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Two week old LO - Cry, feed, sleep?

Hi there,
Bit of a moan, really... just want to see if anyone else feels like this or if there's something else I should be doing every day with my baby. My LO is 2 weeks old today and the past fortnight have been a long cycle of sleeping, crying, feeding, changing. In between all that, it's just making up bottles, sterilizing, doing laundry and trying to eat something before he wakes up again! He takes ages to settle to sleep each time and I'm starting to feel so sleep deprived! He has colic and doesn't sleep for long at a time - I'm finding it hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel! When does it change? Did anyone else feel this way when their baby was very young? Should I be trying to put him into a routine by now?
Thanks from a mummy who's had a very long day!
webminx

Replies

  • Hi webminx,

    You will hear this a LOT but it does get better. The first few weeks are difficult because everything is 10 x worse when you are sleep deprived. You will find as the weeks progress your LO will settle quicker and things will become easier and so rewarding especially when they smile at you etc.

    All babies are different but with my DS I put did a bedtime routine from 2 weeks or so with bath, massage, bottle and bed just so he could distinguish day from night. In terms of napping, feeding etc that came a bit later - probably at 6 weeks as I think it's hard for them to remember routines any earlier.

    Honestly it does get easier as once they get older their tummies hold more milk and they can go for longer. With colic, it must be so much harder for you but you need to just take each day at a time and get your OH/family/friends to help out as much as they can.

    Good luck,

    Gi & Thomas (14 weeks)
  • It REALLY does get better. I have 2 babies who were a nightmare. They have reflux, are milk allergic and pretty demanding! They are now 25 weeks (6 months Monday) and lovely. It doesnt seem like it. I never slept for the first 10 weeks (but x2 mine, so more like 5 weeks or so for you! lol) and when I stopped trying to bf the boys things got easier and harder at the same time (I wont go into it too much but basically im dairy intollerant so didnt eat much so didnt pass through my bm. As soon as they started formula I travelled to hell and back, with them eventually being diagnosed with milk allergy)

    I noticed things improved when they started to be awake more during the day. This meant that I didnt feel like I was looking after 2 little machines that ate, slept and pooped but 2 beautiful little human beings with their own personalities. This was from about 10 or 12 weeks.

    Bedtime routine is a good one to get started early, even if theyre only in bed for 3 hours before being up for a feed. Its good for them and for you as it begins to teach them when bedtime is. When the boys were small my bedtime routine didnt happen until 10/11pm but I gradually bought this forward and now I fight to keep them up past 6pm! lol

    Dont get me wrong, it still isnt easy. They dont sleep through the night and have only just stopped feeding every 3 hours!

    There is light at the end of the tunnel, and it will arrive when you least expect it, with a smile, when they grab your finger, or look into your eyes when youre feeding them like youre the only one in the world they are comfortable and happy with.

    Gemma, Ryan and Alfie 25 + 5
  • Ditto really.

    At 2 weeks old there is very litle you can do with regard to routine as it is very difficult to make them feed/sleep/wake up if they really don't want to.

    I think the only thing we did at 2 weeks was start a bedtime routine of bath, feed in quiet room, cuddle and bed. Don't necessarily expect him to get the hang of it to start with but just keep perservering with the same thing at the same time every day and he will get the idea.

    My lo had colic too and we would spend every evening between his 6pm and 10pm feeds trying to calm him down. I'm afraid I don't have magic answer, my lo grew out of it at 8 weeks and I believe most babies do by about 4 months however for you this is going to seem ages away. I just focused on 1 day at a time. We did find that massaging his tummy and giving him a dummy really helped though.

    It does get easier and one day soon you will look back and think that it was only a short time he was like this but I know from experience that it doesn't help you much at the moment. Is there anyone who can look after lo for an hour or so to give you a chance to catch up on sleep?

    Good Luck hope it gets better soon

    Wendy & Sebastian 13+3



  • Try to get out every day, even if it's just for a drive so you do something as well as sleep eat etc. Those early weeks are so repetitive and relentless and everyone finds them hard. As everyone else said it gets better, every day a bit better. I wouldn't bother with routine until at least 6 weeks, just try to enjoy your baby as much as you can where he/she is right now even if that's a challenge some days. It will never be as tough as this again!!!
  • Thanks so much everyone! Went out today for the first time with LO in his pram and that seemed to help. He has lots of alert periods, where he gazes up at me (not crying!) and that definitely makes it seem worthwhile! What time did you all start doing the bedtime routine? Around 6:30 or 7pm? Like Gemmiebaby, my LO probably has his "nighttime" feed around 10pm, so could start then and gradually bringing it back, which is a great idea! At the moment, he has no concept of day/night, which isn't helping. So good to hear I'm not alone in wondering if this is "it" and very reassuring to know that things will get better soon. Fingers crossed his colic clears up within 8 weeks too! Any tips re bedtime routine timings would be much appreciated. Thanks again everyone! webminx
  • Fab tip dollywotsit - I have been out everyday since the boys were born, normally with them in the pram. They have a great sleep and I get some fresh air.

    I didnt start the bedtime routine with the boys till 9pm to begin with. I would bath, dress, feed and story the boys so they were in their moses baskets by 10.30pm ish.

    As time went on, and because hubby works till 10pm most nights and I was finding it difficult to bath 2 tired, hungry boys on my own, I stopped bathing them at night. Hubby now does this in the morning, every other morning. I bought the time forward by 30 mins every couple of days till I reached 7.30pm, to be fed and in bed by 8.30pm. They then stayed like this for a while. (The routine was then nappy off time, sleepsuits on, bottle, story, bed) They would still feed at 10 but I had that time in between to myself.

    I now start the routine at 5.45pm, I try and keep the feed till 6.30 and they are in bed asleep by 7pm. By the time your LO is the age of my boys you wont need as long and will be able to take your time, its just that I do 2!

    I do hope the colic clears up as I imagine it is horrid (the boys never had this)

    Gemma, Ryan and Alfie 25 + 5
  • Things get so much better as they grow - honestly. Since12 weeks it has been easier. My LO is already 7 months and I can hardly remeber those days so try to enjoy them when you can - I know it's hard!x
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