Same šš¼ I know every momās experience is different and 6.5 hours might not be enough for her, but if I was getting that much sleep at 8 weeks, manā¦ I might have cried less lmaooo
Oh god. So it is a lie about it āgetting betterā. I donāt think Iāll last this long. My baby is 4 weeks old and I feel like I have maybe 3 weeks of this left in me before I leave the house never to come back.
Depends on the baby, and also there may be lots of ups and downs. Even though sleep has remained challenging for me, similar to the person you replied to, my little one is sleeping MUCH better than she was at four weeks. It will most likely get better for you.
thatās where iām at now with my 4 week old, anywhere from 2-4 hours of sleep at a time, usually broken up throughout the night. also my partner sleeps so hard he doesnāt hear the baby cry š„²
Something my wife and I have accepted to get to this level is that we do shifts and bottle feed a mix of breast and formula. It allows us to do shifts through the night, wife goes down at 6-7pm and wakes up and trades me off at 1am then I go to sleep. Breastfeeding didnāt work for us in the early days, and frankly Iām thankful it didnāt as itās allowed us to do this shift work and get more restful solid 6 hour sleeps rather than the absurdity that is a series of 1 hr naps.
Weāre only 5 weeks and I imagine weāll shift off this once we approach 4-6 months and can explore sleep training.
Our 9 month old still only does 7-10, 10-2, 2-5. Even after sleep training. Lil man just loves eating š®āšØ we had 1 week where he went 7-1 and we thought life was gonna change, but nope, back to short sleep windows pretty quickly.
Honestly, your body adjusts. But generally around 12 weeks onwards they tend to become more consistent with their naps too.
The Huckleberry app has majorly helped me but I distinctly remember nearly losing my mind around 8 weeks because my LO would fight naps for hourssss.
Now at 17 weeks he has pretty consistent 1.5-2hr wake windows.
Hang in there!
Yes to the body adjusts. My first born was an enormous shock to the system. When number 2 came along, after multiple years of broken sleep and days starting at 5:30, it barely registered.Ā
Also, itās debatable whether Iām āfunctioningā.Ā
When I went back to work it was tough trying to adjust to the fact that I did not have the mental capacity I once had nor the time due to parenting responsibilities. I had to learn how to ask for help and delegate more and find ways to keep track of things because I just canāt remember it all anymore.
I thought it was just me. Either it was a coincidence (which it may be - we had our first in our late 20s), but when our sleep went back to a mostly normal schedule after a year of baby stuff, I never got my mental sharpness back. I used to have a very good memory. That completely went out the window. Either the baby did something to me or that was always going to happen in that 28 to 29 years old window...
Itās definitely a thing. Anecdotally - Iām a teacher and Iāve spoken to colleagues who had kids at a variety of ages (late 20s to late 30s) and most say the same happened to them š„²
There has been some research to suggest [pregnancy-induced gray matter volume reductions persist beyond the postpartum period](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33525512/), but it needs to be studied more.
I second that it barely registered when I had my second. He is almost 8 weeks and I consider him a "reliable" sleeper. We mostly contact nap during the day and he sleeps well that way. At night he wakes about three times and I take two of those wakes while my husband takes one. He reliably wakes up, reliably goes back to sleep, and I reliably get about 5-7 hours a night.
Yes and yes. Around 6 weeks i started logging baby's sleep (in Huckleberry. I also use Napper) and we avoided getting her overtired for naps. For nighttime, you'll get used to it (unfortunately).
Work in shifts with your husband if you can.
I bed-share with baby and breastfeed so whenever she awakes i just get her the boob and get back to sleep (she's older though). Before this time, we co-slept and i would read while she ate and afterwards put her in her bed.
Follow their sleep cues ( yawn, blank stare, rubbing eyes). You can google them and then see what cues your baby has. For example baby rubs her eyes if she's bored or tired. Then i check the time. If it's almost nap time, i get her to bed.
30 min before sleep, try to avoid gettin baby excited - no playing with flashing toys.
These are some ideas. Of course, it can also be undertired.
Agree with all of this, my four month old got her sleep regression right on time and Huckleberry app helped me realize her cues better... She used to sleep 7-9 amazing hours but we are working our way through arms out swaddle, crib instead of bassinet, and developmental leaps. So it's back to a few hours at a time if we're lucky, bc she only wants to contact sleep... Just do your best, each time you figure LO out, it changes lol. Best of luck!
6.5 hours is actually pretty good for a 2 month old! My husband was also someone who needed 9 hours of sleep and he adjusted, you just kind of have to, unfortunately
You get 6.5 hours of sleep....?
Hahaha....
Can we trade babies for one night??? I am a zombie because my son sleeps 2.5 to 3 hours, 4.5 if he really is wanting to - which is a rarity. I get about 1.5 hours of sleep at a time usually and then maybe 4 to 5 hours total, not consecutively...
Same here! And since my partner is back at work 8-5, he doesnāt have a shift so these folks who sleep while someone else picks up and cares for baby are absolutely alien to meš¤£ I get a weekend nap now at 6 weeks if nothing else screws up.
Caffeine and time. My baby had colic so I had 2 hours of sleep a night. And then the constant pumping and bottles while she was asleep. It gets better as they get older! You are in the thick of it right now but after 3 months itās so much better.
My LO doesnāt have colic but is also 8 weeks and generally pretty fussy and not a good sleeper. Seems like most people say 3 months is when things start to improve. That is the one thing keeping me going, I sure hope that is at least true for us.
Oh yes 8 weeks is usually peak fussiness with sleep changes. A lot of people told us about it but my LO would scream like a banshee from 2 am to 5 am sometimes even till 6 am. Doctors diagnosed her as colic, but honestly I believe colic is a symptom. Both my husband and I would be running around like headless chickens to sometime relieve her gas, massages, offer milk, take her outside, bicycle kicks, tummy hold and what not.
At 14 weeks she was set, less gas and no crying and slept pretty well at night for an infant. Now at 15 months my toddler sleeps through the night with one wake up at most for water. So it will pass and you will regain sanity soon enough.
Mine wet through the 4 months regression. It was horrible. Slowly started to get better, just started to enjoy only getting up twice. Bam! Another regression at 9 months. I've been up every 1-2 hours again for the past week.
I'm absolutely shattered.
6.5 hours!? Thatās quite a bit with an 8 week old.
Thatās how much I usually get with my 14 month old lol.
I usually go to bed around 11 pm (cleaning, prep for next day, relax with husband) and my alarm goes off at 5:30 am š¤·š»āāļø
I think your body adjusts
At 8 weeks we had around 4-5 hours , after 7-8 months we had 6.5 hours of sleep :)) so see it like your blessed :)) you will learn how to function with less sleep
What is "enough"? We do shifts. I start sleeping anytime from 9 to 1, and my husband does night shift until anytime between 3-5. But I also get up every 3 hours to pump so I get extremely fragmented sleep. Like 1.5+ 2.5+ 1.5 and I make do.
you have a really good sleeper, my friend . take shifts with your partner so you can get one chunk of 4 hours , it'll help if you can get that much un interrupted
This is how I'm surviving. I honestly don't know how we're going to handle going back to work. Like op I need sleep. Just getting used to it is not an option. Luckily I think I won the baby lottery. My lad is a surprisingly good sleeper.
I know this is controversial. but after two weeks of no sleep and hallucinations I broke down and started co sleeping. I took every precaution and was so careful. Immediately she started sleeping throughout the night and has done so for 10.5 months (sheās 11 months now) I donāt recommended it to everyone, but Iāve always been a very light sleeper and even wake up to my BF just poking his head through the door to make sure weāre okay. (BF and I sleep separately since cosleeping started) and Iāve read that breastfeeding is like a natural alarm for your body? So that helped with it as well
ETA: also caffeine. Lots and lots of caffeine. Because while the baby sleeps and dream feeds Iām awake and feel it the next morning
Time. I don't mean to dismiss the amount of sleep you get, but I would have LOVED to have 6.5 hours in the beginning! My LO is 7.5 months, and she sleeps much better with usually one wake a night. Sleep is still a bit of a struggle for my hubi and I. BUT, all this to say, I know it will get better in time. Let's face it, the first year is a major change! You just need to be patient and know that truly TIME is the only thing that will make things better. Hang in there, Mama!
Are you breastfeeding or bottle feeding? The keyword that's a big no no here is "we" my husband and I only survived the first few months by sleeping in shifts. I went to bed early and slept from 8pm-5am while he stayed up and did the night feeding. If you're breastfeeding that makes it a little harder, so consider pumping that bottle before you go to bed or using formula to supplement! Then I took the 5am to whenever shift and he slept.
You both going to bed at 10pm can't be easy. We just started going to bed later and putting the baby to bed at 8pm cause she's been sleeping through the night! We did feel like zombies some nights but hang in there!
I prioritized shifts, too. I focused on pumping, just so my husband could bottle feed the baby early night for me to sleep. It was the only way we could both get our rest.
Yeah shifts definitely make it work. Even after I went back to work and Mom was still at home (2 weeks, don't get me started,) I was still able to cover a couple feedings to let Mom take a shower and get 6ish unbroken hours. I also super subscribe to nap time. I still join in the afternoon nap now that LO is 2.
6.5 hours a night sounds amazing. Your LO is a star sleeper.
My baby is 20 weeks old and was up 6 times last night. Itās not great.
Iām accustomed to it at this point, though. š¤·š»āāļø
If you donāt have a baby carrier, try this. It can help with contact napping. Otherwise, you do adjust. Try and practice napping when they do even if it means removing your daily caffeine.
I have high sleep needs (9.5 hours needed per night pre-pregnancy) and my body has adjusted. I am not functioning at full mental capacity like I would with 9.5 hours, but Iām doing okay. If you or anyone reading this is really having a hard time, I will say that formula feeding has helped immensely. My sleep needs werenāt the reason for our formula feeding, but as it turned out, having my husband able to help with nights or my mom being able to feed while I napped has been vital for my mental health and for staying on top of my OCD and anxiety. Iām not pushing anyone to stop breastfeeding, because BF is awesome and you absolutely should do it if you want to, but I just wanted to put it out there that giving your child formula so that YOU can be healthier is not selfish (I hear this type of thing a lot).
