Hey everyone!
This post as absolutely nothing to do with books, but as many of you are moms I thought I would use the opportunity to seek advices from more experimented mothers :)
Lily-Ann is now 8 weeks old and has been sleeping in her own bed, alone in her room, for about a month now. During the day, she pretty much sleeps only in our arms and wakes up within 20min if I set her to sleep in her park, located in my living room. At night, she sleeps in her crib and usually wakes up 2-3 times per night to feed (I am breastfeeding). She never fell asleep on her own, always while feeding or I have to rock her to sleep. Most of the time she half wakes-up when we lay her in her bed and f
Everyone tells me I should let her cry herself to sleep or she’ll never want to fall asleep on her own and while I don’t want her to be dependant on me to fall asleep, I don’t want her to cry until exhaustion and loose trust in me. I read a lot online about different techniques and I want to start establishing a routine starting with bath at 8 (my husband gets back from work at 7 and I want him to see her a bit before she goes to bed) followed by baby lotion, feeding, rocking (I ordered books to read stories eventually) and bed time.
But I’d like to know about your experience. How was sleeping time with your newborn? How did the transition go? What was the best technique for you? What about day time? Do you have any tips to help her sleep on her own during the day?
Also, it’s hard to put her to back to bed once the sun is up, so I plan to buy more opaque shades to help. Any other ideas?
I’m also debating when to start giving her a bit of cereals. I’d love a few more hours of sleep, and my mom is convinced I should give her half a spoon every night so she’d sleep better nights but I think she’s too young. I’m thinking maybe start in a month or two. When did you start? Any tips to help her sleep longer during the night? I’ll introduce some “white noise” such has her air purifier (which I was turning off at night) or some music.
I know that each baby is different but seeing what everyone else is doing can help find tricks and help me discover the technique that will work for my daughter.
Thank you so much for your time and help and bookish related content shall resume tomorrow morning! lol
With each baby is different with night time.
ReplyDeleteWait for 6 months for the cereal. Thats helps with night times. I did formula feeding with my kids and that helped sleep through the night.
I walked around alot and I car rides were always great to put the kids asleep. Those are some things I did with my kids. Wish I could help more...I do know that babies are growing and changing so much during that first year..she might be having some growing pains.
Thanks Julie! She's actually easy to put to sleep. Less than 5 min of rocking and shes asleep. Im just afraid shell always want to be rocked to go to bed. Or at least thats what everyone tells me =/
DeleteHi Tynga!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your baby girl! She is just beautiful!
Wait on the cereal until she is at least six months old. Feeding babies too early can cause digestive issues and turn your darling daughter into a fussy baby.
Formula does seem to take longer to digest and may help her sleep a bit longer but again you take the chance of a formula not agreeing with her.
White noise did help my daughter sleep through the night-we put a baby moniter in her room with the static channel.
Just my two cents.
Good luck!
Thanks fot your advice !
DeleteCongratulations on your sweet little girl!! I am about to have my third child in 20 days or so! I have been trying to remember all the things I did to get my older daughter (who is 7 now) to sleep! I do think that 2 months is pretty early for cereal. She may get tunny troubles from that and keep you up even more. I read a book called The Happiest Baby on the Block and I swear by his advice about pretty much everything. Swaddling always helped my daughter sleep better during the day. I hope that help some. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteIll try swaddling during the day. She doesnt like it at night because she sleeps with her arms in the air.
DeleteGood idea. When my oldest was in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) the nurses were pros at swaddling. They kept his arms bent with his fists close to his face. The nurse said their hands by their face was soothing for baby. I think adults sleep with their hands by their faces even, I do.
DeleteI agree with everyone else about the cereal. My daughter had a hard time falling asleep for the first six months. We kept her with us swaddled and used the white noise which helped a lot. My husband would play with her hair (she had a lot when she was born) and she would fall asleep within a couple of minutes. She is now four and plays with her own hair. I could never do the "let them cry it out" because it just broke my heart.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was a formula-fed baby but she woke up every two hours so it is worth a shot to try. Good luck, the first few months are rough for any new parent.
