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New baby only sleeping in arms!

29 replies

Sleeplesschristmas · 21/12/2021 05:44

So this is my second, and amazingly I had forgotten aaall about the sleepless nights. However, I am sure that by the 4th week my firstborn was sleeping, for a couple of hour stretches in the night.
New baby has done 2 hours once.. Once! Last night they didn't go longer than 30 mins in moses basket and this night they havent gone down once. Every time I put him down he is quiet for 5 minutes, then starts windy noises (can't for the life of me get any blummin wind out) and then scream cries. I feel like i have to race out of bed to get him to comfort him so he doeant wake my toddler. She's great, rarely wakes up but I can't get her our of cot aa i had emergency c section.
Second baby easily pacified eirher wirh a little boob or sometimes just immediately stops cryinf when he. Is picked up.
I am. Exhausted and starting to worry, I usually feel awake enough durinf the night but after. A month of sod all sleep and im now worried about falling asleep while feeding. I also feel the weight. Of him on my c sect on scar. Which is sore after sitting. Up all night holding him

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LunaDeet · 21/12/2021 05:54

Congratulations on your new arrival! I really feel you, my baby never slept alone. Have you considered co-sleeping safely? It was a life saver for me. Or maybe swaddling? Anything to get some sleep 💤

Neurodiversitydoctor · 21/12/2021 06:13

Do you have a partner ? You need to take turns.

Sleeplesschristmas · 21/12/2021 06:20

Thank you 😊Unfortunately my husband used to work in a and e, and has seen the worst of what can happen with co sleeping so thats a no go. He also doesn't approve of swaddling because of the increased sids risk.
Because im breastfeeding he can't really take him as as soon as hes out of my arms he gets grumpy (the baby, not husband) and he struggles to settle him. Also now hes back to work. He gives him the last feed before he comes to bed, so I get an hour or two sleep...
Is this normal at this age?? I guess ive got so much time on my hands that im reading babies feed every 2 hours. My little one is probably doing that, just not going down in his moses basket at all!

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ViceLikeBlip · 21/12/2021 06:21

Oh, I feel your pain. Co sleeping, and feeding lying down on my side were game changers for me.

Tickly · 21/12/2021 06:26

Congratulations. It does all sound very normal. The lullaby trust provides safer sleep advice on cosleep if you end up so exhausted that is safer than risking falling asleep on the sofa. It's what got me through.

PanicBuyingSprouts · 21/12/2021 06:42

The evidence shows that when you bed share and follow the guidelines, it's actually safer than sleeping apart. BASIS is a good source of information on babies and sleep.

Have you tried using a T-shirt that DH has worn as his sheet in the Moses basket? Laying a hand gently on his tummy when he stirs might help him to settle as well and there's always white noise Smile

JuneOsborne · 21/12/2021 06:49

It will pass, but while it's happening it's really, really hard, isn't it?

I'd try and make things as safe as possible so that if you do fall asleep, it's not on the sofa, or amongst a load of pillows.

Is there anyone that could come and sit with the baby during the daytime so you can at least get some sleep? Even a couple of hours of sleep at this stage will help.

In terms of winding, what have you tried, positions wise? With my second, he like being laid across my legs and having his back patted. Weird, but worked for us.

And as for waking the toddler, could you try white noise in their room? And are they old enough to have the cot sides taken off so you don't have to bend and reach in?

It's a lot to ask of you all night with a c section.

If this was my sister, I'd give uo a night's sleep to help out...have you asked anyone that could help? You may be surprised!

IDontDrinkTea · 21/12/2021 06:54

My daughter was the same. I coslept and fed lying down. I figured it was safer cosleeping safely than it was to fall asleep unintentionally through exhaustion and risk dropping her / crashing the car / falling asleep on a sofa etc

NCfortoday2021 · 21/12/2021 07:01

You can cosleep safely if you don't drink or smoke or get a next to me cot and have the side down so they are in their own bit you couldn't roll into.