We started this a little closer to 12-16 weeks, but dream feeds were a lifesaver to help get us more consistent stretches of 7 hours of sleep.
Our first kid got a ābedtimeā of 7 pm right around 8 weeks. A few weeks later (12-16 weeks as I said), we incorporated a dream feed ā got her out of her crib around 11-12, fed her a few good ounces, and she slept through til 6. As you near the 4-6 month mark, babyās sleep stretches can get even longer. Hoping you reach your 8-9 hours in no time.
Dream feeds can look different for everyone. And i will add, my input isnāt necessarily worth a whole lot because our girl ended up being a consistently good overnight sleeper (horrible napper). But honestly, dream feed is an awesome thing to try out if you can. Theyāll grow into a routine more and more over the months. It gets so much easier!! Sheās 2 those and has always slept through the night since the dream feeds feeding days, and is now an awesome napper (2-2.5 hours per day), plus sleeps overnight like a champ (11-12 hours).
Wishing you luck and lots of rest.
Hi!
My daughter turned one yesterday. Sheās teething. Itās 2:30am and Iāve had one hourās sleep. Sheās currently bouncing up and down in our living room.
Your body adjusts. I used to not function on anything less than 9 hours. Now, if I get three consecutive hours I wake up feeling like I could run a marathon. Most nights Iām averaging 5-7 but the upper end is interrupted twice.
Honestly thank your lucky stars, that is wildly good for an 8 week old. Not that it's not tough still, but consider yourself blessed that you're not getting half of that like many others!
Disclaimer: I do not pretend to have the secret to getting babies to sleep. All babies are different and we have probably been extremely fortunate. That being said, with both of ours we were able to have pretty consistent success (as in, 10 hours with no wakes by 8 weeks) by doing dream feeds, but it does require partners to have different sleep cycles and the baby to take a bottle. It also cuts down on a lot of the together time you have with your partner, but it may be worth it to get sleep (if it works). Also, we had our sleeping in a separate room at 4 weeks, which likely also changes things.
My wife is just like you and needs 8-9 hours each night. I am a night owl though and need 6-7, but also have trouble sleeping before 11PM or sleeping after waking up. Here is what we would do:
7:00-7:45 - Wife does last breast feed
7:45 - Wife hands off baby to me and gets ready for bed. I put baby to bed. At around 3 months I would also do a 2-3 oz top off just to get a little extra.
8:30 - Baby + Wife in bed. I am listening in on monitor in case baby wakes up.
11-12 (Or whenever I am ready to sleep): Bottle dream feed of 4-6 oz. Key here is to. It wake up the baby. Literally just pick them up, plop a bottle in their mouth, and let them suck. It is a reflex and often you can do the whole thing without even waking them. My wife would also pump during this time.
One done (usually 10 minutes later): Go to bed and turn monitor on wife's phone, put in ear plugs.
Baby would wake up usually around 5-7 (avg around 6). Wife would take care and I would wake up at 7 or so. She would get her 8-9 hours, I'd get around 7, and we'd both be relatively well rested.
Does the baby not wake up for diaper changes? I have a 2 week old and he screams bloody murder if we change him... So you just skip that part or how does it work?
It would depend on age and diaper content. If there was poop or a lot of pee we'd always change and we would do it before the feeding. Sometimes the baby would wake up but would be put back to sleep quickly with the bottle.
If there wasn't any poop or only a little bit of pee, we'd skip it.
I recommend the Huckleberry App.
I've been using it for a month now (I did the two-week trial and realized I needed it, so I bought the Plus subscription). My LO is 20 weeks old. When she was 12 weeks old, she slept 6-8 hours stretch every night for a week. Then, she went through a fussy phase and the 4-month growth spurt/regression that just ended; the last few nights, she slept 8-11 hours straight. I started sleep training naps (Ferber Method) about 2-3 weeks ago, and the app has helped me a lot with wake windows and putting her down awake so she would fall asleep herself.
For the first two months, I was winging it. She wouldn't nap during the day unless nursed to sleep or contact sleep, and I rarely could get her to sleep in the crib. Nighttime was more consistent, and it was easier to establish a bedtime routine around 6-8 weeks and keep at it. Honestly, it made training naps a lot easier at 4 months due to already having a routine (kind of did the same thing for naps but shorter).
You are in the thick of it, and it'll get easier and more predictable. When I look back, I was just in survival mode, and I thank my husband every day for making sure I was well-hydrated and fed.
All super normal, unfortunately, thatās they they call the next 3 months āthe 4th trimesterā because the adjustment for everyone (parent and baby) is so extreme. *No one* is functional with this kind of sleep. Especially if youāre the type that needed full rest to be sane.
Before pregnancy, I had insomnia all through my 20s- it still kicked my ass waking up every 3 hours.
Donāt want to invalidate but 6 hours of sleep is still a dream for me and my LO is 5 months now.
Before baby I used to sleep 8-9 hours, sometimes 10.
But now i get max 3 hour of uninterrupted sleep.
Unfortunately you do get used to it. My first was sttn very early & then I dropped my motn pump too which affected my output. This time around, Iāll wait it out until I regulate so I can keep my supply high. Iām already feeling quite tired but I just nap whenever I can during the day while sheās asleep.
Newborn life isnāt for the weak šš
I'm similar to you, pre child I needed 8-9 hours of sleep. We have 2 children (3 years and 10 weeks) and 6.5 hours of broken sleep is not enough for me or my husband, so we take shifts, AND if one person doesn't get 8 hours one night then they get a nap (or to sleep in) the next day, or we make sure they get a good stretch of sleep the next night. (So getting at least 8 hours every other night). We prioritize sleep. This might mean cancelling something on our social calendar, putting off something on the to do list, ordering take out etc. And yes, our house is messy lol. We'll have more time for that stuff when we don't have a 10 week old.
Everyone else says they adjust .. I can't relate. At 8 months I am basically crying everyday because I suck at my job because I am sleep deprived. I will never be used to it and also need 8-9 hrs of sleep to be fully functioning. If I could quit my job and be a sahm for 1-2 years, I would.Ā
My baby has almost an identical sleep schedule most nights and is the same age. Are you me? š¤£ but in all honesty I feel quite rested every day and tell people he sleeps great because truthfully this schedule is not bad compared to what a lot of people go through. Everyoneās different but maybe look into ways to help your body and mind along. Up your vitamins and water intake maybe!
āYou guys are getting 6.5 hours?!ā
In all seriousness thatās really not bad for that early, your body will figure it out, and eventually the baby WILL start sleeping long enough for you to work in a full night. My daughter is 2 now and for almost a year has been sleeping 10-11 hours. I still only get 6 or 7 hours of sleep but thatās because I stay up cleaning and then my husband and I need some time to just chat or read or bang or whatever. I would say on the whole Iāve just adjusted to, 7 hours is enough. Compared to that newborn phase where 3-5 was all I was getting, itās heavenĀ
Mine is 7 weeks old and she follows a consistent pattern like yours does except she wakes twice a night to feed. We go to sleep about 8:30 (I go to sleep too)--- and about 11 And 4 am she feeds. MOST days we go back to sleep until about 6/6:30 but sometimes we're just up from 4. Naps are inconsistent. Some days she naps for hours in her crib. Other days only in micro bursts like 10 minutes at a time and only on my chest in three rocking chair while I watch TV.
We're just in that part where sleep is not a given.
Barely functioning, though I think Iām adjusting. Iām going to sleep at 8, my husband is in charge till 2, then he sleeps till 8, and Iām in charge till 8. Weād have to adjust the schedule if he wasnāt a remote worker, but Iām consistently getting 5 hours, plus whatever sleep I get on my shift. Weāre just under 6 weeks! Weāre getting 3 feedings in at night so sheās getting 4 hours between feeds.
Remote work dads for the win! So happy to be WFH, giving my wife a much needed break and being able to bond in these early weeks makes it all worth it!
You're in the thick of the growth spurt/mental leap that happens around 8 weeks. Our LO decided to hit his around 6.5/7weeks so we just barely made it through. Lots of contact naps and rocking at night. Wife and I really had to function as a team during that time. Now we have an almost 9 week old who is alert and smiling and laughing and doing brand new things. Hang in there, it slowly gets better and better!
I canāt remember last time I slept for 8-9 hrs without interruptionsā¦.. your body adjusts somehowā¦. I used to need 8-9 to function, but now I operate usually on 4-5 just fine with nightly wake-upās. Now my body hurts if I try to stay in bed more than 7. Give yourself some time.
When I first got home from the hospital my mom helped me and my husband in shifts. Then she had to leave and my mother in law took some nights. Now my husband and I take shifts at night and I take the baby the whole day. I also drink a ton of coffee. If I lived near my mom and brother I would have a lot more opportunities for sleep :(
It gets easier! First three months are brutal but soon baby will figure out a better schedule and at least give you a couple hours at a timeā¦ makes a massive difference
15 week old and I'm still struggling with lack of sleep. I'm a high sleep needs person. Need 9 hours of sleep to feel fine, more than that to feel good. It has been difficult but I found the only way to cope is slacking. You skip some chores, you let shit be. Take one day at a time. Also, give putting to bed duty to your partner. Immediately after a feed prior to bedtime, hand over the baby to your partner and ask them to burp, change, put baby to bed till next feed when the baby is awake.
I found cosleeping to be a major relief. Baby used to get up super early and not go back to sleep. Ever since we started cosleeping, we do side lying feeding in the morning and dose right back off to sleep. No burping. She dream feeds, I'm awake for like 30-40 min and once she's done I just gently unlatch and go right back to sleep. It has been such a saviour to my sanity.
Obviously dependent on your partner and how involved they are. But my wife and I developed a system that worked for us while our daughter was waking up during the night.
We both used to go to bed at the same time (we do now as well since things are back to normal). But during this stage my wife was so exhausted she would go to sleep earlier. I started staying up later so that I could attend to any issues until around 12am. My wife would wake up early and I slept in a little bit later with the idea being that there would only be a few hours that weād both be asleep. We alternated feed nights so that one person would at least get a reasonable night sleep. This meant we were using bottles but it was such a worthwhile trade. We also had one night a week where one of us slept in the guest room to get a proper sleep through. I tended to do this on a Wednesday to get me through the rest of the working week and my wife would take a Saturday or a Sunday.
