Monday, March 21, 2011
Calling All Mom's
Ok all you mom's out there, I am in need of some help. How in the world do you get your babies on a sleep schedule? Ella is a great sleeper in that she will sleep for a good 6 hours straight. The problem is that she doesn't like to fall asleep until about 3:00 in the morning! Up until this point we have just kind of worked around it hoping that we would be able to get her on some kind of a schedule. I just figured that she was a newborn and in time she would get on better sleeping terms. So for the past 4 weeks I would go to bed around 11:00 pm and then around 5:00 am I would wake up and Taylor would then come to bed and sleep until around 11:00 am. This as you can imagine, is not a good sleep schedule for anyone including Taylor and myself. Now I'm starting to freak out because he is going back to work next Monday and I can't be up all night and then be home alone with her all day too! I don't know what I'm going to do. I've tried to keep her up during the day so that she will be tired at night but have you ever tried to force a 5 week old baby to stay awake? It's impossible!! So we decided that we were going to start a routine where we would feed her, change her bum, turn on some lullaby music and just leave her in her crib to fall asleep on her own. We started at 10:30 tonight and she literally spent the last two and a half hours in her crib screaming! I changed her twice during that time so that she would be dry. Each time putting her right back into her crib and turning her music on. Now granted she is asleep now which is two hours earlier than normal however, she is almost ready to have a bottle again so I'm afraid the sleeping silence is not going to last long. This went on last night as well. At this point I'm discouraged to say the least and completely exhausted. I don't know how to fix it! If any of you have some advise for this stressed out first time mommy it would be greatly welcomed!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I am Sherry Hancock's sister-in-law. I've read your blog for several years and am so excited for your Ella! Just know that she is a bit too young for a schedule yet. She won't be developmentally ready until about 3 months. I know that doesn't jive well with parental sleep schedules! Retry what you are doing now when she is that old. At 4 months you can let her cry herself to sleep. I've done that with three kids and they can handle it at that age.
Until then, sleep when you can and call friends or family for a break. Newborns can be extremely taxing, especially the first born! If your feelings of discouragement/sadness do not lift within 6 weeks postpartum do not hesitate to get medical help. Postpartum depression is common (I raise my hand!) and highly treatable. Lack of sleep can worsen it.
You also had a rough beginning that taxed your strength. Don't do this alone. If you feel overwhelmed and helpless get help immediately. You want to enjoy the newborn stage because it is so fleeting. If you are panicking about Taylor returning to work, that may be a good sign to visit your doc.
Best wishes. I know how hard this can be. Sherry knows my challenging story. You may choose not to publish this comment which I would understand. I just wanted to reach out and let you know that you are not alone...
<3 Tonya Christensen
Congratulations on your beautiful baby girl! She is just adorable! I'm so happy for you and Taylor! It's been a long time since I've seen you and I don't know if you remember me, but I used to work with Taylor until I had my baby boy.
My husband and I are both schedule people and wanted to get our son on a schedule. Our son was 3 weeks old when we started getting him on a schedule. I was given the book "On Becoming Baby Wise" and I think it was a good reference and very helpful in getting our son Wyatt on a schedule. We did not try to keep him up all day because just as you said that is impossible. We got him in a schedule of eating, playing, sleeping during the day and then at night put him to bed just after nursing him. When he would wake up at night my husband would change his diaper then I would nurse him. When he was all done eating I would just put him in his crib and walk away. He didn't cry too often at night, but when he did I would let him cry for about 15 min. If he didn't stop then I'd walk in pick him up and sing a song or just leave him in the crib and rub his tummy or cheek and reassure him that everything was O.K.
Every baby is so different. I think finding out what works for you and your baby can be one of the most challenging things. I would just try different things until you find what works for you. Before you know it she will be sleeping through the night. I hope I get to meet your sweet baby girl one day. Not sure that what I said will be much help, but check out the book I mentioned to you and see if it gives you some ideas. I'd let you borrow it from me, but my neighbor who is expecting soon has it. Best of luck and congratulations again!
Bree Mowry
Post a Comment