my son is 12 days old and seems to have his days and nights mixed up. At night he is ready to be awake. any suggestions on how to break this habit? the most difficult issue is that when he is sleeping at night and he wakes up to eat I can't get him to go back to sleep. I have to have him in bed in my arms and then he will be very quiet and eventually doze off. If I lay him in his bassinet he will just spit out his pacifer and wiggle around making all these loud grunting noises! I was wondering if I should maybe start changing his diaper before I nurse him so if he falls asleep nursing I can lay him down and hope he doesn't wake up! I can't remember if I changed my older son before or after his night time feedings but I do remember he always went right to sleep after. What to you guys do?

I always change before a feeding also. I always use a lullaybye CD. For going to bed and when he woke up at night. I would change him feed him and put on his CD. Than I can lay him down wide awake and he will go to sleep. There were times when he would fuss and grunt but all I had to do was SHHH and he went to sleep.

Good Luck

I found that changing my daughter in the middle of her feedings were best for her. She would wake up and be so hungry, so I gave her a couple of ounces, laid her down to change her, and then after picking her back up I could burp her more easily as well. It worked SO well. She was notorious for "doing her thing" while eating, so I had to wait. Good luck.

I agree with changing either before the feeding or halfway through. At night you might also try putting the carseat right in the bassinet and having him sleep there. Include the headrest. You could also try the swing, have him sleep on his tummy if you are comfortable with it or prop him on his side. Most babies do not sleep well or for very long flat on their backs. Since he is mixing up his nights and days you might also try having him sleep flat on his back during the day and use of the other suggestions for night time. You should also keep nights as dark and boring as possible. Keep the lights low if on at all and don't even talk to him when he wakes for feedings. During the day keeping lighting and noise levels normal even while he is sleeping. Sing to him and talk to him during changings and feedings and read to him and "play" with him when he seems alert. Wake him every three hours to feed even if he goes right back to sleep but do not do that at night. One thing you do not want to do is to try keeping him awake during the day when he wants to sleep. Believe it or not, that often overstimulates them and can make the nights even worse.

Nancy

As far as having the days and nights switched, I would suggest that you start waking to feed every 3 hours during the day, and don't wake at night (unless it goes longer than 5 hours between a feed and you are nursing.) Also, keep your house well lit during the daytime and keep the noise up. This will help baby distinguish between day sleep and night sleep. At night, I personally, would not nurse to sleep because I think that can cause a bad habit. I would feed, change, then hold baby until they were close to sleep as possible. Then lay your baby down right before they drift off to sleep. I sometimes had to do this 4-5 times before she fell asleep on her own. But it finally worked and I have an AWESOME sleeper now. She slept through the night at 6 weeks (8 hrs straight) 10 hours at 10 weeks, and 12 hours at thirteen weeks. She is now 8 months old, sleeps from 7pm to 8am (with no feed) and has NEVER woken in the middle of the night since she was 3 months. Even when teething or sick.

hope that helps!

wow guys thanks for the great advice. I have researched online and a lot of your ideas were mentioned like keeping nights boring and low key plus dark. Also about being very social with the baby during the day. My sister in law said the only way her kids slept well was on their stomachs but in the unlikely event that my son died of sids I could never forgive myself. My friend suggested the swing but that seems like a bad habit to fall into. I don't want him to depend on a rocking motion to get him to sleep. I tried the changing him before/in the middle of feedings the past couple nights and so far no luck. He is still wide awake after feedings. I wake up exhausted every feeding and mornings are rough from me spending an hour waiting for him to go to sleep (next to me in my bed!) Luckily my mom is out visiting so maybe we can change this habit before she leaves and I am on my own.

I agree with keeping him stimulated during the day more. But have you tried swaddling. I used to really snuggle mine up in there. We, too, used the carseat all night long in the very beginning. We would swaddle and then put the baby in there to feel really cozy.

I just want to add that you do not need to worry about habits. You put your baby in diapers and don't worry that he will be in them forever. You feed your baby from the breast or bottle but don't worry that he will never eat solids. Its the same with the swing or whatever works for getting him to sleep. I don't know any kindergartner who needs to sleep in a swing, any middle schooler who needs to be rocked to sleep nor any high schooler who needs to be nursed to sleep. Nothing lasts forever. Do whatever works best and don't look back.

Nancy