Newborn awake all night

[CAMU1]

I have a 2-week old who categorically does not settle at night - she feeds every 2-3 hours, but doesn’t sleep in between, and will cry unless held. The only option for sleep is to nap during the day (she settles fine in the daytime) but it’s hard to fit anything in between constant feeding - she is a slow feeder and takes about an hour each time - and also having to actually eat meals myself! I also feel guilty wasting my day sleeping when I know I should be taking her for walks, giving her sunlight, and generally just doing things around the house. I’ve never been one for having lie-ins and I really struggle to let myself nap. Any tips for a sleep deprived new mama?

The tip is to sleep every chance you get! This is newborn life and it’s going to take time for things to become more like what you consider “normal”.

If you’re not getting sleep at night, then get it during the day!

She is so very, very new. And this is very normal. With my first DD, I thought I'd lose my mind holding her all the time and I felt I fed her non-stop (she too would cry w/out being held and was colicky to boot), but midwives reassured me it was normal.

With my second DD, I just accepted this is how newborns were and didn't stress about getting anything done except feed, clothe, diaper and sleep. It's going to go by so quickly, but the days are endless, if you don't mind my cliched but true advice. Eventually they settle into a routine, and you can slowly nudge her toward this, but you getting sleep is vital, absolutely vital right now.

It sounds like she’s got her days and nights mixed up. Some newborns do this unfortunately. It’s perfectly normal and she’ll get there eventually. It helps to have a consistent bedtime routine at the time you want her to go to sleep. For example give her a bath/wash, change into pyjamas, read a book at the same time each night so she learns that’s bedtime. Try to make the difference between night and day obvious to her. Make it dark/quiet at night and have the curtains open and not worry about making a bit of noise during the day. Also nap when you can and try not to worry about not getting things done during the day. Everyone struggles to be productive with a new baby. If your house is messy for a few weeks it’s not the end of the world. It’s more important that you’re resting and taking care of yourself.

Babies go through a growth spurt at this age, so cluster feeding is perfectly normal.
I remember feeling like it would never stop, but as with all things baby related it’s just a phase.

Wow that's hard. You say newborn but are we talking days oorweeks because the answers will be slightly different.

If days, bless you both I hope there is another pair of arms/ hands out there to hold the baby between feeds, prepare food etc. They often come out confused about night and day, hopefully it will sort it's self out in time. Maybe some one could take baby for a walk in the sunshine ( not there is much AtM).

If babe is weeks ( as in more than 2) old. Then you may hae to gently guide them towards sleeping more at night an early ( as in 9 or 10 am) walk is an excellent start. Make sure they are feeding for a good 40 mins and then try to keep them awake for another 40 mins after each daytime feed. Do all the sleepy time signals at 9/10 pm ( bath, massage etc), oh and get yourself to bed as early as possible.

At 2 weeks absolutely nap duting the day, it's vital.

You need a good settling down routine so baby knows it's nighttime.

Try a soothing calm bath then get her settled in the moses basket with you close by. Keep lights dimmed. Give another bottle when you all go up to bed, even if she's not due, if she only takes an ounce that's fine, it'll give you an extra bit of sleep.

Then resettle baby. When baby wakes in rhe night, be responsive but calm. She'll figure it out soon enough.

Have a nap in the day too. You'll need one.

At 2 weeks the night is day time and the night day time

Would cosleeping be an option so they can be cuddled and you get a bit of sleep. We started at 3 weeks when she was on a 3h feed cycle sleeping for 2h in the middle but had to be held upright for at least an hour so I got about 45min sleep each cycle. She calmed much easier curled ups against me

My DD was like this, day and night totally mixed up. She got it the right way round eventually. I didn't start taking her out of the house regularly until she was 9 weeks as I was too tired. She didn't suffer for it. Let the housework go for a few weeks, it will get easier!

At two weeks her circadian rhythm won’t have developed yet, so what she’s doing is perfectly normal.

And who said you need to be going out and about. Right now, it’s about bonding and survival - so you just need to focus on that. It will get better - it just needs time!

Go with the flow. Take her for walks when you're ready. She'll be ready when you are, no pressure on yourself. Doing things around the house can wait. Cuddle your baby. Rest when you can. Stick a box set on and stick your feet up while baby naps on you. Nights are cold, is your room warm enough? It's a balancing act to find the right temperature that is comfortable for baby without being too cold or too hot. Babies feed for comfort, warmth, pain relief, a million reasons as well as to take in milk for sustenance!

Have you got a baby carrier or stretchy wrap? You can hold baby in that while your hands are free to eat (most if not all mums have dropped food or crumbs on their baby's head at some point)!

Congratulations on your new baby and enjoy those new baby snuggles 😍