Ohpulltheotherone · 21/12/2021 07:07

I would put money that the only way that baby is going to sleep is by co sleeping.
Sorry I know it’s not what you want to hear but it’s the reality, set yourself up for co sleeping. You can do this safely.
I don’t know any mum who hasn’t co slept at some point, I know NHS etc don’t like to promote but it’s incredibly common. Your sleep deprivation is surely just as if not more dangerous than safe co sleeping?
DH can go and sleep in another room to give you and DC space in the bed.

The other option is DH does some night shifts. Once you’ve fed baby he should be good for a couple of hours so DH needs to take care of him if he wakes up. You go and get a few hours in another room with ear plugs in until the next feeding time.

Just because you are BF doesn’t mean you have to do every single night wake - if baby just fed then there’s no reason DH can’t sit with him. He’ll have to learn how to settle him, better if you’re not in the room.

Also try white noise if you haven’t already. This was an absolute life saver for both of mine - Smile YouTube 8 hour with dark screen

JustKeepSwimmingJust · 21/12/2021 07:07

Is there Somewhere else dh can sleep?

Then aim not to cosleep but lie feeding in the safe cosleeping position. Then the pressure is off your scar, and if you do drop off, it isn’t very unsafe on a sofa.

But if baby is fast asleep and you awake, you can still try to transfer back.

FTMbg · 21/12/2021 07:08

It's so tough.
Our little one was windy, bloated, explosive poos, colic, if you think it might be the gas bothering yours, things that helped ours were Infacol, feeding propped on pillows/cushion so head was higher than bum, and i would feed her to sleep then pass her on pillow to someone else so I could nap, warm bath before bed, dummy to help soothe the gas without causing more by feeding again. Also getting out in what daylight there is and opening blinds in daytime so they get to know when night is. You will get through this, ours learned to sleep (we never co-slept just cot next to bed) and yours will too.

CustardyCreams · 21/12/2021 07:30

Both my babies were like this. Breastfed babies shouldn’t be so windy and gripey, right? Apparently, wrong.

You cannot function in an hour or two of sleep. It is hazardous. You must NOT drive a car, under any circumstances, on that amount of sleep - try telling your very risk-conscious DH that, it might make him realise you need a new plan.

I did the safe bed sharing thing for a bit with baby one, and a bedside crib/bed sharing blend for nights with baby two.

My first baby loved to be swaddled, in a stretchy knitted blanket, just to stop her reflex of throwing her arms and feet and waking herself up. After a month she only wanted her arms swaddled. I stayed watchful, and the swaddling never became an issue - once she was strong enough to wriggle free, she basically outgrew it and wen into grobags.
At 3.5 months she went in a cot in her own room, too wriggly to stay in my bed. (She needed rocking and patting to sleep though, which basically destroyed my back. )

You need to have a calm chat with your DH, I appreciate he has seen the worst, but it starts getting dangerous for you supervising two kids on so little sleep and at some stage you WILL fall asleep with your baby in your arms if you try to carry on this way. He is being unrealistic and together you have to make some real-world risk trade offs.

I followed safe bed sharing advice. DH slept in another bed/on sofa. Removed duvet, I wore warm close fitting cotton pjs and kept the bedroom warm but ventilated (high oxygen levels and a light breeze/airflow considered important for avoiding Sids, I read somewhere). Tight fitted sheet. No pillow near baby. Slept with one of my arms curled up round above baby’s head so I couldn’t roll. Slept poorly for an entire year - in my experience you do NOT fall into a deep sleep when you bed share with a breastfeeding infant, and because you are overall less sleep deprived (still absolutely exhausted, but not suffering like you’re drunk on tiredness) you are able to keep a level of semi-alertness. Psychologically you can’t relax because you are terrified of Sids or rolling on your child so sleep is not great, but it is enough. Biologically and physically it is too uncomfortable and you never really switch off. But you can drift in and out of sleep, feeding is much less disruptive as you don’t properly wake up, that way you can string together the hours of broken sleep, enough sleep to function.

