Preemies and sleep

[Timetogrowup2016]

Dd born at 35 plus 3 for induction for pre eclampsia weighing 2.3 kilos at birth. Would of been 39 weeks today. She is sleeping all the time. Wakes to feed every three hours then asleep again and is very easy to settle at the moment. I keep thinking surely things will get worse and she'll pay me back later by becoming a terrible sleeper and tbh I'm a bit terrified.
Oh can cope on four hours. .where as I'd be on my knees. We are formula feeding as other wise I could not mentally cope.
Having major anxiety about the four month regression etc and I'm not enjoying my baby because of this.
Please tell me it doesn't necessarily have to get terrible ?

[Frazzled2207]

Congratulations. She sounds a delight. Whilst she will "wake up" eventually she may well turn out to be a good sleeper. My two were rubbish but most babies I know were much better. If she can settle herself then make sure she continues to do that because getting them to self-settle is a big part of the battle.
Even if it does go downhill, you would be very unlucky to only sleep 4-5 hours regularly. There may be the occasional bad night but at this rate none of those either.
I didn't really get any regressions- my two were pretty rubbish almost from birth then improved very slowly over the course of the next two years.

[Frillsandspillsx2]

I had my DS at 36+2 and he was a very sleep baby at first. Woke every 3 hours for a bottle day and night but settled so easily afterwards and just constantly slept. He's now 4 months old and got the past couple of weeks he's been sleeping through from 8pm-6/7am which of course is brilliant for me as I'm used to only sleeping 3-4 hours at a time due to feeds. I thought I'd be paid back for him sleeping all the time too as it made life easy for me but he's still really good and loves his sleep!

[Purpleboa]

Congratulations on your baby! And on her sleep

I'd say this is the best time to be getting a good night of sleep, given that your body is recovering and your hormones will still be haywire. My DD is 9 months and is a terrible sleeper, but those first few weeks were particularly bad as I barely had more than an hour of sleep at a time, and almost descended into PND.

I think it sounds like you have a good sleeper there - formula feeding helps a lot with this. Fingers crossed it will continue. Yes, regressions are common. But my friend's baby is 9 months too and with the exception of a couple of nights, she's always done 12 hours solid!

However, if there are bumps in the road - and it is likely because, babies - I'm here to tell you that you can cope! Honestly, you can and you will. I'm also anxious re sleep, and was so worried about how I'd cope. But despite how little sleep I'm getting, most of the time I'm coping. Not all the time, but most! We are more resilient than we realise.

I'm saying this because I know how easily anxiety can spiral out of control, to the point where it will give you insomnia regardless of whether baby is sleeping! And that is a very frustrating place to be, I've been there a lot. Just go with it a day at a time, look after yourself, eat healthily and make the most of the sleep as it's the best thing for your body right now.

can we swap babies please??

[SauvignonPlonker]

My DD was also a 35 weeker. And a great sleeper. I couldn't believe how much she slept.

I also know how stressful it is having a premature baby. Be kind to yourself & try to enjoy your DD as much as you can.

[YouAreMyRain]

I'm sure she'll be fine. Try to enjoy it

[Timetogrowup2016]

Also when awake she is very alert. Gaining weight and wet and dirty nappies so she's OK it's just not what I expected. Maybe she just loves sleep like her mum

[Timetogrowup2016]

Thank you. She is so content it's scary. As long as she's wrapped in a blanket and feels secure shes happy to even just lie in her basket whilst I sleep. It scares me how I haven't had a bad night yet and she's nearly a month old.
I have major anxiety and sleep is a big factor. If I loose too much I loose the plot. I need about six hours to function. Even two three hour blocks I could live on but I'm terrified it'll get to a point where I only get 1-2 hours and I can't shake it

[YouAreMyRain]

It doesn't have to get terrible! DS was a crash csection at 30 weeks. He slept and slept and slept all the time. He was sleeping through the night at about 11 weeks old but as DP and myself both have experience of our other DC we didn't want to jinx it by telling anyone! But he carried on sleeping well, no sleep regression at all