Hearing her cry breaks my heart too
DeleteYes, I would hold off on the cereal too. When I had my first, it took me until he was about 2 weeks old to figure out that he was too hungry to go to sleep. I spoke to my doctor and we switched him to formula and he did good. But then he still wouldn't sleep in his crib. Only when someone held him. It then took me another 2 weeks to figure out that he liked to be rocked to sleep and then I would lay him on his tummy and he would sleep for hours! lol! I know that the whole thing is to put babies on their backs to sleep, but back in the olden-days, babies slept on their tummies... in the end that what both my baby boys preferred. They're now 8 and 6 and they both still sleep on their tummies :)
ReplyDeleteIt's all trial and error, every baby is different, and of course you do what you think is best :) It breaks my heart to hear babies crying, especially my own babies. I watched an episode on Oprah once were they were showing moms that let the babies cry and I cried throughout the whole episode, it broke my heart! I don't want my babies growing up thinking that I don't care. But I guess some people don't see it that way... Congrats again, and good luck!
PS, and yes, my boys did get used to rocking and I had to wean them off at the same time that I took their pacifiers away, lol! Sounds mean and hard to do, but we all did good and then I was the one left in tears because I missed rocking them so much :)
DeleteShe likes to sleep on her tummy too, so I put her on her back at night, and let her sleep on her tummy during the day when I supervise her :)
DeleteCongratulations! She's so cute. I was breastfeading to and I wait until they were 6 months old before i start the cereals. With my little girl (she is 6 years old now), she was crying when I was leaving the room and nobody was able to confort her except me. The only trick that I found was to put something that I was wearing in her bed, like a t-shirt by example. It was magic!
ReplyDeleteI read about that, but I wear tanktop and was afraid she would strangle herself or something. *paranoid mom*
DeleteMy son was a horrible sleeper. I could never let him cry it out because he threw up every time he cried. So I rocked him to sleep. It took very little time each night, but I couldn't seem to break it. I did that until he was almost a year, and then switched to rubbing his back as he lay in bed, to slowly stopping that. He's 3 now and goes to sleep by himself. Took a lot of time, but it worked for us. He was also a tummy sleeper, and still is.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah! I dont mind rocking my baby to sleep, I guess Itll just take longer to get her to sleep alone when shes older
DeleteI think the only thing you should do is do what feels right to you and the baby! I don't let my 13 week old baby cry.. it doesn't feel right to me. He's had to whine a little to get himself to sleep, but if he seems genuinely upset I pick him up. You're right, they're learning to trust you right now. Getting her to sleep how you wnt will come in time. Just take things slowly!
ReplyDeleteMy little one sleeps in bed with us, and we don't have a set bedtime or routine. We kind of go with the flow... LOL. So, I guess if you want a schedule, I'm not one to give advice. With my first baby, I tried SO HARD to get her to sleep and nap the way it seemed like she was "supposed to" and it was a battle. I felt so much better once I just let her do her thing.
She's definitely not ready for food yet, like cereal. Unless she has a reason and the pediatrician recommends it, don't start yet! Her tummy isn't meant to digest that yet.
I let her sleep has she wants during the day, but I read that a bedtime routine helps them sleep longer at night so I`ll give it a try :) What I wouldnt do for 6-7 hours of sleep in a row!
DeleteYou'll get there!! I know, it feels like you'll never sleep again. I totally understand wanting to have a routine to help her get down better/longer!
DeleteI wasn't trying to come off as bossy (so I hope I wasn't!). I just want to let you know what works for me. Each baby is different, so what works for me probably won't for you. LOL! Too bad each baby doesn't come with an instruction manual.
You didnt sound bossy no worries :)
DeleteThe best way to find out about when to try her on cereal is to talk to your pediatrician. I don't have kids but I was very involved with my sister's when they were born and for their early years, they even called me mommy half the time, lol. I know their doctor suggested adding a little cereal to bottles (they all were formula babies), as did my brother's little boys dr. My SIL breastfed but would pump then bottle feed, eventually she switched to formula. I can't remember how old they were when they started adding the cereal though.
ReplyDeleteI don't think at 2 months that you should worry about her getting too used to being rocked. You can try white noise or soft music if you would like.
I'm trying to white noise right now, I'm leaving her air purifier running all night. Well see if it works. Pediatrician are the rarest thing here, most kids dont have one.