I am not saying you should aim to bed share indefinitely but maybe just to get yourself through the next few months, then you can train the baby to go in the cot once you’ve got your mental capacity and physical strength up a bit.

GuidingSpirit · 21/12/2021 07:50

Hi OP, i really feel for you. I have never co-slept because i was very worried about not being able to do it safely (ive always been a very deep sleeper) but the following worked for us.

  • white noise app on our phones
  • if your DH doesn't want to swaddle, would he consider a grobag? We used one and our DD loved it. It gives them the snug feeling of a swaddle but because it zips up, no risk of loose covers coming loose. At 6 weeks we switched to a love dream arms up version so she could pop her arms up.
  • a dummy for sleeping only. I know these arent popular and I was dead against them when i was pregnant but then DD had one when she was in the NICU and it really helped her. Especially as she was often sucking for comfort and not actually swallowing any milk.
  • going through the 5 Ss (although i never did the 5th 'S' which is side sleeping as i wasnt comfortable with that)

After a few weeks, DD was much better at sleeping in the next to me overnight. Then my DH would get up at 5.30am / 6am and do the early shift so i could get a couple of extra hours sleep before he left for work. She still likes to contact nap during the day (she is 6 months), but we can live with that now we are getting proper sleep at night.

Hope it gets better for you soon! Flowers

Poppy709 · 21/12/2021 11:42

It’s very tough, my DS was like this. However if my DH gave him a bottle of expressed milk at around midnight he would go down in his basket for a few hours, so I would go up when cluster feeding finished, at about half 9, DH would keep him downstairs and feed him anytime between 12-1, then bring him up and put him in the basket next to me and he would usually sleep until 3, I was then up with him from 3am, depending on my DH’s working hours I would then get a few hours in the morning.
Realistically, you need to sleep. The current situation is not sustainable. So your options are, see if baby will co sleep safely following all the guidance, or find a way for DH to be able to do shifts. You are in a far more dangerous situation sitting up holding baby with no sleep. My DS got better about 9/10 weeks (until the 4 months regression). Xx

Frazzled37 · 21/12/2021 20:20

It's so tough isn't it! My LO is 8 weeks on Thursday and until a few days ago he was taking an hour or more to settle only to wake after 30 mins or so, and this would continue all night. I was getting 1-3 hours broken sleep a night (within a 12 hour period!) and I just started crying all the time. My DH takes him in the evening so I can get a couple of hours, then he takes him for an hour before work too. Could your husband do this?

Mine is also very gassy, sometimes infacol seems to help get burps out but not always...if you fujd something that works I'd love to know!

For sleeping I tried white noise, swaddling, red pulsing light, putting down drowsy but awake etc etc, but all to no avail. I have just had luck the last few days by allowing him to have all his day naps in the sling as he was getting so overtired with me trying to put him down for naps. I can get him to sleep quicker in the sling (the only way he'll sleep in the day) and can then wake him. I don't let him nap longer than 2 hours, but I try to keep them more like 1-1.5 hours, whereas before I didn't like to wake him as I knew he was tired so left him sleeping on me. This has miraculously seemed to work in helping night sleep. He has had 2 nights of doing a 4 hour stint then a 2 hour stint, and 2 nights of doing 2.5 hours then 2 hours!!! And he settles so much more easily now, I'm genuinely amazed! It may be a coincidence, it may be a phase...but if you can control the naps in the day (letting LO sleep on you or in sling) worth a try?!

I really hope something works for you soon as I was at breaking point a few days ago so understand how awful it is. I'm just hoping mine keeps his new ways up! 🤞

Cuwins · 21/12/2021 20:32

@Frazzled37

It's so tough isn't it! My LO is 8 weeks on Thursday and until a few days ago he was taking an hour or more to settle only to wake after 30 mins or so, and this would continue all night. I was getting 1-3 hours broken sleep a night (within a 12 hour period!) and I just started crying all the time. My DH takes him in the evening so I can get a couple of hours, then he takes him for an hour before work too. Could your husband do this?

Mine is also very gassy, sometimes infacol seems to help get burps out but not always...if you fujd something that works I'd love to know!

