New mom needs sleep advice for 7week old

[mamaclarkin]

My 7 week old daughter is on a sleep strike and I am looking for any ideas to help her. She takes short cat naps (20-30 Minutes) during the day and doesn;t sleep for longer than 3 hours at night. Usually it goes 3 hours, then 2 and then 1 and then she is up for the day. She is fed and changed yet refuses to stay sleeping and I am out of options. She also will not sleep in her crib and has been sleeping in her swing. Any ideas would be appreciated as I would love to see her get more sleep as she is not getting enough.

[j-love]

My daughter was the same way. We finally figured out a schedule that worked for her. She was eating every 4 hrs, so we put her on a 4 hr. schedule. Here is an example... Wake up, eat, play, nap (all in a 4hr period.) So basically, we put her down for a nap 3hrs. after she wakes up. She still takes shorter naps (45mins-1hr) but she is sleeping much better throughout the night and her naps are more routine. There are tons of books out there that have great advice. The one I read to help us with this schedule is "On Becoming Baby Wise". This book is a little controversial, so no bad talking me if you don't agree!! :-) Just find the schedule that works best for you and baby. Good Luck!

[Kobie137]

We went thru a similar thing. DD has always been a "difficult" sleeper.
As far as books go...I think i bought three and they all pretty much contradicted themselves....
One said, put them to bed earlier for nighttime and they will sleep better during the day. Another one said, keep them up later at night so they will sleep better at night - so frustrating!
DD still sometimes only cat-naps for 30 min, but the way I dealt with it in the earlier weeks was after she woke up after 30 min - and I could tell she was still tired, I would hold her until she fell back alseep. This is probably some controversial advice. But it worked. I wanted to get her used to sleeping for longer stretchs at a time, and if i had to hold her, so be it. Now, weeks later, (most of the time) she will take a 1.5 hour nap twice a day- in her crib, by herself.
I always thought (prebaby) that babies knew how to sleep. But apparently sometimes we have to teach them. I guess that is what being a first time mom is all about!

[KayLady]

I was told by the pedi and a few others that getting them out in the sunlight during the day (no direct sunlight though!) and as early as possible in the morning helped regulate their circadian rhythm (sleep cycle).

[bearda93]

Well, she's only 7 weeks old. She hasn't been on this earth even two whole months, so my advice is to really try and go with the flow. Sleeping for 3-hour stretches at that age is perfectly normal. She will guide you. She is too young to "train" and please, do not follow Babywise.

I have twins, and believe me when I say this, our sleeping was a nightmare the first 4 months. There were days/nights when I was lucky if one or both of them slept 2 hours, and often at different times, which meant I only got a few hours of sleep. It's so tempting to think that we can put them on schedules, but they are only little for so long. At this very young age, the best thing to do is to keep some perspective of "this too shall pass." As she gets older, you can think about schedules, but I would just try to take it with some humor if you can.

I also want to ditto the sunlight idea, and the holding her idea. I try to do whatever is easiest to get us through the day. If holding her, or in your case, having her in her swing, works, then why rock the boat.

Amy

[j-love]

Well, she's only 7 weeks old. She hasn't been on this earth even two whole months, so my advice is to really try and go with the flow. Sleeping for 3-hour stretches at that age is perfectly normal. She will guide you. She is too young to "train" and please, do not follow Babywise.

I have twins, and believe me when I say this, our sleeping was a nightmare the first 4 months. There were days/nights when I was lucky if one or both of them slept 2 hours, and often at different times, which meant I only got a few hours of sleep. It's so tempting to think that we can put them on schedules, but they are only little for so long. At this very young age, the best thing to do is to keep some perspective of "this too shall pass." As she gets older, you can think about schedules, but I would just try to take it with some humor if you can.

I also want to ditto the sunlight idea, and the holding her idea. I try to do whatever is easiest to get us through the day. If holding her, or in your case, having her in her swing, works, then why rock the boat.

Amy

I don't feel that you should tell someone not to follow something just because it didn't work for you. Like I said, everyone needs to find what works for them. If that didn't work for you, then that is fine. But it just might work for others.

[bearda93]

I don't feel that you should tell someone not to follow something just because it didn't work for you. Like I said, everyone needs to find what works for them. If that didn't work for you, then that is fine. But it just might work for others.

It's not that it didn't work for me, I didn't even try it. I read the book and all my mommy instincts told me it was cruel. So I never attempted it on my children. I think using the ideas in Ezzo 's book on a 7 week old infant is completely wrong. That's my opinion, and it's the opinion of many parenting experts.

[j-love]

It's not that it didn't work for me, I didn't even try it. I read the book and all my mommy instincts told me it was cruel. So I never attempted it on my children. I think using the ideas in Ezzo 's book on a 7 week old infant is completely wrong. That's my opinion, and it's the opinion of many parenting experts.

Ok, thank you for your opinion. I still say that no one has a right to tell anyone not to do something just because they don't agree with it. Opinions are great to give, but then let the person make up their own mind. In my personal opinion, I was 1/2 and 1/2 with the book. I used it to get an idea of a basic schedule, which you can get from any sleep book or experienced parent. My DD was already 4mos. when I read the book, so it really didn't apply to me. This is the only book I have read on this subject, which is why I suggested it. Again, good luck to all those who are in need of sleep solutions.

[bearda93]

You said yourself the book is controversial, so I really don't understand why you are hell-bent on arguing about the idea that someone would disagree with it. And I certainly do have the right to tell someone what I think of the book, which is that I don't agree with it and my recommendation is not to use it. You recommended it, and I don't recommend it. That pretty much sums it up. I don't know mamaclarkin, but I would venture to guess she's probably a smart woman and can take the advice given from everyone here (and that includes yours and mine) and come to her own conclusions. Capice?

[j-love]

You said yourself the book is controversial, so I really don't understand why you are hell-bent on arguing about the idea that someone would disagree with it. And I certainly do have the right to tell someone what I think of the book, which is that I don't agree with it and my recommendation is not to use it. You recommended it, and I don't recommend it. That pretty much sums it up. I don't know mamaclarkin, but I would venture to guess she's probably a smart woman and can take the advice given from everyone here (and that includes yours and mine) and come to her own conclusions. Capice?

I am not hell-bent on anything. You are missing the point. This has nothing to do with the book. I never said you don't have the right to tell someone what you think of the book. I said that no one has the right to tell someone not to do something. Telling someone not to do something is not an opinion or a thought. An opinion would be something like, 'I do not agree with the book'. Capice?

[bearda93]

Sigh... okay, okay, *you* can have the last word since you seem to want it so badly. Happy? Good! Now I can go about the rest of my day without worrying about you.