Sleeping at Night - Washington, OK

She is 6wks old. Don't fret that she doesn't sleep all night. This is 100% normal. At this point most babies wake up several times a night to eat. By the time she is 1 yr old she should be sleeping close to, if not all night long.

My oldest and youngest started sleeping all night at 2 months old. My middle one is 5 yrs old and still is up in the night a couple of times a week.

T., I have a 12 year old daughter. When she was a baby she slept in her car carrier till she was almost 1 1/2 years old. If you tried to put her in her baby bed when she was asleep she would scream. But if you put her in her car carrier she slept well. I asked her doctor if this was bad for her back or anything. He said actually it was better for her because it kept her in the fetal position, cradling her, which is what she was needing to sleep better. So when she would fall asleep in the car carrier at night or when napping I just put the whole car carrier inside her baby bed and she slept great. She did finally out grow it and is a very healthy 12 year old. Sometimes babies just want to feel like they are still inside mommy being cradled.

You can try using a wedge positioner. It worked out well with my son, but his movement was mostly twisting.

Sleep 'N Secure 3-in-1 Sleep Positioner
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-6/qid=117917276...

Hi T.,
Take 3 receiving blankets roll 2 of them up long ways and then put these next to her so she feels surrounded then take the other one and tuck it around her about waist high.
You can also lay her on her side and then put 1 blanket in front of her and the other behind her, then do the same with the 3rd one and tuck it under her. You know the saying "snug as a bug in a rug" Hope this helps W. mom of 4

Have you tried swaddling her without anything on, but her diaper? It would help with the arm swings and may keep her cool too. Let me know what you find.

Get some "white noise" like someone already stated like a fan, and then go on Ebay or to a book store and find the book "BabyWise", it will save your life and sanity and in a few weeks you will have her sleeping 6-8 hours and then 10-12 hours straight. It's a short book, won't take you long to get the concept.

I know everybody says not to, but my son would not sleep on his back at all so I put him on his tummy. He moves his head well and has since he was born. He doesn't suffer from sleep apnea so I didn't have to worry about that either. If you're comofrtable with your duaghter sleeping on her tummy then I would try it.

My daughter was almost the exact same way. She also is very warm-natured. I would put just a t-shirt on her and swaddle her with her arms out, because she threw a fit if her arms were confined. She still would hit the side of the bassinett so at 3 weeks, we moved her to her crib in her room. After that she slept really well for 4 hours at a time. And I slept much better too!

Up until my son turned 4 weeks old we took turns sleeping on the couch with him, after that he pretty much slept in his swing. Its the only place where he would sleep for a good amount of time and the only place he would nap...its nothing to feel guilty about, you have got to do what you gotta do to get some rest.

Hi T.,
I have a 9 week old boy and we were dealing with the same thing. I found turning the air conditioning pretty cold and swadling seemed to work. It required some extra covers for my husband and I but the baby slept much better and so did we. Good luck.
S.

T.,

I have a 18 month old and a 4 year old and my son used to do the same thing. I would have to agree with Jana that it might be time to move your daughter in her crib. I know it is a tough thing to do but I think it will help. Sometimes when they swing there arms in a bassinet they wake themselves up b/c it is so narrow the crib is much wider. You might also try a wedge (you lay them in the middle of two wedges, you can buy them at babiesrus,target,walmart). I think starting to get a routine or schedule going also really helps, both my kids are great sleepers and we always had a schedule and put them to bed awake. That way they learn to sooth themselves. I hope some of that helps, take care and good luck
:)S.

You should read a book by Dr. Harvey Karp called The Happiest Baby On The Block. It has been very helpful. It talks about the 5 s's which have worked wonders on our little one. Swaddle is of course the first and foremost...being hot natured you could always try stripping her down to just diaper or a thin onesie and put her in an all cotton (we have a fleece one and a plain cotton which is much thinner) swaddle or a thin recieving blanket. Our daughter is now 14 weeks old and has been sleeping through the night (at least 7-9 hours per night) since she was 6 weeks old and I firmly believe it's b/c of the swaddle and womb noise (from a sound machine) we play in her crib every night to put her to bed. I also noticed early on that she sleeps much longer and better in her crib in her room than she did in the pack n play or cradle we had in our room. We didn't have a choice but to use her crib the first 3 weeks b/c the cradle was being hand made and we didn't get it until she was 3 weeks old...by that time she was used to it I guess and just slept better in there than she did when we tried using the cradle. Unfortunately that beatiful cradle got next to no use at all! :( Anyhow...just my thoughts and what has worked for us...hope something helps. :)

