Why sleep at night when you can sleep during the day?
We seem to still be on our pregnancy sleep schedule: up all night on Friday, then sleep through the night (and all the evening breastfeeding sessions) on Saturday, then up all night on Sunday, then sleep (we hope) on Monday. Repeat. Over and over again. We used to joke when the little one was in utero that our baby was going to keep to this schedule once she was born. And she has.
Please, start formulating the sympathy comments.
It actually isn’t that bad. We are getting great nights of sleep every other day. And even on the nights when she’s up, we manage to get around 5-6 hours of sleep in short bursts (the key is getting into bed early and sleeping for a few hours before she wakes up at, say, midnight!). Thank goodness for co-sleeping. We can at least sleep during those feeding sessions.
Part of the challenge with Miss Leyba’s sleep schedule is that she’s now up for longer stretches of time. For the first three weeks or so, she’d only be up for an hour or two, whereas now she often stays up for 3-5 hours at a stretch (usually twice a day). She has also been finishing up a growth spurt so she is no longer up and feeding every hour. (Yes, that was a fun few days. My nipples are still recovering… Actually, I loved all the extra time with her.) Unfortunately, last night her awake stretch was from around midnight until 5 this morning. (David and I took turns with her while the other one slept. Or tried to sleep.) We love the extra awake time with our peanut, but we need to figure out a way to have those awake periods be at more reasonable times of day.
We’ve tried to wake her up every hour or few hours during the day, but all she is interested in is feeding and going back to sleep. And none of the standard baby waking techniques seem to work (undressing, cool washcloths, loud music, vertical positions, etc.). The best way for her to stay awake is for her to gulp lots of air while breastfeeding so that she has tremendous burps and spit up and tummy troubles that keep her up. And truthfully, we wouldn’t wish that on anyone, let alone our little girl. Of course, being a baby who is a voracious eater and can empty my breast in ten minutes flat, this is a frequent occurrence. Hence the five hour stretch of awake time last night. Thank you to Harvey Karp
When my nephew was born and I just wanted to hold him, my mom told me I should put him down when he was napping during the day so he would wake up when he was ready instead of being lulled back to sleep or stay asleep longer because he was being held. She said that would help him have his awake time during the day and less so at night. Maybe that would help? You might already be doing this, but I thought I’d mention it in case you hadn’t tried it yet.
P.S. – I totally owe you a phone call!
hey girl! hope you get some more rest!
Ahh, the good old day/night mix-up. I don’t miss those days… During C’s mix-up time, once it was morning we would turn on the bedroom light, and then if she was up a night we’d keep just turn on a small bedside light to keep things dark. And if it’s warm enough, try to take her outside during the day as much as is feasible. Until then, sleep when she’s sleeping, and like most parenting things, this will eventually pass… And ditto on the thank god for co-sleeping. It rocks.
She’s still so adorable! I hope you get more sleep! Though these days, I’m walking around pretty sleep-deprived, I can only imagine how you are feeling! Lots of love to mommy and baby!
Something to consider…if you know she has been fed, has a clean diaper, and isn’t in abdominal distress, let her fuss when she stays awake at night. I discovered that my efforts to make my babies happy often resulted in them becoming more awake and staying up longer than when I made sure the above criteria were met and then let them fuss a little (I know, it is REALLY hard to do that)as frequently they drifted back to sleep and started getting their days and nights more on my schedule.
She is a precious girl and I know how much you two are enjoying her presence in your lives. Congrats!
carrie — i don’t think i have congratulated you and your husband yet! your daughter is beautiful and you look so so so happy in all your photos. i am glad to hear that harvey karp is a help — i buy that book for all the baby showers i go to! i don’t even have kids and i love it! anyway… take care — much love! courtney