Sleep Help

[Mrs. MB]

I know I'm one of many asking sleep questions here but here it goes.

My daughter was an attached baby from birth. It took me two weeks to get her to sleep separately at night. She hates the bassinet with a passion so she sleeps in a rock and play.

She is a very alert baby since five weeks. Coincidentally that's when she started having major trouble sleeping. She used to go three hours at night and now only two. Major difficulties sleeping during the day. On two separate days she didn't go down until 11pm. She screamed if she wasn't on the breast and fought when she was.

She loves the boob and that's pretty much the only way she'll fall asleep. She hates the swing and vibration. She screams bloody murder in the car. She will occasionally fall aslee in the stroller after a fair share of screaming.

I did six weeks of EBF. She loves the boob and will stay on for hours. She will fall asleep but frequently wake up when I try to put her down.

Yesterday I gave her a bottle with breast milk. She wolfed down 2.5oz after being on the boob forever. I was able to rock her to sleep singing. She woke up 10 minutes later but hey, progress?

She had another 5oz from the bottle over the next several hours and then cried inconsolably until I gave her boob. She nursed a while and felt aslee for five hours - longest ever!

She woke up at night and had 3oz from the bottle and nursed to sleep after. She was up two hours later and nursed, an hour later and nursed....

Is she inefficient at the breast and because she spends so long she's hungry by the time she's done? I get nothing done because she screams in carriers/wraps/slings...

She hates the car and the stroller and everything else it seems... she won't take a pacifier. I go back to work in six weeks, I have to teach her how to cope...

Do I switch to exclusive pumping and wean breast? She's getting enough by weight gain/dirty diapers...

I just don't know how to get her to settle without the boob. I know she's too young for any sleep training/schedule but there has to be something soothing out there for this little lady.

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

You should see an LC. Call la Leche league, they are FREE.

 

[staralfur]

She's still so tiny, that all sounds completely normal. You're still building a supply so she's on the breast a lot trying to send the signals that you need to make more milk for a growing child. The first three months nursing my LO were essentially one long, constant growth spurt.

A vast majority of young babies (and even a lot of older babies) need assistance to fall asleep. Babies aren't usually born knowing how to self-settle just like they're not born knowing how to do most things. It's developmental like everything else. Honestly I don't really see rocking to sleep being preferable to nursing to sleep as it still takes time and effort on your part and will take even more as your LO gets bigger and bigger. Plus the initial time and stress of trying to replace one sleep aid (nursing) with another.

I'd stick with what comforts her naturally as I think that will be easiest for both of you long-term. Once you go back to work she will learn to adjust and fall asleep some other way when you're not around.

 

[happynewmom1]

That sounds so so normal. Honestly. Your baby is so so young. Google 4th trimester when you get a chance. It helps to explain why babies want you all the time and helped me be more understanding with each baby. If you feel like pumping and giving a bottle here and there helps you both, some people do that and it works for them. Honestly as your baby gets older she won't need to nurse as much and likely will get in a routine sleepwise. Consulting an lc may help especially for peace of mind if you'd rather not bottle feed.

 

[Mrs. MB]

Thank you ladies. I really appreciate the help. I think it's just hard to realize that six weeks isn't old enough to start a routine. I think I read a book that, at least partially messed me up. It talked about feeding schedules and sleep training for young ones.

I have to start giving a bottle every now and then because I have to transition caregiving to my MIL before returning to work. Also, to be able to do grocery shopping without sticking her in the car every time.

 

[minties]

Mine was also the same at 5/6 weeks. She was constantly over tired and was on the boob all day to cope with the stress. When a baby is over tired they get a cortisol and adrenalin rush, then they can't settle and cry/scream at all your efforts to soothe.

Even now at 9 weeks I only have enough time to feed and change her and a small play before she needs to go to sleep again. Less than an hour.

The only way she will sleep during the day is in the stroller but I have to time it perfectly. I walk her around the yard back and forth and then park her outside the back door. I have a safe yard and we don't have dangerous wild animals in NZ and I can see her from where I am sitting.

Breastfeeding is extremely comforting for a baby, I don't think pumping and offering a bottle will fix everything. It's also hard for a baby to not suck when they are bottle fed as they have reflexes when milk is flowing. I know you have to do it anyway but I wouldn't see it as a fix.

Waking up after a brief time asleep can also be a sign of over tiredness. That adrenalin rush thing jolts them back awake.

 

[Mrs. MB]

Minties, thank you. Everyone I know comments on the fact that she's overalert which in turn causes overstimulation. She is holding up her head already and turning side to side and looking at everything. She hates to be confined or when she's unable to see.

I think bottle is good as a supplement to make sure she sleeps better. I'll keep breastfeeding as long as I can.

She was finally able to sleep today for about an hour when she focused on the corner of her blanket instead of the world around her and the vacuum cleaner was going. My mom was also able to have her suck on a pacifier (she won't take it from me).

Also, I think you're on the money about waking up - she has this light sleep stage when she will keep going with hands and legs, overtired in her sleep.

When did your daughter go back to sleeping better during the day?