Newborn help please??

[London2019aa]

My newborn is 1 week old, I’m exhausted. He feeds every 1.5-2 hours through the night too. By the time I have fed him, winded him & changed him he’s hungry AGAIN I have no time to sleep or do anything. Is this normal? What do you do? I don’t sleep at all at night

There isn’t much I can do really other than look for tips on how to get baby to sleep longer. I feel better knowing it’s normal & it will pass

Which of you is doing the job during the day that keeps your baby safe? That’s the person who needs sleep.

Oh this stage is tough! It does get a lot easier though, for us around 3 months he started to sleep 4-5 hours in a stretch but all babies are different. One thing that helped me was getting a bedside crib (one that attaches to the side of your bed with a zip to take the baby out through). I found I could feed him and the fall back asleep much easier than if I had to get up out of bed to feed as by then I was totally awake!

Oh I see- then my advice is please sleep when the baby sleeps- I found co sleeping a life saver (it’s not for everyone) but my baby slept much better/ longer with me.

What is safe Co sleeping ? The word Co sleeping terrifies me. I’m a deep sleeper & I’m exhausted. I’m so worried it’s not safe

I gave one formula feed from 10 days as although my baby was sucking I wasn't making enough milk to keep her from being hungry. It helped quite a bit.

Something I wish I had been told- don’t change nappies during the night unless it’s poo. It only wakes them up more and the nappy will be able to absorb it if only wet.

It really does get easier so just get through the next couple of weeks. DD got better after about 4 weeks (4 month regression is another story).

You could look into safe co sleeping if breastfeeding. When my baby was that tiny I preferred just to feed and then put her back into the Moses basket- I would put on some white noise and rock her to sleep in it. We had a snuzpod but found it didn’t move very well!

You’re doing amazing and it really isn’t like this for long (or you will get used to it at least!)

If there were any guaranteed ways to make babies sleep longer they'd be widely known!

It's just age and development that brings longer sleep periods.

It is very much safer to plan to co sleep safely than it is to do it accidentally after a night feed. You can get a sidecar cot that attaches to your bed if you're nervous of bed sharing. If you're breastfeeding, feeding lying down can be a useful thing to get the hang of. To help sleep some people swear by white noise.

When your partner isn't working he needs to prioritise your sleep.

Co-sleeping advice here:

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/co-sleeping/

Why does having a recent promotion affect his paternity leave entitlement. It wouldn't at my place of work or any other employer who has any credibility. If it is really is such a big issue beyond his perception - what about holiday?

My partner works 12 hour shifts too, it was tough the first few weeks but it gets better! I would sleep 9-12 then get up for the rest of the feeds, as pp's have said, only change if baby poos. (We use pampers pure nappies at night, seemed to be softer on his bum and held a lot more wee) take advantage of your partners days off to catch up on sleep too. And congratulations 😊

Also agree with @IWouldPreferNotTo - have everything you could possibly need to hand. I had a box beside the bed with vests/sleepsuits etc x 2.

@London2019aa how are you doing op?

Yep, very normal. I have four DC and they are all like this for at least the first 6-8 weeks then they start to settle down. The first month of your baby’s life honestly just feels like a dream (or a nightmare depending on how you view it ). It absolutely flies by in no time and you barely come up for air.

It does pass and does get easier.

Avocadoincident
We are doing a lot better. He’s sleeping for 3 hours after feeds, so I’ve got a bit of time to sleep/eat/clean. Thank you for asking 🙂x