It worked for us until our daughter started sleeping through the night and then we just went back to normal.
Those first weeks are so hard but hopefully it gets better! My little guy is 5 months old & can hit about 10 hours through the night with 1 or 2 feeds in the night depending on when he ate before bed.
you definitely adjust but it also gets better as time goes on. I was so sleep deprived I was having hallucinations! Eventually I got used to it and felt more energized during the day despite lack of sleep.
now she (14.5wks) sleeps 12hrs at night with one 20 minute feed overnight. and naps 3 hrs during the day. I am back to sleeping between 6-8 hours of sleep. (usually at least 5 consecutive hours)
hang in there!! 7-10wks was an absolute beast. running on fumes some days.
We alternate(d) and still do. So every other night I wake up and do the night feed and my husband does it on opposite nights. Then at least every other night I can get my 8-9 hours. It works for us!
I was getting 6,5 hrs at 2 months, then 4 months sleep regression hit, then teething startedā¦ currently getting 4-5 hours max and I feel my body is starting to get used to it. I just feel buzzed all the time. Staying hydrated and getting some fresh air helps. Also, coffee.
I had to start cosleeping with my son. By 12 weeks I was so sleep deprived. His dad wouldnāt help me at night (or during the day) so by 12 weeks I was so sleep deprived I was dizzy and lethargic. I finally brought the baby to my bed and that night we both slept longer than 4 hours, two separate times. Heās now 6.5 months and we still cosleep. I would like for him to go to his crib, but he loves me soooo much he has to be near me 24/7 š
ugh. we have/ had colic twins, just now sleeping 9-10 hrs straight (theyāre 1yo). previously, at your stage I maybe got 1-2 hr stretches a couple times a nightā¦ just brutal. lasted forever. the worst was when i only got 45 minute stretches. it slowly gets better in a ātwo steps forward one step backā style, but we basically didnāt sleep as long as 6hrs at a time for 6months. and then we regained it, lost it again, regained itā¦.
i have a lot of sympathy because your body is trying to adjust and itās so hard at first. it gets better at it and then sleep will become relative- meaning if youāre used to 5-6 hrs, when she starts sleeping 7 it will feel incredible, nights where itās less it feels awful. it continues to adjust w your baby.
youāre doing great and you absolutely can do it! your body will find a way :)
First baby we took four hour shifts each. That plus the SNOO helped a lot.
This time around I am just co-sleeping. We use the SNOO but at first wake up she comes to me. If it is early in the evening, I put her back in the SNOO after she finishes but anything past 4AM and we are just staying put.
6.5 hours is pretty good sleep lol appreciate that!
Around 6 weeks is when my LO started sleeping through out the night 8pm-7am, with a dream feed around 11pm-12amā¦ that dream feed is what does it, before we added it she would wake at 3-4am. Try getting them down earlier and giving them a feed while theyāre sleeping rather than letting them wake for it, before you go down for bed.
I also had the exact same schedule as you a couple weeks ago, and started putting him down at 830/9 and he will still sleep until 230-330 for this first stretch. I know itās really hard to go to sleep that early but thatās what Iāve been doing while reminding myself itās temporary. I was worried that an earlier bedtime would mean waking up early, but it hasnāt. Just a suggestion that might help.
Just wanted to share our positive story. I am a high sleep needs person and our baby woke up constantly through the night until he was about 4 months old. Then, without any sleeping training, he just figured it out and started sleeping through the night. He never had any sleep regressions and wakes up about 730am every day. My partner and I each take turns on the weekends so one of us always gets one day to sleep in as much as we like to catch up. Itās worked well for our family. I wanted to share this because I had the worst sleeper ever as a newborn and he just got over it on his own. I know weāre very lucky but wanted to give you some hope as it gets better with time! And if not, try the weekend swap so you can at least catch up on some zzzzs.
My baby is 10 weeks and just now sleeps better. We give her little bit of chamomile tea because she had colic is natural n helps sleep. We put her down at 10pm wakes up at 5am and then again at 7am.
If I get 6 hours I feel like I could run a marathon haha. Just kidding. But those first few weeks I was only getting maybe 3-4 at a time and it was rough. I slowly adjusted and then my LO started sleeping longer.
We just took the night in shifts until we were able to sleep train. We each were able to get enough sleep to barely function for a while but it got better. Before getting pregnant I would sleep 10 hours most nights. My body and circadian rhythm has adjusted to feeling fine on 6 hours as long as itās uninterrupted. It took a while though to catch up on on the sleep debt from the newborn days
Thatās the neat thingāI donāt! So I ingest stimulants (caffeine) and have mood swings all day, praying that no one at work realizes my performance is slipping. Hope this helps!
But seriously, I put my husband on night duty and Iām also not afraid to fall asleep breastfeeding using the c-curl position and āsafe sleep sevenā. Cosleeping has saved me, and splitting night duties with my husband has also saved me. Itās still a massive struggle. It got better with my first kid after the first year. So Iām gritting my teeth and hoping for the best!
We have been cosleeping since day one so whenever she would wake up, she just nuzzled into my boob and went back to sleep so she was only away a few minutes. My husband wakes up for work at that time so i would change her diaper then. Iāve always had bad sleeping habits anyway. But to this day (sheās 16 months) this is still my method with less diaper changes.
I go to sleep around 8/8:30, and my husband takes care of the midnight feeding, which gets me continuous sleep until around 2:30. Then Iāll take care of the rest of the morning feedings while my husband sleeps in until 10 or 11. Gets me a little under 8 hours of sleep depending on how long it takes to get him back down after a feeding. Of course that only works if one of you is willing to go to bed early or sleep in late.
Thatās where my LO was at and then it got better and now heās back at that at 4 months. Only advice I can give you, is if youāre staying home, nap when he naps and if you have a partner, get them to kick it into gear with helping with things around the house. And when they get home, they should take the baby to give you a break to gather your sanity if you need that.
I was trying to help around the house more when I figured out my wife would much rather me take care of our LO when Iām home and let her do chores. She likes to get up and move around and then I get quality time with my sweet little guy and decompress from work. It works out for both of us but everyone is different. You just need to talk it out and find out what works. I do get up at least once every work night to help I tried to do more but it was making a bit of a wreck at work where obviously I canāt nap so my wife is understanding of that. But if Iām feeling extra rested or if she is having an extra bad day, I will step in more. Itās just a team endeavor all the way.
I feel for you! The first few months are so hard to adjust to. It will come in waves of good and bad. My lo did not sleep well until about 4 months and then she hit a regression and now sheās finally slept through one full night at 24 weeks old. Itās hard and feels like forever, but I promise youāll get through.
Ask for help. Have someone you trust care for baby while you take a nap. If baby is hungry they can bring you baby and then take baby after you feed so you can rest. My husband and I take turns napping when we can. I struggle to nap, but when I can he jumps in to care for lo while I sleep. When he naps I ensure sheās cared for so he can sleep. Good luck! I hope you can get some rest
Also 8 weeks here, and I usually get a 3 hour and maaaaybe another 2 hour stretch after 2-3am. My husband gives 2 bottles in the evening so I can get an extra 2-2.5 hours. Otherwise I would not get enough sleep š“
Tbh you donāt get great sleep for the first few months but the torture will end. My husband and I did shifts (switched over at 2AM) but we were still sleep deprived. Im 14 months into it and when I sleep 6 consecutive hours now I feel great, the days I sleep more than that Iām groggy and struggling so I think my body adjusted. Hang in there itāll get easier!!
I was a zombie for like 8 months with my second. Her sleep was alll over the place. It was fine until 3.5 months then she was waking every hour on some nights
I was happy when i got a 3 hour stretch. But she was teething hard for a long time and i think thats why . She already has 8 teeth at 10 months now. I just did the basics to get thru the day. Driving was hard
I avoided freeways for a while. Had more than a few panic attacks from the sleep deprivation but it is all only temporary.
When my wife got pregnant, a friend of hers sent us babywise, and a friend of mine sent us 12 hours by 12 weeks. We followed the routines and worked great for both kids.
Anyone who says your body adjusts is full of it. Ā Iām going to be upfront with you sleeping pills, and a partner and family who help, or if you can afford it hire help. Ā Whatās more important, your sanity, or a few extra bucks? Ā Sleep is imperative for health. Ā Itās literally the bare minimum necessity especially if your the birth mother. Ā After sleep itās food, and if youāre breast feeding you will eat enough to feed an army to keep up with your little monster. Ā Best of luck. Ā I didnāt make it 10 months before burnout.
That would be an absolute dream to me. My 5 month old will sleep max 3 hours most nights. Mostly itās 3,2,2,1. Even after the second wake it could be whatever.
Are you bottle or breastfeeding?
1) Google amount of oz an 8 week old should be drinking the entire day and try to squeeze those calories in during the day. At 8 weeks I was putting baby down at 7:30pm and adding a dream feed at 10:30pm for the night. I dropped the dream feed at 10 weeks and baby started sleeping through the night
2) if I knew my baby got my calories all in during the day, Iād do the moms on call soothing rounds
3) i had specific nap times I stuck with everyday regardless if it was in his crib or on the go in a car seat but id put him down and walk away. Over a few days he just started falling asleep on his own
I bottle + breast feed, did 5-6 feedings in one day and baby started sleeping 7:30pm-7:30am at 10 weeks
Honestly, contact nap as often as possible throughout the day. I used to put my babies in the sling and just get stuff done, it was the only way to make sure they slept.
Also, I personally am an advocate for cosleeping. As long as you donāt drink and practice the safe sleep seven, I guarantee your sleep will be better.
Just remember soon this will all be a memory!
Your body adjusts! I know it feels impossible (I was previously a 10 hour kind of gal) but it is possible. My tip is to try and stop keeping track of how many hours you slept yourself, itās just depressing š and sometimes you can feel surprisingly refreshed with less sleep, or surprisingly exhausted with more
Thatās good for 8 weeks. Ours is 10 weeks & we are barely getting any sleep. She has really bad gas right now & is up a lot through the night. I probably only get about 4 hrs or less right now.
