Earplugs...

[Terracottasaur]

Hi all. I’m really struggling with sleep at the moment due to the amount of noise my 4 week old baby makes while sleeping. He has reflux and is quite mucousy, and when he sleeps he makes fairly constant wheezing, spluttering, straining noises (HV and GP both aware and assisting, but no end in sight to the noises as yet). He is sound asleep through all of these, and will cry when he actually wakes.

I cannot sleep through this noise, and it’s killing me. I have no issue being up for night feeds, but not sleeping in between them is leaving me totally wrung out.

My husband can sleep through these noises and isn’t even aware of them until the baby actually cries. So my question is - could I wear earplugs and just rely on my husband waking me when the baby cries?

The downside is I don’t want the baby making sounds of distress that are going unheard, and I don’t know how long he would have to grumble for before my husband heard him. My instinct is that this would leave his needs unmet - I’m only considering it because I am desperate.

Has anyone tried this?

I wore earplugs when my DS slept in our room and I always heard him wake up, but at least the earplugs blocked out all the grunting and noises he made all night.

My DH is a very light sleeper and was bothered by all the baby noises, I got him those noise reducing earplugs. According to him, they dampen the noise but not completely block it out, so it your little one cries when they wake up you will still hear them. Plus don't underestimate mother's instinct. I am generally a very heavy sleeper and can sleep through pretty much any noise generally, however I am I stantly awake and bolt upright at the slightest whimper from my baby (who is 9 weeks old).
I'd say give it a go for a trial period of few days to see if ear plugs work for you.

10 week old baby here keeps getting stuffy nose poor thing. I use baby nasal spray and it really helps. One squirt in each nostril. End up doing it 2/3 times a day, most days only once

I was the same when our baby was in our room. I'm such a light sleeper all the snuffling kept me awake. I was really reluctant to use earplugs at first but they were exactly what I needed. Blocked out the sleeping noises but the crying cut straight through. Your brain soon trains itself to the noises it needs to hear. Enjoy the extra (small bits!) of sleep

With my earplugs, I cannot hear my husband snoring but can always hear my kids calling or crying. Go figure, that's the way I am wired!

I wore earplugs and always heard the baby when she started to fuss, before any crying started. I just couldn't sleep through the constant snorting and grunting.

This is so reassuring - thank you all so much!