Does my baby have days and nights mixed up?

[firstbaby]

DS sleeps quite a bit during the day which I know is completely normal for newborns (he's two weeks old). But at night, he is really restless - squeeks a lot, squirms around, etc. I've tried stints in the bassinet, his crib, swaddled, unswaddled, but he doesn't seem to settle in to a sound sleep. During the day, he'll eat every 2-3 hours and sleep contently but at night he is eating every 1.5 hours to 2 hours. Does he have days and nights mixed up? What can we do to get better sleep for him at night?

[mamaturk]

My DD had her days and nights mixed up when we first came home from the hospital. She would sleep all day long and literally be up ALL night long, like go down to sleep for the "night" around 5 or 6 in the am.
People used to tell me that I had to try and keep her awake more during the day, which is near impossible. We just dealt with it as best we could and got help from family whenever we could. (My sister used to come over and watch dd for a few hours once in a while so I could function a little better) It just seemed to fix itself after a while. Sorry no real advice, just tons of hugs.. I know it is so hard when they don't sleep. Good Luck!

[kedss]

My Dh and his twin brother wouldn't go to bed until 12 or 1 in the am as kids, and they still have that sleeping pattern. Some kiddos just have a different pattern than their parents, which can really suck sometimes.

Big hugs!

[lilycat88]

Reflux? Does he sleep any better or is he more "settled" if held upright on your chest. What made me think of that was the shorter time between feeds and the general restlessness you describe. Babies can mistake the reflux pain for hunger pain and increase eating because it makes them feel better temporarily. We spent the first few weeks with DD sleeping on top of me in a recliner because that was the only way she would settle down. We figured out that it was reflux and she was put on medication. I know it would seem that if reflux was the problem that it wouldn't matter day or night but we found that even when she would sleep soundly during the day while being flat, the reflux would flare up at night. She also tended to sleep more either in her bouncy seat or a swing or something else semi-upright during the day.

Good Luck!

Jamelin
Mom to Susanna born 6/29/2004

[AngelaS]

I had the thought about possible reflux too.

We always woke the babies during the day so they didn't go longer than 3 hours between feedings. I also did baths first thing in the morning to get them going for the day. :)

I hope you start getting more sleep soon. (((hugs)))

[firstbaby]

Yes, yes, yes! This is exactly what we've been going through. He will sleep on my chest very soundly at night! I didn't think it could be reflux because exactly like you said - he can lay flat during the day and it doesn't bother him.

What medication did your DD go on? I called our ped. this afternoon and she said I could give him 1 cc of Mylanta and if that helped he could be put on something...

[elephantmeg]

We did a couple of different things: bath in the morning, walk sometime during the day (even though he slept through them), waking him up every 2 hours during the day to eat and laying him down when he was asleep during the day. I think he slept so well being held that he slept better during the day (when I would cuddle him and watch TV-c-section recovery) :) than at night.

Ugh, it's hard. Hang in there. Dare I tell you that he now sleeps 10 hours a night?

[AngelaS]

My baby was put on Prevacid, but I also gave up ALL dairy, as she started having colicky periods of screaming for 3+ hours every evening. Once I was dairy free for a couple days, the colic went away and over time I quit giving her the Prevacid too.

I let her sleep in the bouncy seat at night too....that REALLY helped!

[lilycat88]

We also did Prevacid...the Reditabs. If you end up going that route, let me know and I'll give you suggestions on how to get a dissolvable tablet into an infant. I don't remember if you said if you were breastfeeding or bottle feeding. The Dr. Browns bottles helped a great deal for us as well.

DD also spent the first 4 months of her life sleeping in a Fisher Price Cradelette. I don't think they are being made anymore but I got one off of Ebay.

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33936.jpg


Jamelin
DD Susanna 6/29/04