Newborns and sleeping - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

KeltoKel · 11-29-2006, 03:41 PM

I thought newborns slept a lot!?!?

My son is 3 weeks old and I feel like he just doesn't really nap much during the day. Often he has cat naps - for a half hour or maybe more. It is killing me b/c everyone tells you to "sleep when the baby sleeps." Well, I don't feel like he sleeps much! Today he had a nap for an hour and a half and I was so happy.

At night, he will go for maybe 2 hours in his crib at a time. I feed him and try putting him down again, but he is often restless - moving his arms and legs - and it takes some time for him to fall back to sleep. He will cry and then I go back to rocking him and trying to put him down. Often an hour will go by and he is so tired - but will not fall back to sleep! UGH!

However, if I camp out on the couch with him, he will easily sleep for 3 hours. I assume the warmth of my body makes him sleep longer.

Does anyone else have stories about their newborn not sleeping well? Any advice or tips?

sweetea13 · 11-29-2006, 04:00 PM

When my ds was a newborn he didn't sleep much either unless I was holding him. Do you swaddle him? This seemed to help cause often when they are that little there nervous system isn't fully developed and there arms jerk them awake. This helps with keeping him warm too.

KeltoKel · 11-29-2006, 04:22 PM

Swaddling is hard with my DS b/c of how much of moves his arms and legs around. He kicks the swaddle right out from under him in no time! I try to get a tight swaddle but he always is out of it - and things I have read told me that you should no longer use a blanket if they can kick out of it.

I have a sleep sack but the arms are very big where his hands wouldn't come out of the sleeves. The size is 0-9 months, but the arms are too long for him yet. Perhaps I should use the sack and just let his arms be inside the sack?

Faythey · 11-29-2006, 04:26 PM

My DS never slept well. When we first took him home he slept 2-3 hours at a time at night, but he wouldnt sleep during the day unless I was holding him and even then it was just for maybe an hour. I started swaddliung him and putting him in his swing at night at about 3 weeks and he started sleeping 4-5 hours at night. He's 4 months now and only takes 2 one-hour naps during the day if I'm lucky.

The only things that helped for me were the swing, his bouncy seat and swaddling. DS didnt sleep in his crib until he was maybe 6 weeks or so.

Edit: Sorry, just read your last post. My DS also started kicking out of his swaddling blankets because he was just too big for them. BUt I bought this blanket called the miracle blanket and it is AMAZING. He's still sleeping in it now and he's doubled it size. This blanket is the ONLY reason I can get any sleep. Just do a google search for Miracle Blanket and it should be the first link. It's a little expensive, but totally worth it.

*Stace* · 11-29-2006, 05:19 PM

you could also try a swaddleme blanket...they're only about $10.