Not sleeping

[Rainbowbrite]

Hi

I was just wondering if anyone can help me. My daughter is just over 2 weeks old and refuses to go to sleep after feeds :( I'm breastfeeding, change her half way through feeds and was told by the hospital to only ever feed from 1 side, but am worried she's not getting enough. She wakes as soon as she brings up her wind. Everone tells me not to feed her to sleep or to rock or hold her till she goes back off but this seems to be the only thing that works.

This morning, she has been awake since 10.30am (she's just gone off in my arms cause i gave up and needed a cuddle myself) I put her in the bassinette which she doesn't mind. She doesn't make a sound just lays there staring. There are no mobiles or anything in there to distract her. But his morning after about 30 mins, i looked in only to find that she had thrown up quite a bit :confused: but again, no noise was made.

Its really worrying me. I was always told that babies should sleep most of the time but she doesn't. Wanting to be a stay at home mum, i don't mind holding her till she goes off, but have been told its bad. When she does sleep she is constantly makng cute little noises, almost sounds like she is singing :p She rarely screams or cries, except when waking up for feeds.

Really hope someone can help me out with this one. The advice i'm getting is from my mum and step mum who are both over 60. I just really worry that she is not sleeping enough or getting enough breast milk and that maybe i should start to bottle feed her. I don't really want to though, i want to bf for as long as possible.

Please help me
Rainbowbrite

[mumofethan]

Hi Rainbowbrite,

try not to worry to much if the only way to get your daughter to sleep is to rock her. I did this with my son until he was around 6mths old, then i started to teach him to settle himself.

I found that if i tried to put him down to sleep after a feed without rocking/patting/etc he would either scream or just lay there. And again he had problems with wind. I noticed that if i rocked and patted him he would bring up the wind and go to sleep, then i could place him in his cot.

my son is now 8.5mths old and goes to sleep in his cot without any problems.

just do what works best for you.

:)

MumofEthan

[Rell]

Hi there
I cant realy help with the breast feeding side of things as I have not been able to succesfully BF either of my bubs. With the sleeping the thing to remember is all babies are different some sleep alot some only a little. If you bub is happy she might just need some up time having cuddles, in a rocker or even on the floor before she is ready to sleep. I also wrapped my babes and found this a BIG help, offen they feel more secure wrapped. Find youself a good child health nurse that will listen to any of your concerns and help you out. Hope some of this might help you.

[xkwzit]

Hi Rainbowbrite
You may just have a wakeful bub as I did with DD1. She would only ever sleep for 40 mins max, 2 or 3 times a day from birth (was always a good sleeper at night though). I tried to follow a feed, play sleep routine and so didn't try to put her down straight after a feed, but when she started look tired (which I was never really sure about :o ).

Regarding BF, I too was told to feed from one breast only and it does work (some women feed their babies from a single breast THE WHOLE TIME - your boobs just adjust). As long as her weight gains are acceptable there is no need to supplement - the sleeping thing is probably unrelated.

I too remember one day when weeks old dd1 slept for only 30 minutes during the whole day and that was because I was holding her. It got better as she got older.

Cheers

[jamb]

Hi Rainbowbrite,

I just wanted to say hang in there! My bub was lucky to have 20 minute naps (twice a day) right up until last week and he is now 13 weeks. I struggled with BF and could not understand why he did not want to sleep. All the stories I heard was they fed and slept. Not my little one.

My hubby and I decided to go against all the advice we were getting given about not setting up bad habits. I kept him close by me, in his pram or in my arms. It frustrated me a little, then I decided to go with the flow and enjoy him and not worry bout housework etc. Sometimes I'd put him down after he had fallen asleep and when he woke and cried I'd reassure him immediately.

He has never cried except when hunger hits and we put this down to a bit of luck and also that one of us will be there if he needs us. I dont believe you can spoil them with love or cuddles. He still doesnt sleep much, but the length of sleep is increasing.

It sounds as though your bub is very content and you are doing a great job. I experimented with bottles of EBM/ formula to see if it bigger feeds increased his sleeps and it didnt. Maybe offer her the second breast and see how interested she is. I think some bubs just dont sleep as much as others. It is tiring for us mums but if she is happy and it seems like she is pretty content give it time. I have demand fed and I am now starting to see a really nice routine developing that he has established himelf.

And we often laugh when we here our bub in his cot at 4am singing and talking to himself or maybe his bunny, who knows!!

[willsmum]

You know what? If you want to cuddle bub to sleep then just do it. The world is a nasty old place when it tells you that you can't even give your own baby hugs and cuddles when they need you the most. The sleep police can bugger off. (As I type, my 9 m.o is curled up asleep on a pillow on my lap and my 3 y.o on the bed behind me).

[Rainbowbrite]

Thankyou all so much. Don't know what i would do without this board. After i typed the first post she slept for 2.5 hours :eek: Just had a 25min feed, fell asleep in my arms again and is still there while i type. I agree that there is no such thing as spoiling her with affection, it sure as hell beats being neglected :)

I think i'll just do what i feel is best. It seems to work for everyone else around here. She seems to be getting bigger (hard to see when i'm with her 24/7). I'm getting a car seat fitted in my car tomorrow (we have one in hubbies car of course) so i'll take her to a breastfeeding support group at the clinic next thursday and she how she's going.

Just need to learn to ignore my mum and step mum - Thats why i've had the net on all day :p . They don't realise how hurtful and critical they sound i guess.

Thanks again, you are all wonderful :cool:
Rainbowbrite

[Megansmum]

The one thing I was told by my sister (has 6 darlings) is to enjoy my little girl at this age (9 weeks) as it does not last long. I agree you can not spoil a baby with too much love & affection. I often cuddle my daughter to sleep after breast feeding then place her in her cot/floor on her buuny rug and she will sleep for a couple of hours, but there are some days when all she wants is me and that is ok. Just "listen" to your baby and they will tell you what they want. ;)

My dad gave me a beautiful box for my dd with a poem,

"Cleaning & scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow,
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep
I am rocking my baby and babies don't keep."

The only excuse I need for not doing the housework (there will always be plenty to go around).

Enjoy!!! :)

[Chickadee]

I totally agree with all the above posts. Enjoy and cuddle your baby as much as you want to. There is plenty of time for her to learn independence later. If you do find that you need some hands free time some options are a baby sling on your chest or I would put my daughter in a battery operated swing - instant sleep.

And some babies are just happy and don't cry. Count yourself blessed! I'd say stick with the breastfeeding. If she's happy and gaining weight then you're doing everything right.

Enjoy your precious time together.