Awake with newborn, anyone else? :)

[Jellybean2017]

My little boy is nine days old. He sleeps pretty well during the day but at night just wants to be held and breastfed. He doesn't settle in his moses basket at night (but he will quite often do so during the day)

Anyone else up doing the same?! I'm not keen on the idea of co-sleeping but would be grateful for any advice. Baby sleeps in a gro-snug and we have a dream sheep but I'm guessing this frequent feeding and love of cuddles in the night is probably just par for the course at this early stage? 😊 I am napping during the day so I'm probably averaging about 6 hrs sleep in a 24 hr period.

Well, I'm up working, and my DCs are a lot older now, but I do remember the shock of having a newborn, and then a baby who would not sleep.

I remember watching the light on the zebra crossing down the road on on and off, on and off, as I rocked my boy for hours and hours. I felt that I was the only person in our street awake.

I remember asking him 'Just tell me what to do and I'll do it! Please just sleep!" and actually crawling back to bed when he finally dropped off.

You are not alone, you are doing brilliantly and this it will pass. Every cuddle, rock, feed, shush and kiss is another little bit of love that ties you together.

Thank you. Having a bad night tonight, he is not settling at all and just wants to be fed constantly so I'm feeling pretty hopeless. Your lovely message is much appreciated

We are not really clustering tonight which is nice but makes me worry it's not normal! He had a small cluster between 8 &9 then slept til 11, had a decent feed from one side then and has slept since...

It's my turn to sleep beside him at the moment though, so I'm making every time he grunts/cries/snorts without waking himself and that is a lot. May do a swap with Daddy after his next feed.

Always good to hear that these things pass though!

Oh and you are not hopeless Jelly. Far from
it, you're giving him exactly what he needs.

We have just had a 40 minute nap between feeds which although short was needed, I'm exhausted and spent an hour or so crying all over my husband :( baby just seemed to be getting so worked up and I felt guilty for just wanting some rest when he obviously just needs a bit of reassurance. Hoping I will find if easier to stay awake soon as scared I might drift off. Will wake up husband for his shift soon though!

Exactly how I was two nights ago. I sobbed for about two hours as he fed and fed and fed and I kept begging him to just go to sleep. He did sleep, and the next night was better. You'll get through it too.

Thank you 😘 I think everything seems worse in the middle of the night!

Thank you Tatlerer and Victoria. I do look to other parents at this time for reassurance that this stage is a) tolerable and b) temporary.

We've had an ok night so far. He went down at 11.30 then started stirring at 2. He's asleep on me now, so I'm giving him a little longer then we'll go back to the bedroom. Here's hoping the next feed is somewhere around half 4 / 5.

Good luck Jelly and Nina. I find post- 10pm the worst time where I really notice the lack of sleep and I'm waiting to see when he'll settle.

I'm sitting awake at the moment even though he's fast asleep.
I keep thinking he must wake up soon!

And yes night time is such a hard time. If they clustered during the day it would be so much easier. Night time is such a lonely time.

We are back to feeding again after 30 minutes nap. I'm exhausted, will be waking his daddy after this feed. I havent tried music but have tried white noise and had mixed success.

When dd was a newbie, she slept inside my maternity nightdress with just a nappy on. I slept on my side wearing a cardigan for warmth and the duvet at waist height. This gave accessible boob. Dd also slept on dh's chest with him sleeping on his back. We have a big bed, which made this easier.

I'm up to feed too. It was DH's turn, but he's been keeping me up coughing all night so I've said I'll do it. DS had his jabs today so he's been a bit unsettled.
It's nice to feel like I'm not the only person in the world who's awake.

I've dosed the last hour, he's still grumbling in his sleep. I'm half tempted to wake him to feed then I can go to bed and have peace! His daddy is very lucky he's been in bed for 4.5 hours already.

I woke up at 4.15 for a feed which was fairly short, then little one slept until 7am. He's been feeding since then. Not too bad of a night but not getting my hopes up for any kind of routine yet.

How's everyone else?

I woke him at 5, I felt he'd gone too long without feeding. Fed til 6 and went to bed... and then had to feed him again at 7.

Bit annoyed at the moment really. I gave my fiancé 6 whole hours to sleep in peace. I got 2 hours last evening and one hour this morning. They both stayed with me after the 7am feed so again I've just dosed between his noises.

I think that was our worst night yet, I have had a few 30min/1 hr sleeps here and there. Not sure how I will function today! Hopefully we will have chance to nap!

I think you win the worst night award, Jelly.

Dare I make the pun that you win the... booby prize?

Haha yes, a little humour goes a long way at times like these!

Managed an hours kip this morning and we have had a few visitors over lunchtime so the rest of the day is hopefully clear for naps!! Hope you have a good day 😊

Well we got discharged from the midwife, and he's now just 30g below his birthweight so I'm pleased about that.

Saw the health visitor too and she reassured me about how often I'm feeding him and about not necessarily having to wake him in the night. That makes me feel better too.

That's brilliant, and reassuring 😊 we were discharged from midwife yesterday, first visit from health visitor is next week. I sent my husband out to buy a Next2Me crib this afternoon so will see how that goes.

Good luck tonight, everyone!

You too LadyNymeriaGhost! I am sure I will be checking in through the night feeds but hoping for a little snoozing in between 😊

Good luck everyone! Just found this thread.

DS is 6 weeks and feeding every 2-2.5 hours though he is starting to be much drowsier at night and does tend to sleep easily after 20 mins or so of feeding thank goodness. I tend to lie him upright on my chest then try and get him in the Next To Me cot or cosleep for an hour if he's a little unsettled.

We're using white noise on spotify as i think it helps him to stay asleep. Tumble dryer sound seems to be the most effective for us!!

Currently longing for the days when he cracks the three hour barrier. 4 and 5 seem like crazy pipe dreams.....

Hi NetflixandBill 😊 this is our first night using the Next2Me. Previously my little boy was in moses basket so will be interesting to see how we get on. Not expecting a miracle! It's nice to be able to check on him easily though if nothing else. We have just started another feed, he has been cluster feeding the last few nights. He is 12 days old so don't know if he is having a big growth spurt!