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.

My little boy is fashionably late to the party at 5.10am!! 😊

We're up too - babies love this time!

So glad I've found this thread!

My baby has pulled an all nighter. He usually falls asleep 6am ish and I get a couple of hours but not today. He's still feeding.

He gets later and later but his feeding in the evening doesn't start later. At this rate we will be doing 24hr shifts soon enough.

Joking aside I am finding it so tough. Frequently in tears then have mum tell me it's not worth the stress and upset and I should just FF. She keeps pushing against anything NHS say as it wasn't like this in her day.

I had this baby on my own so no partner but staying with my parents.

Hi Panda 😊 how old is your little one? That must be challenging with your mum, do you think she wants to be able to help with feeding? You have to do what you think is best for you and baby though. When we have a bad night I always think to myself maybe we should give up with the breastfeeding, but when it comes to morning I normally feel better about everything. Hope you are OK and you manage to get a nap at some point today!

Hi @Panda81, formula feeding or breastfeeding you have to do what is right for you - BUT what I will say is yes the first few weeks are hard but then it plateaus and gets easier and easier as time goes on. My 7 month old now stretches out her feeds to about every 4 hours and they start feeding much quicker also. She'll do maybe 5/10 mins every 4 hours and that's it - no sterilising or taking bottles everywhere. Plus the boob is a MAGIC thing that sends babies off to sleep!

I too thought about giving up in the beginning but I am so glad I persevered.

Good luck!

Panda, your job at the moment is to keep you and your baby happy. No one else is your responsibility, so don't give them headspace.
If you want to continue bf, then tell her to keep her opinions to herself. (Otoh, if you want to ff or mix feed, that's a valid choice too.) Your choice

My DS is 9 days old so very early days. She thinks she's helping but not in the way I need her to.

Anyway going to get my car from my house today so at least me and DS can do some little trips out of the house on our own. Venture in to the big wide world! I'm going a bit stir crazy being at their house.

Sounds good Panda, I am sure you'll feel better having a bit of your own space 😊

I've been cluster feeding for hours now. He dozes while feeding but as soon as he comes off / I take him off, he's awake and crying.

Will all this feeding lead to longer sleep? I'm going to think not, and expect a long night.

Not such a good night here either Lally. Baby was asleep for the majority of yesterday and after his 11pm feed was wide awake for a couple of hours. Think we managed an hour snooze before he woke for another food at 1.30. We have just finished feeding, he is sound asleep on my chest but I am pretty certain he has pooped so will have to disturb him to change nappy 🙈 hope everyone having a good night.

Sleep poos are the worst!
DS only had 1oz at his bedtime bottle so we're up earlier than usual for a feed. He's only had a bit and then fallen back to sleep, so looks like it'll be an early start for me! Day out tomorrow with DS and The Toddler. That'll be fun!

We have a horrible thunderstorm in progress so I'm doing my best not to act scared while baby feeds...again!! You'll be in need of caffeine for your day out! 😊

Well we got nearly 4 hours since he ended his feeding frenzy. I woke up before he did actually - he must have stirred / my boobs must have woken me up but he got another half an hour after that. Really quick feed now and he's asleep again.

I'm anticipating shorter sleeps now until what I would class as morning (7-8am).

Jelly and Lady, hope you're both asleep now. Shame about the thunderstorm and the night poo!

Oh found you all again. I'm just at the tail end of feed number 2. I've had good long stretches of sleep but was woken up by lightning as we don't have any blinds or curtains at the moment. No thunder though here Jelly, as that stayed to the west of us thank goodness. Hope you managed to get some sleep after the cluster feeding.

I can hear thunder now!

Given I'm up an hour after the last (short) feed, I'm thinking cluster feeding is a good thing for getting longer stretches. But when he falls asleep in the night, I just put him back to bed because I want to sleep! False economy maybe.

I have had no more than 20 minute stretches of sleep all night and my husband is going to work in 25 minutes, I could cry!! Really hope I manage some day naps today!

Oh Jelly, that sounds tough! Have you got anyone who can come over to give you a break?

Have a bed day with the little one if you can Jelly - just feed and sleep and preserve your energy.

Think my Mum is going to pop in so hopefully that will allow me a bit of sleep! But yes a bed day does sound like a good idea!

Jelly did you get some rest?

Rest yes, sleep no! Have been laying on bed this afternoon but baby is wide awake 😂 hopefully I will get a nap when my husband gets home from work! 😊

I hope you're sleeping now, Jelly.
I'm so worn out after a day out with baby and toddler that I nearly fell asleep on the kitchen floor while bending over to sniff DS' bum. Dignified.
I've persuaded DH to take DS for the evening and I've retired to bed with a cup of tea. Going to try to get a few hours now before his dream feed.

Good luck Lady and Jelly - I think we've hit cluster feeding time. He's feeding, falling asleep then waking / crying when he comes off the boob. Better get comfortable.

Baby is one month today. It'd be nice if a pattern starts to emerge soon.

No naps for me today but according to the app I'm using to track his sleep, I had over 6 hours in total last night. Not too bad. One day, that will be all in a block and I'll feel like a new woman!

I hope everyone is getting some sleep tonight. Turns out I totally crashed out and slept through the 10pm feed and DH and DS coming to bed. I feel good now though, ready to take on the toddler again tomorrow!

After a week of predictable night time feedings the last two nights have not gone to plan. Normally he feeds, falls asleep and then can be put in his basket for 2-3 hours.

Not so now. He feeds, falls asleep, wakes
up, maybe feeds again half-heartedly, whinges... last night was 2.5 hours awake, tonight was nearer 3 until I admitted defeat and called through daddy who had him asleep in ten minutes.

Unfortunately only for an hour, and were back to feed, sleep, wake... he's just peed all over himself mid-change as well.

I've had 3.5 hours if I'm lucky and I had to go to bed at 10.30 to get even that much.

I'm absolutely dreading my other half going back to work so much that I keep crying about it.