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MNHQ

Tell Fairy Non Bio about your experience of sleep with a new baby - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

208 replies

JustineBMumsnet · 01/12/2016 13:19

As part of our new partnership with Fairy Non Bio, we’ve produced our first ever Mumsnet Babies Podcast. There are ten episodes in the series and so far we’ve released five. Episode two is about sleep, and you can listen to it here . Fairy Non Bio would like you to listen to the podcast whenever you can, and then discuss your experiences of sleep with a baby.

An unbroken night of slumber is the holy grail of parenthood - but it’s often difficult to actually achieve. Fairy Non Bio would like to hear about your experience of sleep with a new baby. Did your baby miraculously sleep through from 3 months? Or was your experience much more of a struggle? Do you have expert tips on getting your child to sleep for that precious extra half an hour, or perhaps on how to cope through bleary-eyed days when you feel like you didn’t sleep at all?

Whatever your experience, share it with Fairy Non Bio by posting on the thread below.

Everyone who posts on the thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

If you want to rate the Mumsnet Babies Podcast, please go to the iTunes store and add a review!

Thanks, and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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Tell Fairy Non Bio about your experience of sleep with a new baby - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED
OP posts:
serialbunburyist · 12/12/2016 17:19

I have a 3 month old who's not keen on sleeping. If I get 3-4 h sleep a night I'm happy. The rest of the time she's on the boob. Naps only happen when there's motion involved or she's fed to sleep.

wafflesandpeas · 12/12/2016 20:41

My baby didn't sleep through the night till 7 months, she started out not too bad when she was a newborn, she woke maybe twice a night. Then came the dreaded sleep regression at around 3 months, she woke every hour and a half or 2 hours for several months! Nearly killed me, sleep deprivation does awful things to you!
But by 5 months it slowly got better,now she's pretty much a perfect sleeper, but who knows how long it may last. Or maybe I've earned my sleep now! Fingers crossed!

hungryhungryhippos · 12/12/2016 21:07

Sleep? What sleep?

Hobnobbing · 12/12/2016 21:52

We weren't too bad the first six weeks were every hour and a half, I barely slept, and when I did it was on the sofa as it was easier than going up and down stairs all night! After that it started getting easier til about 9 weeks when we got a good six hours.. I thought something was wrong at first! Those early days were pretty horrendous though!

cheerylilthing · 12/12/2016 23:25

Our DS was up every couple of hours for the first couple of weeks, then it went to every 3-4 with a 5-6 hour stint at one point & now he generally sleeps for 9 hours & has done from around 8 weeks (he's 5 months now).

His sleep has been more broken over the last night or so but I think that's because he's mastered rolling & is waking himself up from doing it in his sleep.

Sleepysausage · 13/12/2016 06:12

Our 14month DD wakes at least twice a night. It's only just got better from the 4 or 5 times she used to wake up. We found it helpful to try to change the narrative from 'not again!' to 'we get a extra cuddle!'. Also trying to remember it won't always be like that

Theimpossiblegirl · 13/12/2016 13:33

DD1 was always fairly easy and even though she didn't sleep through the night, she was pretty settled into a routine, so at least I knew what I was in for.

DD2 was another story. She didn't like her cot, didn't like being away from me and was very hard work. But we got through it, it's important to remind your self it's not forever.

ThinkOfAWittyNameLater · 13/12/2016 14:52

In hindsight (it's a beautiful thing) my eldest was a doddle. The biggest problem was that he was tongue-tied and fed for sooooo long, that it was about 10-20 minutes between taking him off the boob & putting him back on again.

Second baby is now 6 weeks old and although not tongue-tied, he needs to feed every 90 minutes... but it takes a minimum 20 minutes to wind him and get him back down to sleep again. Husband and I have now devised two shifts: in the first I just do the feed and husband does all the winding & nappies until 2am. Then I take over and do it all to let him sleep ahead of a full day at work. It doesn't always go smoothly, but we're both kidding ourselves we get enough sleep to survive and baby is gradually trying to extend the time between feeds.

It's all just a phase, this too shall pass.
At least that's what I keep telling myself!

Pmliu · 13/12/2016 16:28

All three of my babies took a few weeks to settle before they became very easy sleepers, mostly sleeping through the night. My older one falls asleep very quickly & easily, but she may wake up one or twice a night. The middle one takes longer to fall asleep but she will mostly sleep through the night. The youngest falls asleep quite easily after a feed, mostly sleeps through the night but on the odd occassion may wake me for a feed or two

stripyeyes · 13/12/2016 17:54

My second was awful and would only sleep upright on us. So my husband did the 10-2 shift and woke me at 2 and I did the 2-6 shift when the toddler woke up!

