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Original poster

Newborn sleeping

11 replies

cwhite · 03/05/2015 05:17

How much sleep did you get each night with your newborn? Our lovely 5 day old son hasn't slept at all tonight and has been wanting to be breastfeed for the whole night (which I've pretty much done). We managed 4 hours the night before which was fine - I don't know what has gone wrong and am feeling a little frazzled now! What should I expect? And for how long?!

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TheVeryHungryPreggo · 03/05/2015 05:23

Infants are nocturnal when they're born. With that and clusterfeeding it takes a while to settle. I think it was nearly 2 weeks for me.

Try to nap in the day as much as possible for now. It's tough, but you will get through this!

m33r · 03/05/2015 06:01

Total shock to the system but what PP said. It gets better gradually, I remember being in hospital patiently saying to a midwife 'but he has literally being feeding all night. Don't you understand?' And her a little less patiently telling me it was totally normal.

Advice, prioritise sleep during the day. hard. Frustrating. Normal and necessary...

Congrats !

CaptainZoot · 03/05/2015 06:07

Oh bless you. You must be exhausted! Are you cosleeping to get some sleep? You can feed lying down and keep switching sides.

It's bloody hard but it will pass.

MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS! Smile

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Pointlessfan · 03/05/2015 06:48

Yes that's normal I'm afraid but it does get better. I remember eating an entire packet of biscuits in bed one night because the constant feeding was making me so hungry!
Congratulations and enjoy your little one.

HeyMicky · 03/05/2015 07:05

Sending sympathy. DD2 is 4 days today and she fed 10-4 last night and is back on the boob again now. I let DH get some sleep then he took her out of the room at 4 so I could get a few hours. If co-sleeping works for you, take advantage. Otherwise, it will level out in a few days

PotteringAlong · 03/05/2015 07:11

Nothing's wrong, it's completely normal and will settle I promise. Congratulations Flowers

Original poster
cwhite · 03/05/2015 07:32

Thank you - this is so reassuring. Have managed to sneak in an hour, was so nice to wake up and see the replies that it is normal! Definitely makes it easier.

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weaselwithin · 03/05/2015 10:54

same Grin but weigh ins with HV are now a highlight as I know dd puts on lots of weight when she has days like that.

one sleepless night I downloaded The Gentle Sleep Book by Sarah ockwell smith, it helped me feel better about it and gave some lovely tips. also since dd was 4 weeks we bath her every night then I bf skin to skin, she sleeps calmly for 2 hours after that Smile we also use gripe water as she looked uncomfortable with wind, stopping her from sleeping

try to enjoy the extra cuddles Smile x

DanyStormborn · 03/05/2015 22:16

I had a night of feeding all night in the first week, the midwife said it is completely normal, it got gradually better. From 6 weeks I felt like I was getting enough sleep at night to function normally in the day and in retrospect it felt like those first 6 weeks of sleep deprivation passed quickly and are a short time.

PotteringAlong · 04/05/2015 08:13

How was last night op?

Artandco · 04/05/2015 08:16

What you can try is unlimited feeding say 6am-11pm, but between 11pm-6am try and stretch the feeds to only every 2 hrs, so if you feed at 11pm, and he wakes at 12pm, get dh to Rock baby/ sooth without feed if possible. Baby will be fine

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