DeleteI have 4 boys with my youngest being 2. Since they were born I established a bedtime routine of bath, feeding and bed. It took a few days but the routine stuck and it was so much easier at bedtime. Id lie them down in their cot and sit and read for a bit, I never let them cry themselves to sleep, I couldnt. I always had noise in the house as well so that none of the boys would wake at the slightest thing. As far as food goes, here they dont recommend feeding till after 4 months. Its hard on their digestive system. Every child is different but dont worry about having to rock her, my boys each had their own thing to get to sleep during the day, enjoy her and you will know yourself what feels right.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nat! Good advice :)
DeleteSame here! One advice, Stop breastfeeding, baby drinks way more with a bottle! After two days she will sleep all night long :) 9-10 times they are just hungry and bottle milk/formula tast better for the baby than breastmilk. Good luck with all the advice :)
ReplyDeleteI dont want to stop breastfeeding until I feel its not enough for her anymore. I do pump my milk though and tried giving her the bottle for her last feeding but it didnt make a difference, she still wake up a few hours later. Same when we go out and a give her a bottle, 2 hours later (just as usual) she asks for more.
DeleteIt's an old cliche, but true, that time goes by so fast. Before you blink, Lily-Ann will be in school and you will miss these days...really ;) I think you should do what feels right for your family and if that means you or your husband rocking her to sleep for awhile, that's okay. My husband also worked really long shifts and rocking our girls to sleep was pretty much the only time he got to spend with them, how could I tell him not to?
ReplyDeleteThere will be lots of time later on to establish the kind of bedtime routine you want...right now just enjoy your beautiful baby!
thank you so much Cheryl :)
DeleteYou can talk to your pediatrician about your concerns. Mine talked about having a routine throughout the day of feeding the baby as soon as she wakes up then having some awake time then putting them down for naps before they get exhausted. I didn't want to have my baby cry for hours either so I set a timer for 5 minutes at first. Once the timer would go off I would go in and sooth the baby by rubbing her back/ singing/ maybe picking them up, then I'd go out and set the timer again. I got to 10 min. eventually and 15 min. when they were older. They would fall asleep before the 15 min. timer went off. You're her mother and you'll know what's best for your baby and you. Do what you feel is comfortable. I read BabyWise and adapted it to our family. I have 3 boys, and my oldest slept 6-7 hours at 12 weeks, my next at 9 weeks, and the last one at 7 weeks! You're doing a wonderful job! Keep it up!
ReplyDeletePS- My boys were all breastfed until around 5 or 6 months. So they slept through the night before formula and before cereal (except my oldest had cereal first). The first baby was definitely harder as I tried to figure out what worked and gained confidence as a mother. On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam helped with my confidence to give me a foundation. I didn't do everything exactly like they said though. :)
Deletethanks Kathryn!
DeleteFrom what I know with what my sis did when she had her daughter, cereal doesn't come until the baby can sit up--I believe that was the rule. Something about it digesting better for the baby.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to sleep, I think it might be better to let her cry herself to sleep if she's already had her last feeding. My niece didn't really cry too much at night, so I can't really say what my sis did. But I think it might be better for Lily-Ann to cry herself to sleep if it's not feeding time. But you are the mommy and you should decide what is best.
Thanks Jessica!
DeleteThank you all so much for your advices! It makes me feel much better about my decision to not let her cry to exhaustion. I also bougt a book to guide me, but I`ll follow my instincts :)
ReplyDeleteTynga, you need to do what feels right for you. Most of the comments above said to check with your pediatrician. We were lucky to have a fantastic pediatric clinic nearby and they offered great support. If you are home and breastfeeding and you are comfortable with it, then stick with it because it's good for the baby. I breastfed all 3 boys and we did give them water in a bottle just to make sure that they could take liquids from the bottle (especially if it was hot like last week). Re sleep, as she grows, she'll sleep more. If you are only rocking her for 5 minutes, you are lucky. She's a great sleeper. I think if you do the same thing every night and tell her that it's time to sleep, she'll get it. We used to rub the boys backs and say Nighttime is for sleeping. However, just as you get them sleeping longer, they do tend to go through a growth spurt and need more to eat. She's really too young for cereal. Introducing solids too early can upset a baby's tummy and can also make the baby intolerant to some foods. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHere's an article on "crying it out" you might find interesting: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201112/dangers-crying-it-out
ReplyDelete