please sleep....HELP ME

[baby D]

Hello ladies, i hope it is ok to post this in here as my child is a baby and this is for older children, but i thought you may be able to help if yoy had similar probs when your children were babies xxx

Amelia is two and a bit weeks old and she hasn't slept a wink a night in all that time....except cat naping on my lap or in her chair - it rocks...seriously!

Am starting to feel so ill - people keep saying sleep during the day when she does, but i have a child to get to school and pick up, plus the housework - i do sleep a little during the day but it is NOT enough - i need a little sleep at night too - even just two or three hours would be nice!

Am starting to feel like i can't cope - a bit resentful! I'm always snapping at my son - who is so well behaved it is not fair! As for eating -well, my appetite has all but gone!

Really think im getting a touch of the baby blues which i guess is being bought on by tiredness?

Thing is, during the day her sleep pattern is ok - but at night - nope! No chance - not unless i hold/rock her and then as soon as i lay her down or stop, she is wide awake again - during the day she will often soothe herself to sleep if i lay her down once she is sleepy - so why not at night? Even her bottles don't make her sleepy (they do during the day).

I'm guessing her body clock is just well and truely round the wrong way, but i really don't know how to change that?

It is now 2 in the morning and Amelia has been awake since 5.30 dinner time! She has had a warm bath and two feeds in that time but nothing seems to make her sleep - other than being bounced/rocked - well i can't do that all night - even then she wakes within about 30 mins....

Am so tired - can't cope, please help me! How do i turn this round?

PS - have tried to make the dif between night and day obvious
- day is bright, noisey - we sing, dance and i chat and play with her all the time she is awake...
-night time, the lights are out, it is quiet (telly on low but that is to give me something to focus on/keep me awake/sane), i haven't spoken to her ATALL, other than making shhhh shhhh sounds while trying to get her to sleep, she has a bath and bottle at the same time every night........

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO ....

 

[mandy81]

Hi,
Have you tried keeping her awake during the day?
maybe then she will be sleepy at bed time, this is what i done when i wanted to get dylan out of this day nap and after a few weeks it worked.
sorry hun but that is all i can offer xxxx

 

[sam's mum]

Sometimes it's actually all the noise and things going on during the day that make it easier for them to sleep. It's quite noisy in the womb, and to suddenly find themselves in a quiet room is quite a shock! Sam used to fall asleep when the hoover/hairdryer was on. I'm not suggesting you stay up all night hoovering, but is there something you can use for a bit of background noise at night just to get her to sleep? Even just a radio or a bit of white noise? x

 

[baby D]

Sometimes it's actually all the noise and things going on during the day that make it easier for them to sleep. It's quite noisy in the womb, and to suddenly find themselves in a quiet room is quite a shock! Sam used to fall asleep when the hoover/hairdryer was on. I'm not suggesting you stay up all night hoovering, but is there something you can use for a bit of background noise at night just to get her to sleep? Even just a radio or a bit of white noise? x

That is a really good point - about the womb being noisey....i will try the radio tonight and see if that helps her to settle xx Thank you!

 

[eswift]

HI, I'm not sure if it'll help, my DS had a bad sleeping pattern as a tot. I had to get him to sleep as it was knackering me out too.. So you have all my sympathy..

I found that if I gave him a lavender scented bath & smoothered him is lavender body moisturisers and sprayed his bed with lavender sleep spray he slept... ' like a baby'...

I know it seems as though I pampered him.. He only got that treatment when I couldn't hack it any more. Might be worth a try.. Avon use to do all the stuff, couldn't tell you if they still do..

 

[sam's mum]

Sometimes it's actually all the noise and things going on during the day that make it easier for them to sleep. It's quite noisy in the womb, and to suddenly find themselves in a quiet room is quite a shock! Sam used to fall asleep when the hoover/hairdryer was on. I'm not suggesting you stay up all night hoovering, but is there something you can use for a bit of background noise at night just to get her to sleep? Even just a radio or a bit of white noise? x

That is a really good point - about the womb being noisey....i will try the radio tonight and see if that helps her to settle xx Thank you!

Good luck. Even just a cd of nature sounds or you can get things that make heartbeat noises etc might help, and might be more relaxing if you're having to listen to it as well! x

 

[Jkelmum]

My katie used to listen to whale sounds its meant to sound like in the womb

 

[Cariad_bach]

My kids loved noise ... the first 2 loved the washing machine, the 3rd loved the hover, i used to hover my floor, then just leave it turned on for 10 mins whilst i had a brew .... it drove OH mad in the middle of the night tho


I hope you manage to get her into a better routine hun xxxxx

 

[baby D]

My kids loved noise ... the first 2 loved the washing machine, the 3rd loved the hover, i used to hover my floor, then just leave it turned on for 10 mins whilst i had a brew .... it drove OH mad in the middle of the night tho


I hope you manage to get her into a better routine hun xxxxx

hmmm. i may have to leave the hoover switched n tonight then....im clearly going to be my neighbours fav person

 

[cupcake]

you must be so tired, i am sure its horrible, is there anyone you can get to take your child to school for you and then come watch the baby a bit so you can sleep? its not a long terms solution but even a few days of sleep will make you feel better. Can your husband take part of the night shift? also do you have a swing? you are not supposed to put them in it for ages but i swear i know people who let their baby sleep in one.
i co sleep so that could be a last resort for you too i guess, but its very hard to get them out of your bed beware.

 

[Mamageddon]

I remember those days. Our DH was a horrible sleeper for quite some time and we tried everything it seemed. I found keeping him more active during the day and giving less naps and not letting him sleep whenever he wanted to helped to get his sleep cycle on track. It doesn't happen over night, but each day getting the naps to be later and later - stretching it out by 20 mins or so, eventually it pushes into a night time sleep routine.

Also, make sure you are allowing enough time between naps and bedtime. You said she had been up since 5:30 pm, it sounds like her afternoon naps are way too late. I found sites that said it was ideal to have 11 hours of sleep at night and only 2 hours during the day.

It sounds like you have a routine, baths and such for bed time - but what goes on for the hour before bed. Taking a second look at your routine may help. Making sure it is "get ready for night night" time at least an hour before bedtime.

Also, I agree with the noise. I always sleep with a fan on. I live in Colorado and even when there are inches of snow the fan is on - because it helps me sleep. As it turned out for us and DH - when we tried to have him sleep in his own room... he needed the fan too... so now we both have one