[puffsgirl11]

Our little boy is 11 days old and since bringing him home (a week ago) he doesn't sleep well. He feeds (EBM and ff) every 3 to 4 hours and we change his nappy, wrap him tightly and cuddle him to sleep but once in his bed he only sleeps 30 to 60 mins if that. Sometimes it can take hours to get him to sleep.

Any tips or hints for settling?

Thanks

[Mmmcheese]

Congratulations on your new little one! I can't remember much of the early days, but I remember reading that sleep breeds sleep, so I would have my little one have a nap on me,so she would get at least one decent length nap. Can't remember if it worked or not though! Sorry, I'm not much help.

[Mmmcheese]

Dp

This post has been edited by Mmmcheese: 15/11/2012, 04:33 PM

[Mmmcheese]

More posts!


This post has been edited by Mmmcheese: 15/11/2012, 04:32 PM

[Mmmcheese]

Too many posts!


This post has been edited by Mmmcheese: 15/11/2012, 04:32 PM

[CherryAmes]

Do you mean bub is only feeding every 3-4 hrs during the day? I would feed more frequently than that by day, sometimes my 3 wk old is attached practically all day with just short power naps. Then he sleeps 3 hrs at a go at night.

[Lokum]

I agree with Cherry Ames. I'd try to sneak in another BF or two during the day (and then you might be able to ditch the FF top ups).

Also, I'd be aiming to have the baby wrapped for resettling within 90 minutes of waking up. Ideally, even an hour, but I think yours is a slow feeder? Mine was too (an hour per feed, incl nappy change), so it was hard to get him settled in an hour.

However, if you leave it too late, they get overtired, and then they can wake up early. It is a crazy time though - you might need to plonk on the couch for a 2 hour movie and hold the baby, to make sure there's at least one long sleep?

[RachelT]

Have you tried white noise? Young babies love it!

[CherryAmes]

btw if you want a good book on baby settling, I skimmed 'the happiest baby on the block' in the shops and it had some good tips!

[KRT]

I seem to remember your DS was falling asleep during feeds? I would try keeping him awake to keep him feeding effectively (we would even put a wet cotton ball on DS's cheek) and try to get DS back to bed within an hour of waking. One tip I've been given was to put DS to bed 15 minutes before I thought he needed to sleep. Once they get into a cycle of overtiredness, it's often very hard to get them out of it.

Other than that, you could try the car, going for a walk, rocking the pram over a bump in the carpet, put baby in a sling, let him sleep on you. The only thing that worked for DS was jiggling him on DH's shoulder, and that would take hours to work. It's really hard.