Unrealistic Sleep Expectations?

DD2 is 6.5w and is killing me with sleep. She hates being flat. As a result all of her naps are in the swing or held. Just this week I've moved her, swaddled, to the flat bottom of the pnp in our room for bed and some naps. She HATES it. She will eventually sleep at night, but not until we've reinserted the paci many times. If she sleeps, it's a 2hr block and then 5hr, so not awful but not great. It's driving me crazy.

DD1 had no problem moving at 3w to the crib, slept 6hrs at night at 5w old. What is up and how do I fix it??

This all sounds normal. I think you just got lucky with the first :) I wouldn't stress about where she's sleeping for another couple months. ds1 started sleeping flat around 6 weeks, but I was really stressed about it, and I should've just let him sleep in the swing where he was happy. With ds2, I didn't stress at all, I was just happy if he slept anywhere. He slept in the swing or rock n play until 5-6 months, when he transitioned well to sleeping flat. For your own sanity, just let her sleep wherever she will stay asleep. 6 weeks old is too young to form habits, and it won't be as hard as you think to transition later. obviously all my personal opinion!!

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Originally Posted by amom526

For your own sanity, just let her sleep wherever she will stay asleep. 6 weeks old is too young to form habits, and it won't be as hard as you think to transition later. obviously all my personal opinion!!

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And a hearty AMEN from me. Do what you gotta do -- whatever that may be -- to get some sleep, for both of your sakes!

For us, that meant me holding them in my recliner and then them sleeping with us. And it also meant turning them onto their tummies. I cannot recommend what will work best for your family, but for us, sleeping meant breaking some "rules," particularly in the early days.

If all else fails, put her back in the swing. Many BBBers have done the same.

Lara

Do you have a rock and play? If not, get one! Some babies need to sleep in an incline. Ds1 slept in his swing the first 3.5 months because he couldn't sleep flat. That was before the rock and play came out.

Eta: a 2 and a 5 hour stretch sounds normal at that age

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Originally Posted by georgiegirl

Do you have a rock and play? If not, get one! Some babies need to sleep in an incline. Ds1 slept in his swing the first 3.5 months because he couldn't sleep flat. That was before the rock and play came out.

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The rock n play is amazing! You can probably get one used for twenty or thirty dollars.

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You can't fix it. She's normal. Just do what you need to do to make her comfy, but her sleep pattern is typical of a baby her age.

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I think your second born and her sleep habits sound "normal" and your first born set the bar very very high by being a rock star sleeper and is the "abnormal" one of the two. You're in the trenches right now, and I'd just do whatever you can to get some sleep, even if that means holding her/letting her sleep in the swing.

The second one still sounds better than normal if you are getting 5 hr stretched at 6 wks!


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Originally Posted by sntm

The second one still sounds better than normal if you are getting 5 hr stretched at 6 wks!


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I agree! Both of my DC put themselves on an every two hours plan 24/7 at that age. Five sounds blissful!

Unfortunately, I agree with the others! I only got 1-2 hour blocks at night at least until 9 months old. My youngest did that until he was THREE. Every two hours, ugh! You got SUPER lucky with your first...

ETA: All naps were ON me, too. I learned to love babywearing with my youngest. It made life so much easier. I just went about my day with him attached to me, and he slept whenever he wanted to.

Agree with everyone else- you got very lucky with your first, and the fact that your second will do a five hour stretch semi-regularly at 6 weeks of age is definitely better than average - consider yourself lucky!! As for the sleeping better on an incline, a lot of new babies are like that. We used the Rock-n-Play until 3-4 months with our second, and the transition to the crib at that point was not bad at all.

My own personal aside, I find it very frustrating that society has created this expectation that babies can and should be sleeping through the night by a few weeks of age, and if they aren't, the parents are somehow doing something wrong. My firm belief after reading up on this a ton, and watching my own kids and my friends' kids, is that biology plays a huge role and there is not much that you can do in a safe and responsible manner to alter it. Starting at 3-4 months you do want to start laying a foundation for good sleep hygiene, but before that point you're really at the mercy of your baby's innate temperament combined with the needs dictated by basic newborn physiology.

i think you're actually really lucky getting a five hour stretch at 6 weeks of age!

though that doesn't make the exhaustion any easier to deal with - it's still hard and tiring. hugs, mama.

it'll get better, in time. she sounds right on track (if not ahead of schedule) to me