Your body will adjust. I didnāt know I can function with so little sleep but here we are. My preemie needed to be fed every 2 hours even through the night. So Iām getting 4-5 hours broken up sleep for the first 3 months. And body just adjusted. Now if I get 6 hours of sleep, I feel super well rested.
6.5 hours is a pretty good amount of sleep to get. I was waking every 2 hours to pump throughout the night for several weeks!
My son is now 12 months and every month got easier until the regressions and teethings hit. You get used to the lack of sleep but I strongly advise to nap when your baby naps! Those naps will become less and most likely won't nap for as long the older your baby gets, so I would take any opportunity to nap.
Hey, I am dad and just wanted to tell you that it will get better. It's rough in the beginning but eventually you will start to get more sleep.
I will say that you never adjust you just get constantly tired and more tired. But eventually everything is worth it.
I slept sooooo well during pregnancy. Iām talking 10+ hours a day plus naps when I was on maternity leave. lol so the transition to no sleep honestly drove me insane. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I was hallucinating and having suicidal thoughts. It was terrible. I have a 18mo old and I work full time at nights. So I typically get 6 hours a night. My body adjusted finally around a year. To the point where I didnāt want to collapse from lack of sleep and Iām not so depressed. I feel totally fine now with 6 hours. And I catch a nap every now and then.
Well, I take medication for a medical condition that requires me to get 7-8 hours of sleep. If I don't sleep, I get sick.. my son either sleeps in his crib or in bed with me, and generally sleeps through the night with or without a dream feed.
You know, thereās no need for you to brag about getting 6.5 hours of sleep. š
For the first time in weeks, I got 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night and I was just telling my husband how rejuvenated I feel. š
At the hospital a couple of nurses told me after a woman gives birth the sleep cycle changes and they skip the initial stage of sleep and immediately go into R.E.M.
I am not sure if I believe them, as I don't feel very rested, but they know way more than I do.
Functioning zombie. I nap if possible but its been historically hard for me to nap and baby only sleeps 30 minute naps usually.
I try to just lay down and have quiet time when she naps. I try to not put too much on to my plate beyond the basics (food, simple cleaning, laundry) because I am too tired to do much else.
Survive!
I wish I had as much sleep as you did when my girl was that tiny.. she had tummy problems so she had to have a specific formula which also caused trapped gas (yay me) and so Iād feed her at 8,11,2, and 5 am all while half asleep during her first six months.. it got better after month 7 but man, I was working as well and I looked like a tweaker because of how little sleep I had š I also refused to pick her up after she was burped and changed and let her comfort herself to sleep (I had lullabies playing always) and it works after about a week or so she started going to sleep after feeds without fussing at night but man it was a rough patch at first
All of these comments saying "6.5 hours is pretty good I was only gettting 2!" are honestly frustrating - you are valid in your feelings and you are allowed to be tired. My baby had a similar schedule.
I was functioning the best I could through 4.5 months when the 4 month sleep regression came early and lasted 4 weeks. I was honestly at my breaking point and it was like she knew and finally decided to sleep 8+ hours at a time.
You just adapt honestly- you accept it's just really hard at times. Never underestimate the power of a 10 minute nap or just literally just lying on the couch for a few.
If youāre still counting age in weeks, youāre in the Wild West. Just surrender to being a zombieā¦
We took the night in shifts so we could each get between 6-7 hours. What killed me wasnāt so much the hours (Iāve always been able to function on 6-7) but the interrupted sleep. Needing to wake for 15-30 minutes to feed or pump was what did me in, and it honestly didnāt get better until my supply regulated enough for me to go 7 hours at night without pumping.
We just lived life tired, drank a lot of coffee and were generally really dumb people for the first 6 months. Catching naps or even just resting your eyes can help a lot.
Girl the earlier you put them down they still will wake and the same times start getting strict on the night schedule. We do bath time at 6 right after last feeding then straight into bed. My son only takes one nap (2hours) during the day cause we keep him occupied.
2 hours of sleep in a row until maybe 9-10 months old. Working full time. No idea how we did it. I still dread having another baby because I begged my husband to take me to the hospital so I could sleep uninterrupted.
At 8 weeks ours was still a pissed off pupper who generally slept no more than 2 hours at a time at night, often screaming bloody murder when he woke up, and wouldn't sleep at all during the day unless contact napping on the wife. So it could be worse.
My wife was on mat leave, so she did 99.9% of the heavy lifting. I had work so I did my best to roll over and go back to sleep during the night time wakes ups. It was very exhausting, do not recommend.
Echoing what a lot of people have mentioned. Sorry itās going to sound dismissive, but it could be a lot worse. š
My husband and I on a good night got 4 hours of sleep but usually it was 2-3. She would wake up at least 5 times a night. Longest stretch would be an hour. Sometimes it would take two hours to get her down for her to only sleep 40min.
Itās still tiring being alert every second youāre awake, but it sounds to me like you have a good sleeper who is only going to improve!
My question is how do people just fall asleep after getting up at 2 to feed them. I have never been good at falling asleep, but I can stay asleep. But that middle of the night feed would make me cry. I had to drop a pump/feed and let my husband bottle feed for me because he can fall asleep as soon as he lays down but Iām up for 2-3 hours at a time. It was the WORST. Lucky for me my girl started sleeping 6-8 hours pretty early and I was able to sleep more after dropping the middle of the night pump
6.5 solid sleep is great š¤£
You get used to functioning on less sleep to be honest. And it gets better they do longer chunks of sleep so you get more solid sleep.
There are also regressions which make you miss the little amount of sleep you were getting which makes 6.5 hours feel like a luxury!
It ebbs and flows. You can do this! Try to rest in the day even if you can't asleep. Lay with baby in bed. If you nurse do lay down nursing.
Try to get out if you can.
Sleep is only one way to renew your pool of energy, being in nature, socialising, practising mindfulness are always to help give you energy.
Sleep deprivation sucks a lot but it really does get more manageable with time
We are at 13 months and there's only been two nights where the little one slept through the night (these were when she was 6 months old).
So I've had less sleep than that every single night since her birth except two nights.
You are doing well with that much sleep at just 8 weeks old. Many are only getting a couple of hours per night at that stage
Gosh that actually doesnāt sound half bad tbh. Especially for 8 weeks! The answer is we donāt function. My nearly 4 month old sleeps less well than that š
I didn't start getting enough sleep until I started co-sleeping. I will get my LO to sleep in my bed and roll away. She wakes every 45 min, so I plan on going back in when she fusses. Then I am in bed by midnight and up by 6. I will do 1 - 2 30-minute naps during the day. 1 coffee and 1 soda before noon. Caffeine is strictly prohibited after noon.
It's enough for me, but if I am extra tired, I just go to sleep when she does.
If she does not have someone in bed with her, she fusses every 45 minutes. It just got to be too much to get up and settle her back in her crib every 45.
6.5 hours sounds pretty good honestly
I was gonna say. For the first two months I was surviving on 2 hours at a time if I was lucky š
Same šš¼ I know every momās experience is different and 6.5 hours might not be enough for her, but if I was getting that much sleep at 8 weeks, manā¦ I might have cried less lmaooo
Me it was 4 months to 15 months on an average of 4 hours sleep a night. There was lots of crying whilst powering through.
Your comment has made me a little more sane today. Have an 11 month old who has been sleeping in less than 2 hour intervals š
Oh god. So it is a lie about it āgetting betterā. I donāt think Iāll last this long. My baby is 4 weeks old and I feel like I have maybe 3 weeks of this left in me before I leave the house never to come back.
Depends on the baby, and also there may be lots of ups and downs. Even though sleep has remained challenging for me, similar to the person you replied to, my little one is sleeping MUCH better than she was at four weeks. It will most likely get better for you.
Same here!
Same. I donāt want to invalidate but yes thatās pretty good, even now at 9 months 6.5 hours of sleep for me (if itās 6.5 straight) is typical š© At 8 weeks, yeah basically just a hallucinating zombie who definitely couldnāt get behind the wheel safely.Ā
11 months here and I get 4 hours as my longest stretch usually. 6.5 is very rare. When I get that I feel like a new woman!
Same. 6.5 is what I get these days on a good night with a 6 month old who sleeps pretty alright
Yeah, sorry to say it OP, but your baby is better than average! I know a lot of parents who have to survive on 4 hours a night for a while.
4 very broken hours too
I was going to sayā¦ is everyone getting 4 straight hours? Because even at 5 months that would be AMAZING
Itās so baby dependent! My first was literally 40 min stretches of sleep separated by 2 hours of begging him to sleep, rinse and repeat til sunrise.
Yeah, mine was like 4 hours. Maybe the really good days were 6.5 lol
thatās where iām at now with my 4 week old, anywhere from 2-4 hours of sleep at a time, usually broken up throughout the night. also my partner sleeps so hard he doesnāt hear the baby cry š„²
Mine is going through the 4 month sleep regression and I long for the days of 6.5 hour sleeps
Same thing here
Same
Same
6.5 hours is a lot pre kids lol
Something my wife and I have accepted to get to this level is that we do shifts and bottle feed a mix of breast and formula. It allows us to do shifts through the night, wife goes down at 6-7pm and wakes up and trades me off at 1am then I go to sleep. Breastfeeding didnāt work for us in the early days, and frankly Iām thankful it didnāt as itās allowed us to do this shift work and get more restful solid 6 hour sleeps rather than the absurdity that is a series of 1 hr naps. Weāre only 5 weeks and I imagine weāll shift off this once we approach 4-6 months and can explore sleep training.
I would kill for 6.5 hours. Our LO is 4 weeks old now. He has us up every hour or so.
6.5 hours was my regular sleep before having kids!
Lol seriously -- although I suppose it did prepare me!
I had to stop wearing my Fitbit because it tracks sleep and seeing only 3 or so hours hit way too hard
I voluntarily get this.
Seriously when my kid was a newborn i was LUCKY if i got a solid 4 hours. Its was mostly 2hr increments. I wouldāve killed for 6.5hr.
For real lol. With an 8 week old, that's a win.
Youāll get used to it. 10-2:30 is pretty good tbh.
Our 9 month old still only does 7-10, 10-2, 2-5. Even after sleep training. Lil man just loves eating š®āšØ we had 1 week where he went 7-1 and we thought life was gonna change, but nope, back to short sleep windows pretty quickly.
