Sleep deprived. Please help me remain sane

Dear Rakhi, congrats first.Since the little one is drinking milk , that is liquid, it just gets digested soon and comes out .So she feels hungry again and needs milk every 1 or 1.5 hours.If we are asked to live with liquid alone, we too will feel the same dear.First understand the concept and make the baby sleep near you at least till her 5 th month .

 

I think for a 6 week old, two hours is optimum. Some might sleep longer,say 4 hours, some might sleep less, say 30 mins. mine was like 30 minutes to 1 hr for upto 2-3 months.

 

In my case, I made her sleep next to me and woke up and fed her when ever she felt hungry(I assumed that she might be hungry) and never watched the time gap since I too was feeling so sleepy to watch the time.

But I slept during the day time too since I couldn't get enough sleep in the night time.Tough elders insist not to sleep during the day, I really didn't follow that.Because sleep was not in my control then.

You can try to sleep during the day if possible.Assume that there should be an increase of 2 to 3 pounds in weight at the end of each month and calculate whether your baby is gaining that weight.If so you need not worry about the weight factor.Don't set a point like 10 lbs at this stage or something like that.Because each baby will have different weight at the time of birth and so this 10 pounds weight at a particular month will not fit in general.
Have a nice parenting! Good luck dear.

 

Hi Rakhii,

Hope you and LO are keeping fine. Dont worry so much about her weight gain/ sleep pattern. I think they will get set usually around 3 months time. Till then its tough, i know. I also used to crave to get some sleep as my LO had very erratic sleep patterns. She never used to sleep properly both during day and night (Max 1-1.5hrs) and used to tire me out! But whatever little time she slept, i also used to lie down and relax and not bother about other things. Thats the best thing to do than worry abt them. Slowly things will be fine. Infact, my LO has completed 8 months now and still gets up 2-3 times in the night. I try to rock her and put her back to sleep, but its not possible. Its they who decide what they want to do! So be patient and enjoy the times.. Soon, once ur LO becomes mobile, you will be craving for times when she used to stay put in one place!

 

Hi Rakhii,

My daughter too used to wake up every 2 hours, even when she is not hungry. Our doc told us that new borns sleep cycle is generally around 2 hrs and slowly increases as they grow up.

So dont worry that your dd is underweight. Her sleep cycle is normal.

Your requirements are reasonable. Dont beat yourself up over that. Even i wasnt comfortable cosleeping with my daughter mostly because i too was sleep deprived and was afraid i might hurt her in my sleep.

I used to make up for my lack of sleep either by sleeping during daytime or by sleeping late into the morning.

You can ask your husband to pitch in either by letting you sleep early at night or late into the morning while he takes care of the baby. That way you can catch few hours of undisturbed sleep.

Months old babies' sleep cycle is around 2 hours. They wake up even if they are not hungry bcoz the sleep is sufficient for them. They cant stay awake long either. Within a couple of hours, again she will start feeling sleepy again.

 

Rakhii...Very common with 6 weeks old infant.Hugs..I have been through this..until my girl was 7-8 months.6 week old sleep for a slot of 2-3 hrs.Its completely normal.
My girl was a wakeful baby.I used to get up every 1.5 hrs to feed her.BTW i Bfed her till 1.4 yrs during nights.Seek the help of your hubby to put her back to sleep.Not necessarily you must feed her every time she wakes up.
Don't beat yourself up too much dear.