Author Topic: 2 week old and easy  (Read 2074 times)

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Offline Pearla

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2 week old and easy
« on: January 12, 2018, 19:28:59 pm »
Hi ladies,

I'm feeling really overwhelmed and lost with where to start.  The crazy thing is this is my third child, but with a 7 year age gap I cannot remember what or how I did the baby stage.

So lo is breast feed which I thought was going ok, but unfortunately he has lost weight again this week so has not gained his birth weight.

The biggest issue is sleep.  We seem to spend what feels like eternity feeding and then trying to settle to sleep.  Unfortunately sleep might be 20 mins/ 30 mins.....on occasion might get 2hr but rare. 

I can't get him to settle in moses basket, bouncy chair.   So basically he wakes and I try resettle in arms, and keep him like that till it becomes apparent sleep is not forthcoming.

The nights are slightly better, might get him in moses for 2 of the 3 wake ups.

The public health nurse today said he is probably loosing weight because he is burning all the calories as he is mot sleeping.  Wtf??  Sorry!  But that leaves me devastated.   I'm not doing it on purpose.   She made it sound like I can just pop him in basket and he will magically drift of to sleep.

So some advice ladies.
What should I expect for a 2 week old......I'm now completely wound up by sleep and lack of it.  I have two other beautiful girls to care for.  All they have seen is me constantly carrying a baby.  My 7 year old is definitely feeling left out.

So after I feed and wind.  I swaddle with one arm out.  I let him get sleepy in arms.  Currently use a dummy and it feels constant through the whole day otherwise he is not quite.

I settle in cot and try and remove dummy at calm drowsy stage.  It seldom works.  Settling could take an age.  Then it's hit and miss if he sleeps.  I try resettle if he wakes, bit normally after a while I give up and then just try and get him to sleep in my arms....needless to say by time he is asleep it's near eating time again.

I'm lost.  How do I get successful naps, and independent ones.  I'm worried about him becoming completely dependant on it.  He already constantly has it.

So I realise this is a complete ramble but I just don't know where to start.

Grateful for any help.
Claire.

Offline eva026

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Re: 2 week old and easy
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2018, 09:02:42 am »
Hey there, congrats on your new baby.
Personally I’d ditch all the easy and settling in cot stuff for the moment. Plenty of time to introduce that later. First few weeks are survival mode for me and doing whatever ever baby and I need to get some rest and stay sane. Everything can be undone later on, these forums provide plenty of help and support for that.
If he needs the dummy and your arms to sleep then hold him. In my case baby wearing was a lifesaver. Baby slept in the wrap and I had 2 hands free to play with her older sister.
I tried not to feed to sleep but pop a dummy in instead but that’s about it. We used a dummy for sleep only with her older sister and it was super easy to get rid of when she was 2yo.
Good luck!





Offline becj86

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Re: 2 week old and easy
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2018, 11:12:11 am »
Hi :)

I second everything Eva has said - at 2 weeks, just do what you have to, to get the sleep into LO. If that means wearing baby, then do that for now. Plenty of time to achieve independent naps when you've a good routine and things are a bit calmer.

I posted on your CRC thread too with some info re: reflux vs oversupply/overactive letdown. Your story sounds so similar to my first few weeks with my DS who lost weight, then gained too slowly. I had too much milk, not too little and it sounds crazy but I had to get that sorted as it was causing him issues with gas from gulping air to cope with the flow of milk. He couldn't be put down for naps and was unhappy most of the time. He was perhaps more settled in the afternoon/evening when my supply was lowest and people who saw him then thought he was colicky. Have a read of that info an see if anything rings bells there - its a tricky balance to feed LO whilst also allowing your supply to establish but you can seriously have a 'different' baby within days to a week if that's the issue and you can get it under control.

Hugs xx

Offline creations

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Re: 2 week old and easy
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2018, 14:25:37 pm »
Congratulations on your new addition and hugs, it's hard having a new born!

What should I expect for a 2 week old....
Honestly what you describe about the difficulty sleeping, about holding LO all the time, and feeling like you only just get LO asleep and then it's feed time again - all that sounds absolutely normal and exactly what to expect if I base it on my own experience.  We stumbled from one feed to the next for 4 weeks feeling like there was never time to shower or eat and that no one ever slept.  And I only had my DS and no other children to care for.

Try not to worry about props at this point. I did try to get my DS down to sleep almost every S from the day he was born but that took a huge amount of time and effort and was rarely successful, more of a gradual process over the first couple of months really and I really don't think I could have done it if I had other children.  If I was you now I'd just do whatever needs to be done to get through, sling naps and pram naps always sound like a good plan when there are other kids to care for.  These early weeks are very hard work, new borns need so much time and attention but things are going to get a bit easier as time goes on.