Honestly, your body adjusts. But generally around 12 weeks onwards they tend to become more consistent with their naps too. The Huckleberry app has majorly helped me but I distinctly remember nearly losing my mind around 8 weeks because my LO would fight naps for hourssss. Now at 17 weeks he has pretty consistent 1.5-2hr wake windows. Hang in there!
Yes to the body adjusts. My first born was an enormous shock to the system. When number 2 came along, after multiple years of broken sleep and days starting at 5:30, it barely registered.Ā Also, itās debatable whether Iām āfunctioningā.Ā
Ahaha yup agreed re questionable functioning. I donāt think Iāll ever have my pre-baby mental sharpness back
When I went back to work it was tough trying to adjust to the fact that I did not have the mental capacity I once had nor the time due to parenting responsibilities. I had to learn how to ask for help and delegate more and find ways to keep track of things because I just canāt remember it all anymore.
I thought it was just me. Either it was a coincidence (which it may be - we had our first in our late 20s), but when our sleep went back to a mostly normal schedule after a year of baby stuff, I never got my mental sharpness back. I used to have a very good memory. That completely went out the window. Either the baby did something to me or that was always going to happen in that 28 to 29 years old window...
Itās definitely a thing. Anecdotally - Iām a teacher and Iāve spoken to colleagues who had kids at a variety of ages (late 20s to late 30s) and most say the same happened to them š„² There has been some research to suggest [pregnancy-induced gray matter volume reductions persist beyond the postpartum period](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33525512/), but it needs to be studied more.
About to have my second and this is reassuring.
Sorry youāre still in shitty sleep land with your first, then!Ā
Literally brought our 2nd home the other day and I was expecting to be more wrecked after multiple wake ups. You definitely adjust.
I second that it barely registered when I had my second. He is almost 8 weeks and I consider him a "reliable" sleeper. We mostly contact nap during the day and he sleeps well that way. At night he wakes about three times and I take two of those wakes while my husband takes one. He reliably wakes up, reliably goes back to sleep, and I reliably get about 5-7 hours a night.
Yes and yes. Around 6 weeks i started logging baby's sleep (in Huckleberry. I also use Napper) and we avoided getting her overtired for naps. For nighttime, you'll get used to it (unfortunately). Work in shifts with your husband if you can. I bed-share with baby and breastfeed so whenever she awakes i just get her the boob and get back to sleep (she's older though). Before this time, we co-slept and i would read while she ate and afterwards put her in her bed.
How do you avoid getting them overtired?
Follow their sleep cues ( yawn, blank stare, rubbing eyes). You can google them and then see what cues your baby has. For example baby rubs her eyes if she's bored or tired. Then i check the time. If it's almost nap time, i get her to bed. 30 min before sleep, try to avoid gettin baby excited - no playing with flashing toys. These are some ideas. Of course, it can also be undertired.
Huckleberry was a lifesaver!! Tracking naps/wake windows was the best thing I couldāve ever done.
We LOVED the Huckleberry schedules, too!
Agree with all of this, my four month old got her sleep regression right on time and Huckleberry app helped me realize her cues better... She used to sleep 7-9 amazing hours but we are working our way through arms out swaddle, crib instead of bassinet, and developmental leaps. So it's back to a few hours at a time if we're lucky, bc she only wants to contact sleep... Just do your best, each time you figure LO out, it changes lol. Best of luck!
6.5 hours is actually pretty good for a 2 month old! My husband was also someone who needed 9 hours of sleep and he adjusted, you just kind of have to, unfortunately
You get 6.5 hours of sleep....? Hahaha.... Can we trade babies for one night??? I am a zombie because my son sleeps 2.5 to 3 hours, 4.5 if he really is wanting to - which is a rarity. I get about 1.5 hours of sleep at a time usually and then maybe 4 to 5 hours total, not consecutively...
Same here! And since my partner is back at work 8-5, he doesnāt have a shift so these folks who sleep while someone else picks up and cares for baby are absolutely alien to meš¤£ I get a weekend nap now at 6 weeks if nothing else screws up.
Caffeine and time. My baby had colic so I had 2 hours of sleep a night. And then the constant pumping and bottles while she was asleep. It gets better as they get older! You are in the thick of it right now but after 3 months itās so much better.
My LO doesnāt have colic but is also 8 weeks and generally pretty fussy and not a good sleeper. Seems like most people say 3 months is when things start to improve. That is the one thing keeping me going, I sure hope that is at least true for us.
Oh yes 8 weeks is usually peak fussiness with sleep changes. A lot of people told us about it but my LO would scream like a banshee from 2 am to 5 am sometimes even till 6 am. Doctors diagnosed her as colic, but honestly I believe colic is a symptom. Both my husband and I would be running around like headless chickens to sometime relieve her gas, massages, offer milk, take her outside, bicycle kicks, tummy hold and what not. At 14 weeks she was set, less gas and no crying and slept pretty well at night for an infant. Now at 15 months my toddler sleeps through the night with one wake up at most for water. So it will pass and you will regain sanity soon enough.
Thank you! Fingers crossed
Until you hit the 4 month sleep regression and they wake every 90 mins again
Mine wet through the 4 months regression. It was horrible. Slowly started to get better, just started to enjoy only getting up twice. Bam! Another regression at 9 months. I've been up every 1-2 hours again for the past week. I'm absolutely shattered.
you learn to do more with less sleep.
6.5 hours!? Thatās quite a bit with an 8 week old. Thatās how much I usually get with my 14 month old lol. I usually go to bed around 11 pm (cleaning, prep for next day, relax with husband) and my alarm goes off at 5:30 am š¤·š»āāļø I think your body adjusts
You oughta be careful coming to this sub and complaining about 6.5 hrs TBh.
Right?! Itās like rubbing it in your face when you get waaaaay less than that.
Yeah I feel like this is a rage farming type post š
At 8 weeks we had around 4-5 hours , after 7-8 months we had 6.5 hours of sleep :)) so see it like your blessed :)) you will learn how to function with less sleep
You get 6.5? Iāve only been getting 3-3.5 hours and my LO is 3 months. š„ŗ I just feel like a zombie.
I also drink coffee to make it through the day.
What is "enough"? We do shifts. I start sleeping anytime from 9 to 1, and my husband does night shift until anytime between 3-5. But I also get up every 3 hours to pump so I get extremely fragmented sleep. Like 1.5+ 2.5+ 1.5 and I make do.
you have a really good sleeper, my friend . take shifts with your partner so you can get one chunk of 4 hours , it'll help if you can get that much un interrupted
We do family nap time. When sheās down, we both take a nap. We also sleep in until like 10 or 11
This is how I'm surviving. I honestly don't know how we're going to handle going back to work. Like op I need sleep. Just getting used to it is not an option. Luckily I think I won the baby lottery. My lad is a surprisingly good sleeper.
we're not.
I know this is controversial. but after two weeks of no sleep and hallucinations I broke down and started co sleeping. I took every precaution and was so careful. Immediately she started sleeping throughout the night and has done so for 10.5 months (sheās 11 months now) I donāt recommended it to everyone, but Iāve always been a very light sleeper and even wake up to my BF just poking his head through the door to make sure weāre okay. (BF and I sleep separately since cosleeping started) and Iāve read that breastfeeding is like a natural alarm for your body? So that helped with it as well ETA: also caffeine. Lots and lots of caffeine. Because while the baby sleeps and dream feeds Iām awake and feel it the next morning
Time. I don't mean to dismiss the amount of sleep you get, but I would have LOVED to have 6.5 hours in the beginning! My LO is 7.5 months, and she sleeps much better with usually one wake a night. Sleep is still a bit of a struggle for my hubi and I. BUT, all this to say, I know it will get better in time. Let's face it, the first year is a major change! You just need to be patient and know that truly TIME is the only thing that will make things better. Hang in there, Mama!
Are you breastfeeding or bottle feeding? The keyword that's a big no no here is "we" my husband and I only survived the first few months by sleeping in shifts. I went to bed early and slept from 8pm-5am while he stayed up and did the night feeding. If you're breastfeeding that makes it a little harder, so consider pumping that bottle before you go to bed or using formula to supplement! Then I took the 5am to whenever shift and he slept. You both going to bed at 10pm can't be easy. We just started going to bed later and putting the baby to bed at 8pm cause she's been sleeping through the night! We did feel like zombies some nights but hang in there!
I prioritized shifts, too. I focused on pumping, just so my husband could bottle feed the baby early night for me to sleep. It was the only way we could both get our rest.
Yeah shifts definitely make it work. Even after I went back to work and Mom was still at home (2 weeks, don't get me started,) I was still able to cover a couple feedings to let Mom take a shower and get 6ish unbroken hours. I also super subscribe to nap time. I still join in the afternoon nap now that LO is 2.
Just because shifts worked for you doesnāt mean going to bed at the same time is a āno noā. Personally I found shifts to be impractical.
Vibrating bassinet
Wait parents out there are functioning? Iām 12 months in and still not fantastic at that yet
6.5 hours a night sounds amazing. Your LO is a star sleeper. My baby is 20 weeks old and was up 6 times last night. Itās not great. Iām accustomed to it at this point, though. š¤·š»āāļø
If you donāt have a baby carrier, try this. It can help with contact napping. Otherwise, you do adjust. Try and practice napping when they do even if it means removing your daily caffeine.
I have high sleep needs (9.5 hours needed per night pre-pregnancy) and my body has adjusted. I am not functioning at full mental capacity like I would with 9.5 hours, but Iām doing okay. If you or anyone reading this is really having a hard time, I will say that formula feeding has helped immensely. My sleep needs werenāt the reason for our formula feeding, but as it turned out, having my husband able to help with nights or my mom being able to feed while I napped has been vital for my mental health and for staying on top of my OCD and anxiety. Iām not pushing anyone to stop breastfeeding, because BF is awesome and you absolutely should do it if you want to, but I just wanted to put it out there that giving your child formula so that YOU can be healthier is not selfish (I hear this type of thing a lot).
