apparently not something the sleep specialist can fix at this time ( maybe with advances that could change.
 
Stick to a routine. When we put Poppy to bed as a newborn, and she woke up in the night for a feed, I would quietly go downstairs for her bottle and bring it up, take her out of her basket without saying a word, and without turning the light on, feed her, burp her, then put her straight back into the basket (still no light on, still not talking to her). Even if she woke up several times I would stick to this. She quickly learned the difference between night and day and was sleeping through the night at around 4-5 weeks old. xx
 
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As others have said - routine definately works. Bath, change of clothes, bottle & a very quiet as dark as you can manage room.

Here's a wee trick that works for me - put your hand kinda over the side of her head at the last part of her feed & keep it there when placing her in basket (if you can manage) then gradually remove!

Good luck
:)
 
Thanks girls.
We haven't bathed her yet since the hospital so I'll try bathing her tomorrow night and try make her settle.
She's wide awake in my arms right now, we both had a nap on the sofa earlier, probably not a good idea if I want to start a routine with her. She's just had a feed too xxx
 
Be careful with having sofa naps as this is much more dangerous than sleeping with her in your bed (she can fall off while you're asleep or get trapped in cushions etc.) Otherwise I do feel for you, I had some weeks with Vanessa that were similar (her favourite for a week or so was waking up at 4am and staying awake for 2h before falling alseep again).

This is apparently very common in newborns and nothing to worry about. Starting a routine might help but to be honest they will start to consolidate their sleep into larger and larger nighttime chunks of their own accord. Vanessa sleeps much better during the night now unless she feels unwell or something else is wrong. We don't have any particular routine apart from turning lights and noise down in the evenings.
 
Newborns generally don't sleep very well at night! It's almost like their clock's backwards for the first few weeks but it will change back around when she's ready. I agree that getting into a night time routine would be good, more for you really as Grace won't know the difference just yet, but by the time it becomes habit for you she will.

Just roll with it, sleep when she sleeps, sod the housework etc because before you know it she'll be awake all day and sleeping 7-7 :)
 
Thanks girls, I mentioned it to my HV today and she said it's normal as baby's bodyclocks are very upside down, they can't tell the difference between day and night just yet.

She slept well last night. We got her down at 3am, she woke up at 6.30 for a feed and then fell asleep at 7am until 10am! Very proud of her. xxx
 

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