Tips for a good night sleep with newborn? Desperate!

[BabyB04]

My baby is 3 weeks old & wakes every 1.5-2 hours for a feed so by the time I have fed/winded put him down he’s hungry again. I’m exhausted. Has anyone got any tips? This is the same for daytime too 😫 I love being a mummy it’s amazing & im so lucky but knackered lol. At what stage does baby start to sleep 3-4 hours? Thanks guys x

No real pearls of wisdom I'm afraid... sounds like you just have a healthy hungry baby.... the first few weeks are beyond exhausting but you'll get though it ... my son was born mid May and I remember the night feeds soooooo well. It gets easier I promise

Ps is baby breast or bottle? If breast is he latching on ok or really struggling to get milk? Maybe he's not getting enough each feed which is why he's hungry again??

Thank you for your response he’s bottle fed at night & breast fed during day. He’s having 5-6oz at a time now x

I would ask how much milk is he taking at each feed? Sometimes babies can wake more frequently when they’re not getting enough milk, to sustain them. Babies with full tummies tend to sleep better and longer. Maybe try giving him an extra ounce at the night time feed to see if it has any effect

I’ve just seen your update, maybe try a bottle in the day too, just to see if he’s still taking 5-6oz in the day feeds, could be he’s not getter no enough through the day time

p.s. it’s tough finding your feet with a newborn, you will get there and sleep will come. Congrats on being a new mummy

Thank you for your response, he’s taking 5-6oz during the day too as I pump & bottle feed. It’s easier as my partner can feed then rather than just me. HV said he might be having a growth spurt but does this last over a week?

Can your partner do one of the night feeds? Also try stretching the time between feeds out even if by 5 minutes for a day or so . Then add another 5 min. It will get better but tough first few weeks/months. I got my (big) babies to start eating at 4 months that helps (my daughter still breastfed for a year).

Do you have a partner? Bottle or breast feeding? The only thing that kept me sane in the early weeks was I would bf Dd at 7pm and go to bed. DH would do all feeds etc until 12 then he would come to bed. I'd do 12-6 feeds, DH would take over so I could have a shower (even if it was early) then I'd go back to bed and snooze with dd until I felt like getting up. But... Dd was mixed fed from the start, ended up bottle feeding by 6 weeks.

You just have to survive. Easier said than done if you are on your own. But make life as easy for yourself as possible, lower your standards. Sleep when you can. And it does get better!

I would ditch the bottles at night and breastfeed lying down. Much easier and you don't wake up as much as you need to having to get up, make a bottle, sit up to feed etc.

Also your breast milk through the night has hormones in that helps a baby sleep.

Breastfeeding in bed is the only way I manage.

My partner will feed him at 3-4am so I can sleep for a few hours. Which is great. I don’t think it’s Anything unusual I am just struggling with so little sleep. Thank you all

We FF but I used to go to bed early and my OH would stay up till about midnight-1am doing the feeds etc then I'd take over after that so we both got a decent chunk of sleep. Try to nap in the day as well, I used to love a morning nap when DS was little.

It's hard. I co slept with dd in the end and now have newborn we're doing the same. They pop on and off side lying feeds overnight and you wake up less and less until the night is a blur. Tiring but less so than getting up with bottles?

It sounds like DC should be getting enough milk, maybe the waking is more for comfort?

I'm amazed nobody has mentioned co-sleeping.

It is possible to do this safely and generally means you all get more sleep.,

I'm also puzzled why you're pumping/mix feeding so early on if you're bf as it's generally better to establish your supply first and that also means the milk is the right consistency for baby as baby's saliva affects how your body makes the milk including different milk at different times of day etc

But waking every 2-3 hours is absolutely normal at this stage.

Sorry houstonbees missed your post.

But yes co-sleeping is much easier imo

This sounds really normal at this stage. Google fourth trimester. Babies just want to be close to you. They also have a startle reflex that makes them just awake and swaddling can help with this. Mine had a gro swaddle which was a godsend. Big caveat, is there much crying in pain? Reflux?

They can also struggle to get through the sleep cycles. Google the 5 S's harvy karp - the magic combination that supposedly helps baby sleep - suck, swing, side, shhh and swaddle. Worked for my 3rd but not my 2nd.

On a practical level, sleep when baby sleeps, no exceptions. I know people say they need to eat/drink/clean bit honestly, you can do those things when baby is awake (put baby in sling and crack on, or bouncy chair if they'll let you). I have 3 children and oh how I wish I'd slept in the day more with number 1. Also do as you are and enlist nighttime help - 1) it sets expectations and 2) it gives you the break you need. Fwiw my second woke every 40 mins and would need 2 hours of holding after each waking when she was 5mo - we survived (just) and it's in the past now. Everything changes. Nothing lasts forever.

If I were you I'd wait until 6 weeks for bottles if you want to bottle and breast feed. Your supply is still establishing and if you might confuse your body.

Sorry but this is completely normal and will continue for the next few weeks...

Try white noise and co-sleeping, both worked a treat for me.

Naps, working out a division of labour with your partner. I was really good at taking every opportunity I could to sleep. I didn’t feel comfortable feeding in bed until he was older, plus he had reflux, but we had a co-sleeper cot and he fell asleep on me and then transferred.

Some babies continue to wake frequently, you just get good at resettling and work out how to manage it. I hope yours is one of the longer sleeping models!

I have a 3 week old too and in the same boat apart from I'm fully breast feeding. My little one feeds at 10pm 12, around 2 then around 4/5. She's my 4th baby so I know from experience it gets better just hang in there mama ❤️

Congratulations op. You have a normal, healthy baby

I would agree with those saying ditch the night bottles and breast feed lying down. You’ll get so much more rest. I’d be dead by now if I wasn’t co sleeping with my ebf twins!

This sounds like reflux, which is very common in babies (1 in 4 have it)... ours did and we'd be up 10 or more times a night, while all my friends with newborns seemed to be up max 3 times a night.
The good news is, it passes! The first 12 weeks are really really hard... so just take help wherever you can, alternate with your husband where possible, and grab an hour here and there any time you can.