Please help a new mum - baby will not sleep!

minerva_windsong

I don't have any children myself so feel free to ignore this, but just as a thought...

Have you got one of those teddy bears that makes a 'heartbeat' noise? I'm not sure where you can get them but if it's the comfort of being close to you she likes maybe it would be worth using that in the cot so she can hear the noise. Or alternatively you could go for the low tech version of wrapping an old fashioned alarm clock in a towel...

gratefulforhelp_2

milliebear that is great advice.

becles you can "pick me up" as you wish, but I make no apology for saying that is a fact. People who mix breast and formula feeding are doing so in spite of their choice to do so, it doesn't always work that way. Also, I think I made it really clear that the OP has the choice whether to breastfeed or not.
timai I'm so sorry you think I'm a knowitall. The factually incorrect advice was that mixed feeding would help. The reason is that the more you feed, the better your supply. It is simple, and I reiterate that it is each woman's choice, since it is her body, and her baby. Noone ever said that breastfeeding was easy, and they were right.

feelinggood_2

About feeding. It is a complicated subject, and I think that if Breastfeeding is important to Skinty, then she needs to have all the facts to make an informed descison.

Topping up with formula can cause problems for some (not all) women. It wouldn't be fair to pretend there aren't risks.

It is a case of weighing up the options, and choosing what is right for yourself.

And one thing it is worth highlighting again - Skinty, your milk is fine. You are producing plenty, and it is great quality. Very, very few women aren't able to produce enough milk for a baby, so don't worry about that. Cluster feeding is normal in the early days, but it is very, very tiring.

Also, if you decide to express, if you cannot get very much, DO NOT be disheartened. Pumping output is not an indication of how much milk you are producing. It can take a while to get the body to respond to the pump, and a baby is far more effecient than a pump!

feelinggood_2

Oh, another thought on the co-sleeping. LO seemed to just need to be touching part of me, and would often sleep happily if he had my arm next to him. He just seemed to need some skin-to-skin contact.

cazscoob

hi skinty you have probably got so much advice its coming out of your ears!
we had a lot of triuble getting erin to settle in the early days and there were a few things i learnt.
the mains things being having regular nap times, get in there before she gets overtired, pick up on the little signs that she may be getting tired. make sure whatever she is going into (cot/moses basket etc) is warm as putting them down onto something cold often startled them. swaddling was also a great thing as she couldnt throw her arms around and scare herself or wake herself up! make sure you have the same little routine everytime you put her down, wether it be a song or mobile played etc then she will cue this to mean nap time. The strangest thing that erin likes is to have a blanket over her head? i dont know why but it works! we have a few knitted squares or muslins but she has to have them over her face and she settles straight away!
Try to be calm and it really does get easier! wishing you the best of luck! x

viktory

skintchick wrote: »

It's not colic - we know when she has wind and this is just different, it's unsettled, overtired, crying.

Belated congratulations on your LO

Have you tried a dummy?

BrunoM

Hi Skinty

One thing which I don't think I noticed anyone else saying - make absolutely 100% clear to OH, HV, and to anyone else who is around, how you're feeling and how much you need support right now. Don't be shy, ashamed or embarrassed. Because, as others have said, it will change if you can give it time even if you can't fix things now - babies change soooo fast.

Lots of other pointers people gave ring true with our experience, but the other one to highlight is feeding lying-down so that night feeds become a bit less gruelling.

Good luck, it will get easier, and by the time you've tried all the advice on this thread LO will be starting nursery anyway

angelicmary85

Hiya,

Not read all of your thread so not sure if this has been suggested already but we started controlled crying when DD was very young, it's not very nice and may disturb other kids if you have any but it done wonders for us! DD slept through the night at about 2weeks. Got a wee boy of 12weeks who can also fall asleep by himself as we started controlled crying with him aswel.

Cazscoob my daughter sleeps with her bear over her face and my friends little one used to have to be wrapped like a mummy before he would slee! Bizzare!!

gairlochgal

Hi there

She sounds exactly like my now 11 yr old. In our case, no health problems or food sensitivities - she was just a baby that needed to be held all the time. If I remember rightly, it got a bit better after 6 weeks and a lot better after 11 weeks.

We went with co-sleeping in the end. I would prop myself up a bit on a nursing pillow and have her lying on me at first and next to me when she was a bit bigger. We managed to make ourselves comfortable to the point where I would drift off to sleep and she would latch on and feed as she wanted during the night. I used to organise it so she was next to me on under a baby blanket, not the duvet, and on my side of the bed, minimising the risks.

In desperation we tried a dummy when she was 4-5 weeks old and they were too much hassle - she would wake up and scream when she lost it. She turned into a very chilled baby who happily breastfed at home and took formula from a bottle in nursery when I went back to work.


Best of luck. Keep posting - lots of good support here.

weezl74

Hi skinty

Not much to add, but just to echo that the cherry type dummies work really well for us. I was reluctant at first, but feel now that for a limited time each day (just to drop off) they are a great idea and I'm glad we went for it!:D

Hope you feel ok until they come, but if you're desperate, sometimes pound shops have them, for some reason cherry dummies seem to come from cheaper places? not sure what that's about... I keep getting them (BNIB) from a guy at the car boot sale who got a job lot off ebay!

Congrats on getting this far, I think you're doing a brilliant job :T:T:T:T