Help with newborn sleep!

[Dove88]

My Dd is two days old. She is breastfed and is eating well and regularly. The first day/night she was bringing up clear mucus (which we’ve been told is normal) but due to her getting abit stressed out trying to bring it up she didn’t sleep well. The first night was basically spent winding her, helping her to bring it up.
All day today (day two) she’s slept pretty well. She’s been feeding but not a lot, she’s met both grandparents so has had lots of cuddles but has also settled really well in her Moses basket downstairs. Tonight however she just won’t sleep unless either myself or husband are holding her. She had a really good long feed just before bed, we changed her nappy, winded her to make sure there was nothing there, then soothes her til she got drowsy and moved her to the crib. She spent about 2 minutes in there before screaming. As soon as we pick her up she’s asleep, as soon as we put her down she’s wide awake. The mucus issue doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore so it’s not like that is keeping her up. We tried using the Moses basket in our room instead of the crib, but it’s exactly the same, no settling.
I honestly don’t know what the difference is, why is she happy to sleep alone in the basket during the day and not at night?

Sorry if this is abit jumbled, I’ve had maybe two hours of sleep since before giving birth
Please, any suggestions are welcome!.

It's very very normal. Look up 'Fourth trimester'. There are tonnes of things you can try but bear in mind you will be creating 'Sleep props' that she may grow dependant on and struggle with leaving off later down the line! If you're desperate though:

A sleepyhead (or the same effect can be created with a rolled up towel bent into a sausage shape under the cot mattress
Warming the cot with a hot water bottle before placing her in
White noise
A dummy
Swaddling. A swaddle sleeping bag is much quicker and more practical than trying to wrap her in a blanket
Motion, so rocking to to sleep and then putting her down (this is totally making a massive rod for your own back but desperate times!!)
'Safe' co sleeping. You want to do a lot of research into this before trying it, but works for a lot of families.

Good luck!

Hi there
Maybe go and take a look at the Sleep boards

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep

This thread for example

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/4476673-3-week-old-only-sleeping-when-held-at-night

It will take a few weeks for your baby to get used to being outside your body!
Google the 4th Trimester

Congratulations on your DD

Thank you both so much! I will have a look into all your suggestions. Fingers crossed I at least get chance to nap today!

Very normal for a newborn. We just started co-sleeping on night 3 and have had reasonable sleep (5 hours cumulative, the baby gets more like 10!) most nights ever since, now 4 months. Motion, white noise and a warm cot did nothing for our DD, only co-sleeping worked. But you have to go through the lists of things and find out what works for you.

Good luck OP, the first few weeks are chaotic but you WILL find a routine and things do get better.

Sorry OP but it's just the way it is! I think it took DD1 about two weeks before she would sleep in the bedside crib at night. Until then we took shifts letting her sleep on us.

Nobody warns you about the 4th trimester.

Its quite hard going given for 9 months baby has been tucked up, all warm, snug and secure. And all of a sudden theyre breathing room air, being fed by mouth, having to wear clothes and nappies and are being put down in a big, cold, open space to sleep.
Its hard for them as all they want and know is the security of you.
It took me ages to realise this with DD and i cried continiously as I thought i was doing it wrong.
Baby will want to be held, or swaddled for security.
They will feed alot. Feels like all the time and more so overnight. Someone told me the more they feed overnight, the more they encourage milk production so it is necessary.
DD was like this for the first 4-5 weeks.
Its normal, and its bloody hard.
You just have to go with the flow and sleep when you can.
Youve got this!

Oh gosh, day two - hang in there! There is so much stress and panic and exhaustion at first.

As others have said, its really unlikely that babys will sleep away from you all the time, they just spent nine months with you and will want the cuddles and reassurance.

My DD was in a constant sleep poop feed sleep poop feed cycle for what felt like an eternity and i would sit up the entire night with her.

Dont stress about her sleep or feel like you should be doing anything special or that baby should be sleeping a certain way.

From a practical perspective, go and sleep while others cuddle baby during the day! You can always look at safe co sleep too.

Thank you all so much for your replies. I naively thought it would be a case of her sleeping and waking to feed/cuddle every hour or so, not actually never sleeping unless being held. It’s very difficult in the depths of the night not to let the panic and worry overwhelm you. Glad to know it’s not just us