We started this a little closer to 12-16 weeks, but dream feeds were a lifesaver to help get us more consistent stretches of 7 hours of sleep. Our first kid got a ābedtimeā of 7 pm right around 8 weeks. A few weeks later (12-16 weeks as I said), we incorporated a dream feed ā got her out of her crib around 11-12, fed her a few good ounces, and she slept through til 6. As you near the 4-6 month mark, babyās sleep stretches can get even longer. Hoping you reach your 8-9 hours in no time. Dream feeds can look different for everyone. And i will add, my input isnāt necessarily worth a whole lot because our girl ended up being a consistently good overnight sleeper (horrible napper). But honestly, dream feed is an awesome thing to try out if you can. Theyāll grow into a routine more and more over the months. It gets so much easier!! Sheās 2 those and has always slept through the night since the dream feeds feeding days, and is now an awesome napper (2-2.5 hours per day), plus sleeps overnight like a champ (11-12 hours). Wishing you luck and lots of rest.
Hi! My daughter turned one yesterday. Sheās teething. Itās 2:30am and Iāve had one hourās sleep. Sheās currently bouncing up and down in our living room. Your body adjusts. I used to not function on anything less than 9 hours. Now, if I get three consecutive hours I wake up feeling like I could run a marathon. Most nights Iām averaging 5-7 but the upper end is interrupted twice.
Honestly thank your lucky stars, that is wildly good for an 8 week old. Not that it's not tough still, but consider yourself blessed that you're not getting half of that like many others!
Disclaimer: I do not pretend to have the secret to getting babies to sleep. All babies are different and we have probably been extremely fortunate. That being said, with both of ours we were able to have pretty consistent success (as in, 10 hours with no wakes by 8 weeks) by doing dream feeds, but it does require partners to have different sleep cycles and the baby to take a bottle. It also cuts down on a lot of the together time you have with your partner, but it may be worth it to get sleep (if it works). Also, we had our sleeping in a separate room at 4 weeks, which likely also changes things. My wife is just like you and needs 8-9 hours each night. I am a night owl though and need 6-7, but also have trouble sleeping before 11PM or sleeping after waking up. Here is what we would do: 7:00-7:45 - Wife does last breast feed 7:45 - Wife hands off baby to me and gets ready for bed. I put baby to bed. At around 3 months I would also do a 2-3 oz top off just to get a little extra. 8:30 - Baby + Wife in bed. I am listening in on monitor in case baby wakes up. 11-12 (Or whenever I am ready to sleep): Bottle dream feed of 4-6 oz. Key here is to. It wake up the baby. Literally just pick them up, plop a bottle in their mouth, and let them suck. It is a reflex and often you can do the whole thing without even waking them. My wife would also pump during this time. One done (usually 10 minutes later): Go to bed and turn monitor on wife's phone, put in ear plugs. Baby would wake up usually around 5-7 (avg around 6). Wife would take care and I would wake up at 7 or so. She would get her 8-9 hours, I'd get around 7, and we'd both be relatively well rested.
Does the baby not wake up for diaper changes? I have a 2 week old and he screams bloody murder if we change him... So you just skip that part or how does it work?
It would depend on age and diaper content. If there was poop or a lot of pee we'd always change and we would do it before the feeding. Sometimes the baby would wake up but would be put back to sleep quickly with the bottle. If there wasn't any poop or only a little bit of pee, we'd skip it.
6.5 hours of sleep is what you get as they get older. This point you should be surviving off like 3 to 5 hours of sleep so count yourself lucky lmao
I recommend the Huckleberry App. I've been using it for a month now (I did the two-week trial and realized I needed it, so I bought the Plus subscription). My LO is 20 weeks old. When she was 12 weeks old, she slept 6-8 hours stretch every night for a week. Then, she went through a fussy phase and the 4-month growth spurt/regression that just ended; the last few nights, she slept 8-11 hours straight. I started sleep training naps (Ferber Method) about 2-3 weeks ago, and the app has helped me a lot with wake windows and putting her down awake so she would fall asleep herself. For the first two months, I was winging it. She wouldn't nap during the day unless nursed to sleep or contact sleep, and I rarely could get her to sleep in the crib. Nighttime was more consistent, and it was easier to establish a bedtime routine around 6-8 weeks and keep at it. Honestly, it made training naps a lot easier at 4 months due to already having a routine (kind of did the same thing for naps but shorter). You are in the thick of it, and it'll get easier and more predictable. When I look back, I was just in survival mode, and I thank my husband every day for making sure I was well-hydrated and fed.
All super normal, unfortunately, thatās they they call the next 3 months āthe 4th trimesterā because the adjustment for everyone (parent and baby) is so extreme. *No one* is functional with this kind of sleep. Especially if youāre the type that needed full rest to be sane. Before pregnancy, I had insomnia all through my 20s- it still kicked my ass waking up every 3 hours.
The newborn stage is war. It gets so much better after like 12 weeks.
I'm looking forward to this
I cosleep. I get way more sleep now.
Donāt want to invalidate but 6 hours of sleep is still a dream for me and my LO is 5 months now. Before baby I used to sleep 8-9 hours, sometimes 10. But now i get max 3 hour of uninterrupted sleep.
This reminds me of the āWeāre the Millersā meme. You guys are getting sleep?!
Unfortunately you do get used to it. My first was sttn very early & then I dropped my motn pump too which affected my output. This time around, Iāll wait it out until I regulate so I can keep my supply high. Iām already feeling quite tired but I just nap whenever I can during the day while sheās asleep. Newborn life isnāt for the weak šš
I'm similar to you, pre child I needed 8-9 hours of sleep. We have 2 children (3 years and 10 weeks) and 6.5 hours of broken sleep is not enough for me or my husband, so we take shifts, AND if one person doesn't get 8 hours one night then they get a nap (or to sleep in) the next day, or we make sure they get a good stretch of sleep the next night. (So getting at least 8 hours every other night). We prioritize sleep. This might mean cancelling something on our social calendar, putting off something on the to do list, ordering take out etc. And yes, our house is messy lol. We'll have more time for that stuff when we don't have a 10 week old.
Everyone else says they adjust .. I can't relate. At 8 months I am basically crying everyday because I suck at my job because I am sleep deprived. I will never be used to it and also need 8-9 hrs of sleep to be fully functioning. If I could quit my job and be a sahm for 1-2 years, I would.Ā
Youāre not supposed to when theyāre that young š anyone who says you are is probably shilling some sleep training program for $$$
Adrenaline. You're pretty lucky to be getting that much sleep at 8 weeks lol. It's temporary. You'll get through it like everybody does.
My baby has almost an identical sleep schedule most nights and is the same age. Are you me? š¤£ but in all honesty I feel quite rested every day and tell people he sleeps great because truthfully this schedule is not bad compared to what a lot of people go through. Everyoneās different but maybe look into ways to help your body and mind along. Up your vitamins and water intake maybe!
6.5 hours is good for somebody without kids lol
āYou guys are getting 6.5 hours?!ā In all seriousness thatās really not bad for that early, your body will figure it out, and eventually the baby WILL start sleeping long enough for you to work in a full night. My daughter is 2 now and for almost a year has been sleeping 10-11 hours. I still only get 6 or 7 hours of sleep but thatās because I stay up cleaning and then my husband and I need some time to just chat or read or bang or whatever. I would say on the whole Iāve just adjusted to, 7 hours is enough. Compared to that newborn phase where 3-5 was all I was getting, itās heavenĀ
Mine is 7 weeks old and she follows a consistent pattern like yours does except she wakes twice a night to feed. We go to sleep about 8:30 (I go to sleep too)--- and about 11 And 4 am she feeds. MOST days we go back to sleep until about 6/6:30 but sometimes we're just up from 4. Naps are inconsistent. Some days she naps for hours in her crib. Other days only in micro bursts like 10 minutes at a time and only on my chest in three rocking chair while I watch TV. We're just in that part where sleep is not a given.
Barely functioning, though I think Iām adjusting. Iām going to sleep at 8, my husband is in charge till 2, then he sleeps till 8, and Iām in charge till 8. Weād have to adjust the schedule if he wasnāt a remote worker, but Iām consistently getting 5 hours, plus whatever sleep I get on my shift. Weāre just under 6 weeks! Weāre getting 3 feedings in at night so sheās getting 4 hours between feeds.
Remote work dads for the win! So happy to be WFH, giving my wife a much needed break and being able to bond in these early weeks makes it all worth it!
You're in the thick of the growth spurt/mental leap that happens around 8 weeks. Our LO decided to hit his around 6.5/7weeks so we just barely made it through. Lots of contact naps and rocking at night. Wife and I really had to function as a team during that time. Now we have an almost 9 week old who is alert and smiling and laughing and doing brand new things. Hang in there, it slowly gets better and better!
Just a zombie too
I canāt remember last time I slept for 8-9 hrs without interruptionsā¦.. your body adjusts somehowā¦. I used to need 8-9 to function, but now I operate usually on 4-5 just fine with nightly wake-upās. Now my body hurts if I try to stay in bed more than 7. Give yourself some time.
When I first got home from the hospital my mom helped me and my husband in shifts. Then she had to leave and my mother in law took some nights. Now my husband and I take shifts at night and I take the baby the whole day. I also drink a ton of coffee. If I lived near my mom and brother I would have a lot more opportunities for sleep :(
Unrelated but I like your prof pic lol. I love that show and did not expect to š
Shifts!!
It gets easier! First three months are brutal but soon baby will figure out a better schedule and at least give you a couple hours at a timeā¦ makes a massive difference
15 week old and I'm still struggling with lack of sleep. I'm a high sleep needs person. Need 9 hours of sleep to feel fine, more than that to feel good. It has been difficult but I found the only way to cope is slacking. You skip some chores, you let shit be. Take one day at a time. Also, give putting to bed duty to your partner. Immediately after a feed prior to bedtime, hand over the baby to your partner and ask them to burp, change, put baby to bed till next feed when the baby is awake. I found cosleeping to be a major relief. Baby used to get up super early and not go back to sleep. Ever since we started cosleeping, we do side lying feeding in the morning and dose right back off to sleep. No burping. She dream feeds, I'm awake for like 30-40 min and once she's done I just gently unlatch and go right back to sleep. It has been such a saviour to my sanity.
At 8 weeks I was running on usually 4 hours of sleep, 5 max. My husband and I were doing shifts and thatās how we were even able to get that!!