Grew out of it eventually!

littledinaco · 13/12/2016 18:16

Look up how to safely co-sleep and learn to feed lying down. It doesn't seem so much of a problem when they wake up if you don't even have to sit up-just stick a boob in and fall back asleep!

liamell · 13/12/2016 18:25

I found the white noise cd that i bought was a god send!! Little one slept much longer and much more contented...meaning mummys bags under her eyes were slightly smaller :)

lizziefield1982 · 13/12/2016 19:32

Sleep was messy but ok when DS was a newborn. I enjoyed sitting up quietly at night feeding him and browsing the Internet or watching stuff of iplayer. We ended up co-sleeping and my hubby got evicted to sleep in the spare room so at least one of us had some sleep, it was less fun by four months.... DS is 15 months now, and I am 5 months pregnant with DS2. Last night was my first sleep through the night and natural wake up in the whole 15 months. Sob sob sob I doubt it will happen again tonight!

cbruin111 · 13/12/2016 22:23

It's tough! lol!

sianihedgehog · 14/12/2016 09:41

My baby didn't sleep more than 10 hours in 24 or more than about 2 in a row until he was about 6 months. I've never been so tired!!

lottietiger · 14/12/2016 11:30

We were very lucky with my son, right from the go he slept from 7pm ish wake for 11, then back to sleep 11 - 5am then would go back till 7am. he has always been a good sleeper, there was a little break when he moved into his toddler bed and wanted to push the boundaries but that soon passed. We haven't changed the routine at all, he stll has the same one at 3 years old as he did at 3 months old

Firewall · 14/12/2016 12:32

Unbroken Sleep? I didn't think it existed for at least the first year... Or 3....

StickChildNumberTwo · 14/12/2016 12:32

Baby one thought sleep was for wimps! Endless nights of waking every hour or two. Baby two didn't want to go to sleep until the early hours of the morning, but then did 6 or more hour stretches from the start. Until the four month sleep regression that is, when it all went to pot. He's never been as bad as his sister though. I survive by co-sleeping so I don't have to move far in the night.

PorridgeAgainAbney · 14/12/2016 14:11

If I could go back I would ignore all advice about how a newborn "should" be sleeping because it drove me almost crazy; my son never ever got the hang of daytime napping (often sleeping only 6-8 hours in a day) and from around 2am would only sleep propped up on me until he was about 6 months old due to allergies, reflux and wheezing.

Those months seemed to last years at the time, but I just tried to do what I thought HE wanted (not what I wanted) and from 6 months he slept through the night. Still never got the hang of napping though!

Leeanne2205 · 14/12/2016 15:24

Well my first little one sleeped in the bed with us until 8 weeks but you certainly don't get quality sleep and then there was somethibg on the tv about babies sleepinb in bed being dangerous so i had too break the habit , without 2nd baby he was in a cot beside the bed he was a nightmare he had colic so once again not a lot of sleep my other half slept downstairs for 6 months.(he said he needed his sleep because he had work).
I was physically and emotionally exhausted I had a toddler and now a new born, I remember anything would make me a blubbering wreck.

Now my children are 2 and 3 and amazing sleepers both go down at 7 , at the time you think you will never get through it but now I think they are growing up far too quick.

Enjoy them Merry Xmas everyone x

vegmum21 · 14/12/2016 15:40

My dd was a relatively good sleeper as a newborn, would do about 4-5 hours at night before waking for a feed. Now she's 5 months she seems to be in less of a pattern, one night she'll wake just once the next it'll be 3 or 4 times.

GeekyWombat · 14/12/2016 17:04

My lovely 7 month old started sleeping through the night at four months but six weeks ago everything changed.

My (geeky) husband has nicknamed DS the Horcrux because, just like in the Harry Potter stories, the one who has to take charge of him and keep him close overnight ends up ratty, tired and filled with negative emotions. Luckily we tag team it alternate nights so one of us is usually relatively rested. It can't last forever, right? :S

ZoSanDesu · 14/12/2016 21:02

Be kind to yourself and your partner as sleep deprivation is horrid. We get by with a toddler and baby, by offering each other a nap, shoulder rub or just a hug whenever we are both free.

FormerlyFrikadela01 · 14/12/2016 22:30

I do all the night waking because dp works a lot of early shifts and I wake up before he does to the crying anyway. Usually midnight, 3ish and 6ish. Ds (5.5months) started to do Midnite till 6 but has started waking up again. It's relentless. He doesn't nap during the day so im bloody knackered all the time. But this is what you sign up to when you have kids. Hopefully he'll get better before I go back to work.

buckley1983 · 14/12/2016 23:11

My LO did very little sleeping in the first 3 months.. not at night anyway! I had this crazy idea that I should go downstairs every time he needed to feed - cue a lot of faffing around, lights on, stimulation, etc - then back up to bed after feed.
Why I didn't just feed him in the bedroom with dimmed lights is beyond me, I think I was in a constant state of shock at being a mother so common sense went out the window!
At 5 weeks, he slept through from 23.00 - 05.00 & I couldn't believe it! Just the knowledge that he COULD do it gave me hope & everything seemed to get a lot easier from that point!
If I have another - I would definitely be a lot more chilled & embrace these challenges rather than being utterly terrified! :)