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Newborn not sleeping at night - please help!

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and have joined in the hope I can get some advice. I too am having difficulty settling my son into his night time sleep. In the first few days of him being born, he would awake every couple of hours....this I could cope wih however he is now 12 days old and last night he would not settle until 5am (putting him to bed at 10.30). We changed his nappy and fed him a few times but every time we would try and put him in his moses basket, not long after he would start crying. We didn't want to but ended up putting him in our bed and he slept through for 3 hours until about 8am this morning. He is now sound asleep in his moses basket in the living room.

He sleeps like an angel during the day......I'm wondering whether we are stimulating him enough during the day - is this why he won't sleep at night. Last night has been the worst night so far, previous nights we have managed to settle him at 3am. Please help - I had a traumatic birth - got pre-eclampsia and am anaemic. My and my husband's sleep is totally deprived and I don't know what I need to do to try and settle him. Thank-you x

Replies

  • Hi

    I'm not really sure I can offer much advice, but we have a 6 week old. For the first 2 weeks she would not settle at all from about 11pm to 5am, gradually reducing to 11pm to 3am. Like your little one she was an angel in the day, but come 11pm at night - whole different story. About 2 weeks in, all of a sudden she switched, started sleeping 12/1 till 4/5ish then feed, then back down till 7/8. she now has that really unsettled time about 7 in eve till midnight.

    I think it is possible for our lo it was related her feeding. She was also quite colicky so we tried infacol as well. However, the only thing we could really do was just go with it - was so hard, but it does get better. I remember pacing the floor and just dreading the nightimes so much. As I say she suddenly switched herself. I would say sleep when your lo sleeps if you can. I'm sure some others will have good advice. As I stay I do remember how hellish it was but it does get better. My lo is 6 weeks later today, I can tell you at stroke of midnight -i'm expecting miracles, she better turn into that magic baby people talk about emerging after 6 weeks!
  • Hi Monkeybee

    Thank you so much for your response - it sounds like you lo went through a similar thing. It is just so tiring.....I try and nap during the day - it is just so distressing when he won't settle. She is approaching 2 weeks so I'm hoping that things will improve. I feel like you did - feeling anxious when night time approaches knowing that I need to remain positive for fear that my son will sense my anxiety and contribute to him not sleeping.

    Did you find that infacol works? I'm wondering if my son is a bit colicky as when he feeds he tends to take in a lot of air (not feeding continuously and breathing heavily in between sucking).

    Thanks again x
  • Hi

    Sounds like your Lo is the same as mine. Is an angel during the day and mostly has to be woken for feeds, but some night time she is a nightmare, and despite feeding, changing etc she just won't settle. She will more in my arms but NOT in th emoses basket.

    My MW said she probably has colic, so we give her infacol for EVERY feed, apparently it takes 3-4 days to kick in so hoping in a night or two things will get better.

    I've read this story quite a lot over the past few days so I think it is quite common for babies in the night, but from what I am reading it does get better.

    The sleep deprevation is the worst though isn't it!!

    Here's hoping to some better nights soon!

    Rach and Chloe 8 days old
    xx
  • We used infacol and I think it did make a difference so we still use it now. Like Rach said we were advised to use it every feed and that it might take a few days to work.

    It does seem like lots of babies go thro this phase, but I know when you living thro it its not much comfort. For us, as I said, our lo did seem to suddenly switch. I remember waking up feeling at end of my tether and then hubby pointing out actually she settled for good 4 hours. The next night she did the same. She can still be grumpy when we put her down, but will settle eventually and it certainly doesn't usually last past 1am.

    We have used a dummy some nights. She doesn't need it all the time but if she seems particularly colicky and uncomfortable it seems to help her settle.

    Sleep deprivation is hell! Like you I also worried about her picking up on my anxiety, but you are doing a great job, even tho it doesn't feel like it when they just scream at you and you feel like you done everything you can.
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