Hi T.,

I have 'survived' three children through the stage you're in and have some wonderful advice we learned from our last pediatrician. My first thought is that although it may seem hard to you...it's just about time to move your little one to her own baby bed and out of your bedroom. You will thank yourself in the long run. (This is commonly practiced/ accepted pediatric advice.) Next...you can look this up online...it's called Focal Feeding and our last pediatrician told us about it. We always ~ no matter what ~ bathed our little guy every night at 7pm...no exceptions. It helps babies learn the time of day...bedtime! After bathing, if she wants a bottle, feed her, then, lay her down and do not rock, or sing, or anything, just gently say your 'goodnights' and if you play music, fine, but leave the room. Between 11 - 12 midnight (if she isn't fully sleeping through the night without a bottle) pick her up and give her a bottle and lay her back down without any playing, keep the lights low, etc. Then, she should sleep until the morning. Again, this is all online..."Focal Feeding". And, I'm sure you've heard that babies, just like adults, wake up, turn over, fidget, etc. and then go back to sleep. She needs to learn how to put herself back to sleep. And, if she's in her own bed...it will happen. Otherwise, you're impeding her learning process of teaching herself how to go back to sleep. And, trust me, if you keep picking her up and rocking her, etc. you will have a little 9 month old monster on your hands demanding these things at 3 in the morning and 8 months from now after doing it for 9 months...you won't be calling her "angel". As a first time mother, I hope this doesn't sound harsh...ask any pediatrician, any grandmother, any other mother whose judgement you trust...they'll tell you the same thing.

I will tell you that my third child was the easiest of my three children because of this advice. He's 3.5 now and has been the easiest napper, sleeper, etc. because I kept him on a schedule. Babies and toddler need routines and schedules. I passed on lunch date offers because of his nap schedule. So, I am a 'protective' mother in the sense that I will do what is best for my children and I wish more than anything I had been given this advice with our first two!

Good luck! and Sleep well soon!!
J.

Hi T.,

When my daughter was that small didn't sleep well either and since she was born in mid May (actaully today is her b-day)I felt it was too hot to use blankets. I used one of those wedges that you can find in any baby store or even may be Walmart, you can place her on her side and she won't move her arms that much. Just place her in a different side each night, even if her feet has to go the other side, because I had trouble with my second daughter because of placing her on the same side, I had to force her to sleep on the other side because she started developing a different shape on her head and didn't want to look to one side. The problem was solved thanks to my great doctor that realized about it early enough.
Hope you can get some rest soon!
Mariana
www.mykidsfirst.com

I used to put just a diaper and little t-shirt on my daughter and I put a box fan in the room and turned it on low, not pointing it on her but in a direction that could give some air circulation through the room. The fan noise blocked out any little "bumps" in the night that might have woken or startled her from sleep.
Good Luck~

Being that young she needs to wake up every few hours to eat anyway, so I wouldnt worry about it. In a few months the reflexes will stop and may be able to sleep for longer... but she needs to get up and eat every few hours anyway, so I wouldnt worry about anything for now...

When my oldest was small and had colic he sometimes would only sleep in he's car seat. That was fine with me as long as he slept. If she sleeps best in her swing Then I say move it into your room. At least you might get a little more sleep. Just remember it really well only be for a short time. Cause soon she'll sleep fine in her crib/bassinet
M.

We struggled with this little problem too. Our baby slept the best in his swing, and when he was sleeping I was a happy camper. I would just let him sleep in the living room in his swing....I would turn the monitor up all the way so I could hear any noise he made....I felt a little guilty at first but it was the only way I was able to get 4 hrs of sleep at a time. Hope this is helpful, just remember you are an even better mommy when you gotten some sleep.

What if you try dressing her only in her diaper and swaddling her with a very light blanket?

My 10 week old did htis as well. I read the book (and watched the DVD) "Happiest Baby on the Block"by Dr. Harvey Karp. He teaches a swaddling technique that is very easy. My baby fought the swaddle too, but once you add the rest of the technique from the book/video, they drift right off to sleep. It added HOURS to his sleep time. Also, he says some babies do better sleeping in the swing...
The only critique I have is that the he recommends doing the swaddle for the frist 3 to 4 months. After a while, I felt like the swaddle was too much and I worried about motor development delay.
Good luck!
T.