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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Just had a baby. I haven't slept for 48 hours

13 replies

supergreenuk · 28/10/2011 15:45

reassure me. Baby is obviously not in a routine and we found it difficult to get him to sleep due to colic and him refusing to transfer to crib once asleep. When he finally went to sleep at 2am I couldn't sleep. I am now so worried I won't be able to sleep as I'm worrying. Anyone else experienced this?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

MindtheGappp · 28/10/2011 15:48

Congratulations on your new baby.

Personally, I always went along with the new baby rather than trying to get them to conform to me. He has spent the last 9 months having everything when he needs it. It is so hard to think of him being alone in a crib.

One thing to remember about new babies is that they are naturally nocturnal, and this takes quite a few weeks to reverse. It is much easier just to go along with their schedule and catch up with sleep yourself during the day. Why do you need to be back to normal so soon?

Tigresswoods · 28/10/2011 15:49

Woo hoo! You're on a high. You may crash & burn soon.

Go with the flow and repeat (over & over) "it will get better"

Wordsonapage · 28/10/2011 15:52

I co slept... This was after 3 days with 15min sleep ( nodded off on sofa)

it will get better and congrats

hazchem · 28/10/2011 15:56

congratulations! It sounds very normal to me.
can you try to feed lying down?

can you have some naps in the day while someone else rocks/hold the baby close?
It does get easier.

yomellamoHelly · 28/10/2011 15:56

First few days were all a nightmare here (have 3 dc). With ds2 and dd tucked up for the night with them (spare bed). Was only way for any of us to get some sleep. (With ds1 was stck in hospital and got soundly told off for having him in with me.) Do whatever makes you most comfortable. It will get better. And congratulations.

CakeJunkie · 28/10/2011 15:57

How old's your baby? I agree that it's probably easier to go along with a newborn's needs/demands (I know it can seem like the latter at 4am!) rather than trying to get them to do what the books say they should do.

With regard to not wanting to transfer to his crib, could it feel too big for him at the moment ? If you think about it, he's probably not used to having that much room! My midwife showed us how to use rolled up towels and blankets to create a "nest" around DS in his moses basket. He seemed to calm down a bit with that.

The other thing that worked well for us was swaddling. DS used to fight his way out of any sheet we used to swaddle him, but we got a "miracle blanket" from mothercare and that worked much better. However, we still ended up co-sleeping for the last part of the night, often with DS laid on my chest. You might want to look for info on safer co-sleeping and see if that's something that might be right for you and your baby

Original poster

supergreenuk · 28/10/2011 17:38

2days old. Forgot to say. I have a 2 year old so following baby is impossible.

OP posts:

ArthurPewty · 28/10/2011 17:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SkinnyGirlBethany · 28/10/2011 17:46

Hi my dd2 is 12 weeks tomorrow and dd1 is 27 months. What helped me is bathing together- gets it out of the way. Get ready for bed yourself at the same time, then as soon as the toddler goes to bed your free to sleep when the baby does.

RefereezaWanka · 28/10/2011 17:50

I barely slept for the first 6 weeks of my first child's life. I found it quite hellish, to be brutally honest. I wasn't on any kind of 'high' at all!

It got lots better, though, and eventually my baby started to learn night from day and we found a routine / rhythm that suited us all a lot better.

You'll get there. Congratulations, btw!

jetgirl · 28/10/2011 17:51

Following baby is not impossible with a 2yo, just more difficult. I had the same age gap between mine. Do you have help at home? If your 2yo is able to see that baby needs to come first most of the time, it will get easier. Try to get 2yo to nap when baby is sleeping, let friends and relatives who want to visit take the older one to the playground or for a walk. You certainly don't need to think about routine yet!

Oh, and congratulations! Repeat the mumsnet mantra: this too shall pass.

CailinDana · 28/10/2011 17:59

I felt exactly the same when I had my DS, I couldn't sleep at all. You'll crash eventually and feel like death but it'll pass and you'll slowly but surely get into some sort of pattern. Remember there will be hard days but slowly the fog will clear and it'll start to get easier. Don't worry at all about routines and such now, the baby is brand new, totally raw and not at all used to the world yet. Survival is the name of the game for the time being.

Congratulations on the new arrival :)

Octaviapink · 28/10/2011 18:52

Following the baby is not impossible with a two year old at all. And it isn't colic at two days old - that doesn't hit till three weeks - it's probably hunger. The best bet is to breastfeed him every time he opens his mouth. You need a sling, to forget about routines for at least three months, and probably to let him sleep with you for the next few nights until he gets the hang of not being near your heartbeat.

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