Author Topic: It breaks my heart listening to him cry....!  (Read 749 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline NrsT

  • New & Learning The Ropes
  • *
  • Showing Appreciation 0
  • Posts: 21
  • Location:
It breaks my heart listening to him cry....!
« on: May 21, 2006, 09:53:31 am »
My mum has just left after staying to help us out for a couple of weeks, and I now need to get my three week old into a routine. He has become used to falling asleep on grandma and sleeping in bed with me all night.  He doesn't seem to want to sleep unless next to a warm body.  The minute I put him down into his cot (right next to our bed) at night and nap times  he cries, and I can't bear to hear it.  I pick him up and he stops instantly.   He will sleep pretty much through the night (he feeds a couple of times) if he sleeps with me, but cries and cries if I try to put him in cot.  He hates being swaddled, kicks and screams and frees his arms.  Shushpatting seems to wind him up, as does speaking soothingly to him.    I had a Caesar, and so have really needed my sleep but don't want to continue him sleeping in bed as I feel its dangerous, and don't want him falling asleep on people, as he needs to learn to settle himself.  I am breastfeeding, he eats every 2-3 hours, depending on how my milk is doing and whether he's in a growth spurt.  He was just under 11 pound at birth.  How do I start to break this habit of sleeping with me and sleeping on people?  I have repeatedly tried the swaddling and shushpatting, and believe me it really doesn't seem to work with him.  I would really appreciate some advice please.  Is three weeks too young to start? Am I expecting too much? Should I be waiting til a few more weeks have gone by to break these habits?
 
 
 

Offline deb

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 593
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 21312
  • Resident Nac Mac Feegle
  • Location:
    • My Very Own Crunchy & Progressive Parenting Blog
Re: It breaks my heart listening to him cry....!
« Reply #1 on: May 21, 2006, 10:32:37 am »
You're not alone - I went through this with both my girls, the first before I discovered BW and the second out of the necessity of needing to be able to spend time with the first instead of hours on end trying to settle a baby who refused to BE settled. LOL

What's your baby's personality type? I classify Natalie's as "stubborn," frankly - a lot of Spirited with some of the old-soul-ness of Grumpy w/o the "attitude." (Josie, on the other hand, has LOADS of Touchy AND "attitude!") Nat set the agenda as to when she'd eat, sleep, and so on, and HOW she would eat and sleep, and when push came to shove there was nothing I could do about it short of shutting myself in her room and hiring someone to look after Josie. Nat refused to be swaddled, and even managed to get out of a Miracle Blanket in under 30 seconds! :o I ended up using our sling and Baby Bjorn for a while and when she was maybe 4 months old, Josie's preschool started up again, which gave me some breathing room to work on sleep, Nat's AND mine! LOL

It's possible that you may have to wait a while to do any sleep training in earnest, depending on what personality type(s) you'e working with. Meanwhile, I found that a WONDERFUL way for both baby and me to have a restorative nap was to put her on HER belly on MY belly. Granted, you may or may not be able to do this with a C-section so recently, but maybe you sitting in a rocking recliner with baby on your belly above the incision? I'd get a nice 3-hour nap that way and wake ready to face whatever challenges would come next. No, it's not even remotely strictly BW, but it was beautiful and when I get the chance to hold one of my kids while she sleeps, I thank God for the opportunity (assuming I'm not too sleep-deprived to fail to appreciate it, that its!).

Meanwhile, can you get some help while you heal? Someone else can be holding a sleeping baby while you catch a few ZZ's, maybe even paying a pittance to a local teen as a mother's helper to come in while you're right there.

{{{{{HUGS}}}}} to you - this is the hardest part - till the next "hardest part" comes down the road. One thing a naighbor w/2 kids told me that has proven to be true: the only thing you CAN rely on, routine-wise, is CHANGE; the only thing you can reliably expect is the unexpected. Hang in there and come visit here any time you need to - unless you should be sleeping, that is!!!! ;)

Offline NrsT

  • New & Learning The Ropes
  • *
  • Showing Appreciation 0
  • Posts: 21
  • Location:
Re: It breaks my heart listening to him cry....!
« Reply #2 on: May 21, 2006, 21:26:51 pm »
Thank you for your reply.  I don't feel like we've had long enough time on our own to get to know his personality type.  He has been a fantastic sleeper up until now, but as long as it is on somebody.  How did you eventually get your girls to settle themselves and sleep, does it just happen eventually?