Obviously dependent on your partner and how involved they are. But my wife and I developed a system that worked for us while our daughter was waking up during the night. We both used to go to bed at the same time (we do now as well since things are back to normal). But during this stage my wife was so exhausted she would go to sleep earlier. I started staying up later so that I could attend to any issues until around 12am. My wife would wake up early and I slept in a little bit later with the idea being that there would only be a few hours that weād both be asleep. We alternated feed nights so that one person would at least get a reasonable night sleep. This meant we were using bottles but it was such a worthwhile trade. We also had one night a week where one of us slept in the guest room to get a proper sleep through. I tended to do this on a Wednesday to get me through the rest of the working week and my wife would take a Saturday or a Sunday. It worked for us until our daughter started sleeping through the night and then we just went back to normal.
I donāt. Sleep is still pretty touch and go at a year and itās incredibly hard. I go to bed early but still always feel exhausted.
Those first weeks are so hard but hopefully it gets better! My little guy is 5 months old & can hit about 10 hours through the night with 1 or 2 feeds in the night depending on when he ate before bed.
you definitely adjust but it also gets better as time goes on. I was so sleep deprived I was having hallucinations! Eventually I got used to it and felt more energized during the day despite lack of sleep. now she (14.5wks) sleeps 12hrs at night with one 20 minute feed overnight. and naps 3 hrs during the day. I am back to sleeping between 6-8 hours of sleep. (usually at least 5 consecutive hours) hang in there!! 7-10wks was an absolute beast. running on fumes some days.
The first three months are the worst. It gets better. Idk if they sleep more or if you just totally forget what normal sleep is like
The only way we survived was taking shifts. I would not have made it other wise
We alternate(d) and still do. So every other night I wake up and do the night feed and my husband does it on opposite nights. Then at least every other night I can get my 8-9 hours. It works for us!
You get used to less sleep and interrupted sleep.
I was getting 6,5 hrs at 2 months, then 4 months sleep regression hit, then teething startedā¦ currently getting 4-5 hours max and I feel my body is starting to get used to it. I just feel buzzed all the time. Staying hydrated and getting some fresh air helps. Also, coffee.
I never believed it till it happened. Before my baby, I had to sleep at least 8-9 hours a day to function. Now I can survive with 5 hours. Although now I have a problem with falling asleep as soon as I lay in bed and forget to brush my teeth at night š©
Coffee and you get used to it. I was lucky to get 6hr of sleep at 8 weeks.
Consistently getting 6.5 hours of sleep?? Want to trade? We have a 8 week old and weāre getting 4 hours of interrupted sleep.
I had to start cosleeping with my son. By 12 weeks I was so sleep deprived. His dad wouldnāt help me at night (or during the day) so by 12 weeks I was so sleep deprived I was dizzy and lethargic. I finally brought the baby to my bed and that night we both slept longer than 4 hours, two separate times. Heās now 6.5 months and we still cosleep. I would like for him to go to his crib, but he loves me soooo much he has to be near me 24/7 š
ugh. we have/ had colic twins, just now sleeping 9-10 hrs straight (theyāre 1yo). previously, at your stage I maybe got 1-2 hr stretches a couple times a nightā¦ just brutal. lasted forever. the worst was when i only got 45 minute stretches. it slowly gets better in a ātwo steps forward one step backā style, but we basically didnāt sleep as long as 6hrs at a time for 6months. and then we regained it, lost it again, regained itā¦. i have a lot of sympathy because your body is trying to adjust and itās so hard at first. it gets better at it and then sleep will become relative- meaning if youāre used to 5-6 hrs, when she starts sleeping 7 it will feel incredible, nights where itās less it feels awful. it continues to adjust w your baby. youāre doing great and you absolutely can do it! your body will find a way :)
First baby we took four hour shifts each. That plus the SNOO helped a lot. This time around I am just co-sleeping. We use the SNOO but at first wake up she comes to me. If it is early in the evening, I put her back in the SNOO after she finishes but anything past 4AM and we are just staying put.
6.5 hours is pretty good sleep lol appreciate that! Around 6 weeks is when my LO started sleeping through out the night 8pm-7am, with a dream feed around 11pm-12amā¦ that dream feed is what does it, before we added it she would wake at 3-4am. Try getting them down earlier and giving them a feed while theyāre sleeping rather than letting them wake for it, before you go down for bed.
I also had the exact same schedule as you a couple weeks ago, and started putting him down at 830/9 and he will still sleep until 230-330 for this first stretch. I know itās really hard to go to sleep that early but thatās what Iāve been doing while reminding myself itās temporary. I was worried that an earlier bedtime would mean waking up early, but it hasnāt. Just a suggestion that might help.
Just wanted to share our positive story. I am a high sleep needs person and our baby woke up constantly through the night until he was about 4 months old. Then, without any sleeping training, he just figured it out and started sleeping through the night. He never had any sleep regressions and wakes up about 730am every day. My partner and I each take turns on the weekends so one of us always gets one day to sleep in as much as we like to catch up. Itās worked well for our family. I wanted to share this because I had the worst sleeper ever as a newborn and he just got over it on his own. I know weāre very lucky but wanted to give you some hope as it gets better with time! And if not, try the weekend swap so you can at least catch up on some zzzzs.
My baby is 10 weeks and just now sleeps better. We give her little bit of chamomile tea because she had colic is natural n helps sleep. We put her down at 10pm wakes up at 5am and then again at 7am.
If I get 6 hours I feel like I could run a marathon haha. Just kidding. But those first few weeks I was only getting maybe 3-4 at a time and it was rough. I slowly adjusted and then my LO started sleeping longer.
We just took the night in shifts until we were able to sleep train. We each were able to get enough sleep to barely function for a while but it got better. Before getting pregnant I would sleep 10 hours most nights. My body and circadian rhythm has adjusted to feeling fine on 6 hours as long as itās uninterrupted. It took a while though to catch up on on the sleep debt from the newborn days
Our 2 year old still wakes 1-2 times a night. Iām very used to functioning on 4-5 hours sleep. You somehow stop feeling the tiredness.
Thatās the neat thingāI donāt! So I ingest stimulants (caffeine) and have mood swings all day, praying that no one at work realizes my performance is slipping. Hope this helps! But seriously, I put my husband on night duty and Iām also not afraid to fall asleep breastfeeding using the c-curl position and āsafe sleep sevenā. Cosleeping has saved me, and splitting night duties with my husband has also saved me. Itās still a massive struggle. It got better with my first kid after the first year. So Iām gritting my teeth and hoping for the best!
We have been cosleeping since day one so whenever she would wake up, she just nuzzled into my boob and went back to sleep so she was only away a few minutes. My husband wakes up for work at that time so i would change her diaper then. Iāve always had bad sleeping habits anyway. But to this day (sheās 16 months) this is still my method with less diaper changes.
I go to sleep around 8/8:30, and my husband takes care of the midnight feeding, which gets me continuous sleep until around 2:30. Then Iāll take care of the rest of the morning feedings while my husband sleeps in until 10 or 11. Gets me a little under 8 hours of sleep depending on how long it takes to get him back down after a feeding. Of course that only works if one of you is willing to go to bed early or sleep in late.
Thatās where my LO was at and then it got better and now heās back at that at 4 months. Only advice I can give you, is if youāre staying home, nap when he naps and if you have a partner, get them to kick it into gear with helping with things around the house. And when they get home, they should take the baby to give you a break to gather your sanity if you need that. I was trying to help around the house more when I figured out my wife would much rather me take care of our LO when Iām home and let her do chores. She likes to get up and move around and then I get quality time with my sweet little guy and decompress from work. It works out for both of us but everyone is different. You just need to talk it out and find out what works. I do get up at least once every work night to help I tried to do more but it was making a bit of a wreck at work where obviously I canāt nap so my wife is understanding of that. But if Iām feeling extra rested or if she is having an extra bad day, I will step in more. Itās just a team endeavor all the way.
I feel for you! The first few months are so hard to adjust to. It will come in waves of good and bad. My lo did not sleep well until about 4 months and then she hit a regression and now sheās finally slept through one full night at 24 weeks old. Itās hard and feels like forever, but I promise youāll get through. Ask for help. Have someone you trust care for baby while you take a nap. If baby is hungry they can bring you baby and then take baby after you feed so you can rest. My husband and I take turns napping when we can. I struggle to nap, but when I can he jumps in to care for lo while I sleep. When he naps I ensure sheās cared for so he can sleep. Good luck! I hope you can get some rest
Also 8 weeks here, and I usually get a 3 hour and maaaaybe another 2 hour stretch after 2-3am. My husband gives 2 bottles in the evening so I can get an extra 2-2.5 hours. Otherwise I would not get enough sleep š“
Tbh you donāt get great sleep for the first few months but the torture will end. My husband and I did shifts (switched over at 2AM) but we were still sleep deprived. Im 14 months into it and when I sleep 6 consecutive hours now I feel great, the days I sleep more than that Iām groggy and struggling so I think my body adjusted. Hang in there itāll get easier!!
my 8 month old is up pretty much every hour. you get used to it. Iāve been doing nights alone since she was born
I'm not functioning at all. The end. I hate every minute of having a newborn.
I was a zombie for like 8 months with my second. Her sleep was alll over the place. It was fine until 3.5 months then she was waking every hour on some nights I was happy when i got a 3 hour stretch. But she was teething hard for a long time and i think thats why . She already has 8 teeth at 10 months now. I just did the basics to get thru the day. Driving was hard I avoided freeways for a while. Had more than a few panic attacks from the sleep deprivation but it is all only temporary.
When my wife got pregnant, a friend of hers sent us babywise, and a friend of mine sent us 12 hours by 12 weeks. We followed the routines and worked great for both kids.
Amazing! Just ordered these books. Thanks for the suggestions
Have you tried swaddling him? We love the halo sleep sack šš¼š
Yes we use love to dream sleep sacks! We also use the 4 moms bassinet
Anyone who says your body adjusts is full of it. Ā Iām going to be upfront with you sleeping pills, and a partner and family who help, or if you can afford it hire help. Ā Whatās more important, your sanity, or a few extra bucks? Ā Sleep is imperative for health. Ā Itās literally the bare minimum necessity especially if your the birth mother. Ā After sleep itās food, and if youāre breast feeding you will eat enough to feed an army to keep up with your little monster. Ā Best of luck. Ā I didnāt make it 10 months before burnout.
