3 1/2 week old not sleeping entire night!!!!!

[ZacsMumme]

Sweetie, there is no right or wrong with regards to pacifiers. There is strong evidence to suggest that they Actually help with SIDs, refluxers and very sucky babies that otherwise over feed. They are both a blessing and a curse. Choosing to use one is your decision and either way we will all support you

Generally packs become a prop around 4 months, this is a good time to wean if you feel you want to do so.

[ZacsMumme]

Oops pacis not packs

[Erin M]

(((hugs))) sweetie, my Ds was totally day/night reversed and I have older kids too, so it wasn't even like you could take advantage of all the daytime sleep!!  Anyway, we persevered with keeping him in the light and around us during the day and using dark and white noise at night (he just wanted to be held all night long).  It did even out around 6 weeks - getting a BT routine established really helped us too - just to signify the difference between day and night sleep -- that took a few weeks of work, but was totally worth it.  And fwiw, I've heard that the day/night thing does sort itself out usually around the 6 week mark.

[*Kara*]

Huge hugs from me too - those first few weeks are tough! 

I didn't intervene with the day/night reversal (first baby and I blame the sleep deprivation for my poor thought process)... it corrected itself at 7 weeks.

Do you wake bubs up during the day?

[mamatea4]

Thanks so much for these last 3 posts . . . it reassured me enough that I'm in tears right now (of gratitude) - or is that just hormones

Anyway, yes, I wake DD2 every couple hours during the day & keep the blinds open so she gets natural sunlight (at least until about 5pm when it's starting to get dark here, then I turn on a bedside lamp).

On a positive note, she didn't stay on the breast all night for the last couple.  She still wouldn't settle longer than 20 min at a time in the early eve but after the 11pm feed she slept till 1:30 (then stayed on me for an hour - still not great), fed again at 3:30 & 6:30/7am.  She was restless from 3:30 on but at least she wasn't wailing & only suckled a few times at 15 min or so during the morning stretch.  So maybe it's starting to improve.

So I will persevere with what I'm doing in the day, continue to try a paci at night, try to get a bedtime routine going & hope that she starts sleeping at night.  Can you tell me though how I can KEEP her to sleep since the breast and/or paci isn't actually soothing her into SLEEP at night (just calming her for a period of time) -  or is that just part of what will work itself out in the next few weeks?  Is co-sleeping actually keeping her up maybe?  Should I swaddle her at night too, not just during the day?

Thanks.

[*Kara*]

For sure swaddle at night - entirely possible that she is startling herself awake.  That reflex doesn't fade until closer to 3 months

I doubt that the co-sleeping is keeping her awake - most babies sleep better close to mom

[babymunkey]

I'm going to start swaddling too - we used one for DS and with E, during the day when she's trying to get to sleep and her little arms are flailing and knocking the dummy out, I hold them gently for her and she'll calm within minutes. Def a problem at night too....... need to get up the loft and dig out our old ones and see if they're reusable - I remember the velcro was starting to go.......