Help! Exhausted new mom can't get LO to sleep!

[newmum22]

If anyone can give me advice or support I would be really grateful!

My DS is 6weeks old. We have been trying to do E.A.S.Y. since he was born and it has been pretty successful for the most part. (He wasn't a good napper at first, and that would throw us off, but that has improved). Our main problem is that my LO keeps waking up every 2 hours at night and sometimes he'll stay up for over an hour and a half. This whole week has gone something like this: We put him down around 8pm
(or a little later if he resists sleeping), he sleeps until 10 or 11. Then we DF and put him right back to sleep. He gets up at 1am, 3am, stays up until 4:45/5am, then wakes up at around 7am to start the day. I am so exhausted and miserable by the morning, I just take the kid and nurse him in the side position in bed and crash until 10 or 10:30am. I really don't want to keep doing that, but I just can't function at 7am with a night like that!

Every time he wakes up at night I try to feed him (BF) because I am assuming he is waking because he's hungry. Around 1am he does really feed, but at 3am he goes for just a few minutes and then goes back to sleep. If I leave him, he wakes up about 15-30 min later (which is why I assume he's hungry). If I try to wake him up a little to feed him more substantially he stays up for over an hour and half!  I just think that by 6 weeks this probably isn't normal. I'd do anything to get him to sleep for a 3 or 4 hour stretch at night. Is that too much to expect at 6-7 weeks? Please help!

A few more things: we try to cluster feed, swaddle, etc. Ive tried giving him a pacifier at night, but he doesn't seem to like it. I don't change his diaper in the middle of the night unless absolutely necessary.

Other than his night time sleeping he is really a great baby. Not too fussy, etc. What can I do to get him (us!) more sleep at night?

[Colin Macs Mom]

I hate to tell you this but at 6 weeks that's pretty normal. He still has a lot to learn about life and the world, including sleeping. From 0 - 3 mo babies work on organizing night sleep, so that's what he's doing   It can help if you really make the difference between night and day noticable. No talking, eye contact, etc., total dark. And pat/shhh of course if necessary. Does he have any trouble with gas/wind?

[newmum22]

Thanks for your post. My DH and I have been confused on what to expect at this age because all our friends with kids keep saying how sleepy newborns are, but this has not been our experience. Our DS has been really alert since day 1 of his life and it's always a bit of a struggle to get him (and keep him) asleep.

Yes, he does have some trouble with gas. I've been trying to eliminate the foods from my diet that would cause this (coffee, citric juices, broccoli, etc.), but it's tricky to figure out which food or drink is the culprit. Maybe I don't burp him long enough?

[Colin Macs Mom]

Colin has always been alert like that too. The reality is that not all babies, even newborns, are the same. It sure would be easy if they were, and there was a nice cut and dry answer for everything.

I would try burping longer and bicycling his legs too, that might help.

[aidenmc]

My lo has trouble with gas which seems to have him up and not settling through the night as well. Last night he was up about every 2 hours. I finally brought him to bed at 4:30 where he just grunted and moaned for hours. I used to nurse him back to sleep at the 7am wakeup but he is now too awake at that time. I think it must be the early morning hours of the night that are last to get sorted. It's killing me too. Also we just moved him to his own room so I was lying on his floor at one point waiting to be sure he would settle and I wouldn't have to go back in after falling back to sleep. I am lucky when I get a 4 hour stretch out of him. I hope it gets better for you soon! And I agree with pp -put in the time to burp your lo well or it will keep him up. Sometimes it can take a long time - the risk is waking them fully then having difficulty falling back to sleep.

[scucci1979]

Those morning hours are awful.  They grunt and moan. Mine does the same thing. I normally let her sleep in my arms.