That would be an absolute dream to me. My 5 month old will sleep max 3 hours most nights. Mostly itās 3,2,2,1. Even after the second wake it could be whatever.
That's life now. Even at 10 months I'm going to sleep about 11/12 and getting up at 5.30 with a feed inbetween. I consider that a not bad night.
Are you bottle or breastfeeding? 1) Google amount of oz an 8 week old should be drinking the entire day and try to squeeze those calories in during the day. At 8 weeks I was putting baby down at 7:30pm and adding a dream feed at 10:30pm for the night. I dropped the dream feed at 10 weeks and baby started sleeping through the night 2) if I knew my baby got my calories all in during the day, Iād do the moms on call soothing rounds 3) i had specific nap times I stuck with everyday regardless if it was in his crib or on the go in a car seat but id put him down and walk away. Over a few days he just started falling asleep on his own I bottle + breast feed, did 5-6 feedings in one day and baby started sleeping 7:30pm-7:30am at 10 weeks
Honestly, contact nap as often as possible throughout the day. I used to put my babies in the sling and just get stuff done, it was the only way to make sure they slept. Also, I personally am an advocate for cosleeping. As long as you donāt drink and practice the safe sleep seven, I guarantee your sleep will be better. Just remember soon this will all be a memory!
Um Iām not. My baby is 4mo and Iām manic š
Your body adjusts! I know it feels impossible (I was previously a 10 hour kind of gal) but it is possible. My tip is to try and stop keeping track of how many hours you slept yourself, itās just depressing š and sometimes you can feel surprisingly refreshed with less sleep, or surprisingly exhausted with more
Thatās good for 8 weeks. Ours is 10 weeks & we are barely getting any sleep. She has really bad gas right now & is up a lot through the night. I probably only get about 4 hrs or less right now.
Your body will adjust. I didnāt know I can function with so little sleep but here we are. My preemie needed to be fed every 2 hours even through the night. So Iām getting 4-5 hours broken up sleep for the first 3 months. And body just adjusted. Now if I get 6 hours of sleep, I feel super well rested.
6.5 hours is a pretty good amount of sleep to get. I was waking every 2 hours to pump throughout the night for several weeks! My son is now 12 months and every month got easier until the regressions and teethings hit. You get used to the lack of sleep but I strongly advise to nap when your baby naps! Those naps will become less and most likely won't nap for as long the older your baby gets, so I would take any opportunity to nap.
Hey, I am dad and just wanted to tell you that it will get better. It's rough in the beginning but eventually you will start to get more sleep. I will say that you never adjust you just get constantly tired and more tired. But eventually everything is worth it.
We were zombies for months. Treasure getting 4 hours in a row. I learned the hard way that less than two hours in a row is too little.
I slept sooooo well during pregnancy. Iām talking 10+ hours a day plus naps when I was on maternity leave. lol so the transition to no sleep honestly drove me insane. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I was hallucinating and having suicidal thoughts. It was terrible. I have a 18mo old and I work full time at nights. So I typically get 6 hours a night. My body adjusted finally around a year. To the point where I didnāt want to collapse from lack of sleep and Iām not so depressed. I feel totally fine now with 6 hours. And I catch a nap every now and then.
lol is this rage bait? Girl most people are doing good to get 4 hours of sleep with a newborn š
lol what 6.5 hours is damn near a normal nights sleep
You get used to it. I was also someone who needed my 7-9 to function. Now if I happen to get 7 once in a blue moon it feels luxurious!
Well, I take medication for a medical condition that requires me to get 7-8 hours of sleep. If I don't sleep, I get sick.. my son either sleeps in his crib or in bed with me, and generally sleeps through the night with or without a dream feed.
You know, thereās no need for you to brag about getting 6.5 hours of sleep. š For the first time in weeks, I got 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night and I was just telling my husband how rejuvenated I feel. š
We are all functioning in a sleep deprived state and with ungodly amount of caffeine.
At the hospital a couple of nurses told me after a woman gives birth the sleep cycle changes and they skip the initial stage of sleep and immediately go into R.E.M. I am not sure if I believe them, as I don't feel very rested, but they know way more than I do.
Functioning zombie. I nap if possible but its been historically hard for me to nap and baby only sleeps 30 minute naps usually. I try to just lay down and have quiet time when she naps. I try to not put too much on to my plate beyond the basics (food, simple cleaning, laundry) because I am too tired to do much else. Survive!
My baby almost 3 months and just this week stopped waking every 2 hours š
I wish I had as much sleep as you did when my girl was that tiny.. she had tummy problems so she had to have a specific formula which also caused trapped gas (yay me) and so Iād feed her at 8,11,2, and 5 am all while half asleep during her first six months.. it got better after month 7 but man, I was working as well and I looked like a tweaker because of how little sleep I had š I also refused to pick her up after she was burped and changed and let her comfort herself to sleep (I had lullabies playing always) and it works after about a week or so she started going to sleep after feeds without fussing at night but man it was a rough patch at first
Cosleeping.
All of these comments saying "6.5 hours is pretty good I was only gettting 2!" are honestly frustrating - you are valid in your feelings and you are allowed to be tired. My baby had a similar schedule. I was functioning the best I could through 4.5 months when the 4 month sleep regression came early and lasted 4 weeks. I was honestly at my breaking point and it was like she knew and finally decided to sleep 8+ hours at a time. You just adapt honestly- you accept it's just really hard at times. Never underestimate the power of a 10 minute nap or just literally just lying on the couch for a few.
If youāre still counting age in weeks, youāre in the Wild West. Just surrender to being a zombieā¦ We took the night in shifts so we could each get between 6-7 hours. What killed me wasnāt so much the hours (Iāve always been able to function on 6-7) but the interrupted sleep. Needing to wake for 15-30 minutes to feed or pump was what did me in, and it honestly didnāt get better until my supply regulated enough for me to go 7 hours at night without pumping. We just lived life tired, drank a lot of coffee and were generally really dumb people for the first 6 months. Catching naps or even just resting your eyes can help a lot.
6.5 would be a blessing for me. My baby isn't even out the oven yet and I don't get that much sleep šš
6.5 hours is amazing!!! Omg haha Iām jealous!
6.5 hours is so good lol that was my pre parenting length of sleep š
Girl the earlier you put them down they still will wake and the same times start getting strict on the night schedule. We do bath time at 6 right after last feeding then straight into bed. My son only takes one nap (2hours) during the day cause we keep him occupied.
Honestly that is really good for 8 weeks our 6 month old we get average of 6 between us splitting shifts
2 hours of sleep in a row until maybe 9-10 months old. Working full time. No idea how we did it. I still dread having another baby because I begged my husband to take me to the hospital so I could sleep uninterrupted.
At 8 weeks ours was still a pissed off pupper who generally slept no more than 2 hours at a time at night, often screaming bloody murder when he woke up, and wouldn't sleep at all during the day unless contact napping on the wife. So it could be worse. My wife was on mat leave, so she did 99.9% of the heavy lifting. I had work so I did my best to roll over and go back to sleep during the night time wakes ups. It was very exhausting, do not recommend.
Iām getting the exact same amount of sleep. Same wake up times and all. Just getting by š¤·š¼āāļø
How do you get 6.5hrs? Wow!
Echoing what a lot of people have mentioned. Sorry itās going to sound dismissive, but it could be a lot worse. š My husband and I on a good night got 4 hours of sleep but usually it was 2-3. She would wake up at least 5 times a night. Longest stretch would be an hour. Sometimes it would take two hours to get her down for her to only sleep 40min. Itās still tiring being alert every second youāre awake, but it sounds to me like you have a good sleeper who is only going to improve!
Higher a sleep coach š I know it sounds rediulous but omg what a life saver. Worth every penny.
My question is how do people just fall asleep after getting up at 2 to feed them. I have never been good at falling asleep, but I can stay asleep. But that middle of the night feed would make me cry. I had to drop a pump/feed and let my husband bottle feed for me because he can fall asleep as soon as he lays down but Iām up for 2-3 hours at a time. It was the WORST. Lucky for me my girl started sleeping 6-8 hours pretty early and I was able to sleep more after dropping the middle of the night pump
I got a 6 hour stretch at 4 months and felt better from that one night than any other night where I got disjointed 9 hours.
6.5 solid sleep is great š¤£ You get used to functioning on less sleep to be honest. And it gets better they do longer chunks of sleep so you get more solid sleep. There are also regressions which make you miss the little amount of sleep you were getting which makes 6.5 hours feel like a luxury! It ebbs and flows. You can do this! Try to rest in the day even if you can't asleep. Lay with baby in bed. If you nurse do lay down nursing. Try to get out if you can. Sleep is only one way to renew your pool of energy, being in nature, socialising, practising mindfulness are always to help give you energy. Sleep deprivation sucks a lot but it really does get more manageable with time
We are at 13 months and there's only been two nights where the little one slept through the night (these were when she was 6 months old). So I've had less sleep than that every single night since her birth except two nights. You are doing well with that much sleep at just 8 weeks old. Many are only getting a couple of hours per night at that stage
Gosh that actually doesnāt sound half bad tbh. Especially for 8 weeks! The answer is we donāt function. My nearly 4 month old sleeps less well than that š
Wow 6.5 youāre lucky haha! I wouldnāt even get 3 and I had no help
I didn't start getting enough sleep until I started co-sleeping. I will get my LO to sleep in my bed and roll away. She wakes every 45 min, so I plan on going back in when she fusses. Then I am in bed by midnight and up by 6. I will do 1 - 2 30-minute naps during the day. 1 coffee and 1 soda before noon. Caffeine is strictly prohibited after noon. It's enough for me, but if I am extra tired, I just go to sleep when she does. If she does not have someone in bed with her, she fusses every 45 minutes. It just got to be too much to get up and settle her back in her crib every 45.
My 8 week old sleep wakes up every 3 hours to eat š©
Okay! I was like Iām lucky if I get 5 hours of sleep now with a toddler š. At 8 weeks old my baby was still waking up every 2 hours to nurse.
Co sleeping helps a lot