Baby Sleeping Situation

[melancholyblue]

Hello, my daughter is a week old and my partner and I aren’t like quite sure what to do when our baby is sleeping, we’ve been taking in turns staying awake with her in intervals and so on but loads of people have told us to both sleep when baby is sleeping but shouldn’t someone be awake at all times especially while she’s this young? I know it sounds stupid but just wanted to get other parents advice and what are your guys’ routines with a newborn? Thanks!

Okay :)

I'm a single mum of twins. They're 18 months now, but I remember the early days of settling them in their Next2Me cots.
I loved having them close by, sleeping beside me.

Yes, you can definitely sleep. The baby will listen to you breathing. You'll wake if they stir. Set an alarm if you think they won't wake for a feed.

Good luck! You need your strength, since you've a couple of months of night waking ahead.

@PumpkinKlNG

They certainly don’t stay up all night, never heard of anyone doing that 😐

What a great helpful comment, when a new mum is asking for advice. You seem lovely.

oh god sleep OP!! and enjoy it!

she will wake you when shes hungry!. No covers loose, toys etc in her crib ever!
same room as you till 6 months min etc :)

It is helpful, it’s madness to think someone has to stay up all night to watch a baby, literally never heard of that as a thing, imagine how exhausting that would be.

Ahh amazing and I take my hat off to you single parents are literally superheroes! And of twins too that’s amazing you are incredible!
Thank you for the helpful advice too :)
Thank you! Yeah she’s in her Moses basket by herself! Thinking of getting a next to me though so I can see actually see her when I wake up as the Moses baskets’ corners are too high for me to see! Thank you again everyone :)

@melancholyblue

Ahh amazing and I take my hat off to you single parents are literally superheroes! And of twins too that’s amazing you are incredible! Thank you for the helpful advice too :) Thank you! Yeah she’s in her Moses basket by herself! Thinking of getting a next to me though so I can see actually see her when I wake up as the Moses baskets’ corners are too high for me to see! Thank you again everyone :)

We used our next to me for 7 months, they're really practical for reaching out to baby in the night. You can sell it after too to make some of the money back :)

Ahh will definitely be getting one! Think it’ll put me more at ease too! What next to me did you have if you don’t mind me asking? (Sorry I don’t know how to tag on here, not great with technology haha!)

Yes sleep every single minute that you can

www.johnlewis.com/maxi-cosi-iora-co-sleeper-bedside-crib-essential-blue/p4861243

You can get cheaper ones, but this matched our bedroom and worked really well for us. I actually have zero complaints about it.

We never bothered with fitted sheets either, we used just thin towels well tucked in. Easy to change when baby spits on them or has an accident. Cheaper too :)

My baby was in a next-to-me type bed well - er - next to me and I woke with every little stir. Don't worry about not realising she needs feeding. Your body is primed to wake up whenever she does so you won't have a starving baby screaming next to you while you happily snooze. If she needs you, she'll make sure she wakes you enjoy these early days. They're so tough at the time but you'll have such gorgeous memories in a few months x

@melancholyblue

Yeah she’s in a Moses basket right next to the bed :) it’s really warm in our room so she literally is only in a vest and onesie at the moment no blanket or sleeping bag! So it would be okay for us to both sleep throughout the night while she does and wake up when she does a for a feed of set an alarm for a feed just incase she doesn’t? Because we genuinely thought someone had to stay awake at all times with her so taking it in turns throughout the night but it’s making us both exhausted the next day 😩

Oh bless you no, both of you need to sleep when you can. If she's next to you there is no reason why you can't both get some rest xxx

You just need to keep them close not always be awake, it's not sustainable long term.

I sleep when baby sleeps at night sometimes day. Our baby is 5.5wk old, dh goes back to work in a couple of weeks and will be away for days to months at a time so not possible to always have an awake parent with her. I don't wake her for feeds at night and just glad of a longer sleep if she lets me have one. Got 5 older kids and a dog to take care of too.

Ahh that next to me looks fab! Will be purchasing definitely think I’ll actually sleep in the night then if I can just reach over!
Thank you everyone! All your advice has been amazing and I’ve taken it all on board and feel so much better about actually both of us getting some shut eye through the night instead of taking turns! You’re all super women/parents! 💜

Hope you’re getting some sleep tonight OP, parenting a newborn is scary isn’t it! We had a next2me too,, they’re brilliant.

Next-to-me’s are great, really recommend them

Please don’t do as a previous poster said and use towels though - it needs to be a proper cot sheet specific to your cot for safe sleep

@seaandsandcastles

Next-to-me’s are great, really recommend them

Please don’t do as a previous poster said and use towels though - it needs to be a proper cot sheet specific to your cot for safe sleep

A thin towel tucked firmly under the mattress is sleep safe. The expensive sheets to match the next to me specific sizes are an unnecessary spend. Obviously it's up to OP, but I only did things that were recommended by health care professionals as a very nervous new mum :) We were getting through the sheets like anything due to baby being sick. I couldn't have afforded six sheets per night, then washing/drying every day!

YY it's no different to a flat sheet.

OP if she wakes up and sees you are asleep that's good as she will start to make that connection that night time is when humans sleep.

My husband and I thought this too, actually more my husband being nervous. We did the sleeping in shifts for a couple nights until I got a midwife to confirm that it was fine to sleep when the baby slept.
Also had a next-to-me, and that was good but my son wasn't the best sleeper!
Enjoy all the baby cuddles!

Thank you everyone! What next to me cribs did everyone else have too? Looking at a few!
We had a much better sleep last night it was so lovely, the anxiety of us both sleeping was there but we managed! I felt guilty as well that if she just woke up and there wasn’t anything wrong but just chilling there and me and my partner were sleeping haha but she woke up twice for a feed and was being fussy from about 1am to 3am but other than that we actually slept! Thank you every one for the advice it’s been so helpful and we feel so refreshed today! 💜

So glad you slept well! Just being close to their parents at night helps babies to regulate their breathing etc. So even whilst you sleep, you are helping to monitor your baby! Also parents, especially mothers usually, are subliminally very attuned to their baby and its needs, even while sleeping, so you would wake up more easily than normal if you were needed.

Congratulations on your baby! You sound like fabulous, attentive parents.

There are a few different next to me cot options, all quite similar. Look for one that has an incline function perhaps, to allow baby to sleep with head slight higher than the feet in case of reflux, for example.

OP the Shnuggle Air Crib is fab, we love ours & you can buy an extension set to change into a Cor when needed as well

*Cot