For sleeping I tried white noise, swaddling, red pulsing light, putting down drowsy but awake etc etc, but all to no avail. I have just had luck the last few days by allowing him to have all his day naps in the sling as he was getting so overtired with me trying to put him down for naps. I can get him to sleep quicker in the sling (the only way he'll sleep in the day) and can then wake him. I don't let him nap longer than 2 hours, but I try to keep them more like 1-1.5 hours, whereas before I didn't like to wake him as I knew he was tired so left him sleeping on me. This has miraculously seemed to work in helping night sleep. He has had 2 nights of doing a 4 hour stint then a 2 hour stint, and 2 nights of doing 2.5 hours then 2 hours!!! And he settles so much more easily now, I'm genuinely amazed! It may be a coincidence, it may be a phase...but if you can control the naps in the day (letting LO sleep on you or in sling) worth a try?!

I really hope something works for you soon as I was at breaking point a few days ago so understand how awful it is. I'm just hoping mine keeps his new ways up! 🤞

I have read in several places that poor naps can actually make night sleep worse as they are overtired. Also as someone who suffers from insomnia people would often tell me I shouldn't nap but when my insomnia was at its worst if I napped I actually slept better at night. Never got the logic but hopefully it means you are on to something with baby!
Sleeplesschristmas · 22/12/2021 03:23

Thank you so much for the advice, tips and general support. It really really is so appreciated. Its just so great to talk to other mums about what's going on and getting another perspective.
I got really down and upset, to the point where my toddler asked me if I was sad. I reached breaking point. My mum came over, picked me up and brought me to hers where mum and my sister looked after toddler and just brought baby to be fed so ive managed to catch up with a good few hours of sleep. It's been amazing.
I will definitely take everyones suggestions on board, thank you for taking the time to reply.
Hope you all have a lovely Christmas xx

OP posts:
buckingmad · 22/12/2021 03:45

My baby was exactly the same. Hats off to you lasting 4 weeks, I started cosleeping at 2 weeks because I was so exhausted and haven’t looked back since (now 20 weeks).

Flittingaboutagain · 22/12/2021 04:05

We were taking it in turns sitting up watching Netflix whilst baby slept on us until c14 weeks when baby would start doing short stints in the crib.

Congratulations on your baby!

Sleeplesschristmas · 22/12/2021 06:42

Its so nice to hear its not just me. Grandparents ask me EVERY morning how has he slept/ has he slept through yet/ what age do they sleep through?
Surely they all just forget... My mum asked me if they start sleeping through at 2 weeks old.... 🙄 I wish!!!
At least its that time of year when there's some good telly to catch up on at 4am on iplayer 🤪

OP posts:
Frazzled2207 · 22/12/2021 06:50

@ViceLikeBlip

Oh, I feel your pain. Co sleeping, and feeding lying down on my side were game changers for me.
Yep this. Husband was sent to spare room and once baby had drifted off I rolled onto his side of the bed.
zebrarobot · 22/12/2021 06:52

Not just you.

We're on dc3 and although she is great and sleeps all night and has done since about 6 weeks (unless teething. I know we are lucky as my two ds didnt sleep through until nearer 1!) she still only naps on me at 7 months. I would rather she slept than me stress about putting her down only for her to wake 5 mins later.

I know its difference as you have a newborn and you're in that lack of sleep fog but dd was the same at that age and you just have to keep going. Rest when you can, coffee. Persevere with putting them down and eventually they will stay down.

With dd she really seemed to learn the difference between day and night quite quickly and that was what did it for us.
Down at night in the crib with her sleeping bag on, room cool but not cold, dark and quiet and white noise on. She seemed to know that was different to day sleep which was usually in the car/pram/in my arms.

gamerchick · 22/12/2021 06:54

Forth trimester.

Tbh your husband doesn't get to dictate. You can co sleep safely, especially in a big bed. Was a life saver imo.

ThirdElephant · 22/12/2021 06:54

Oh, totally normal. It's rubbish though!