Well, it's my turn on the night shift with Luke. Due to his crazy sleeping and eating schedule, Buck and I are taking turns taking care of him at night. We're keeping him in a cradle in the living room. We thought Owen was a bad sleeper but, whoa, Luke is proving us very wrong. This kid's longest sleeping stretch so far has only been 2 hours, and that was just one time! Usually it's only anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour! I don't know if our kids are just genetically prone to be horrendous sleepers or if we're doing something wrong or what, but WE ARE TIRED!!! We keep increasing his formula a little bit at a time thinking he may need more to be content and maybe sleep longer stretches but so far that hasn't worked. He's also been pretty fussy the last few days. We took him to church for the first time yesterday, and Owen's response to all the questions about being a big brother was "He cries a lot and wakes me up at night." I felt so bad. We try to keep the noise away from him as much as possible, but our house isn't that big and newborns can really belt it out. Anyway, sorry if this seems like a big pity party but I need to vent. I know it will have to get better at some point so that's what's getting me through. If anybody has any tips or suggestions in the mean time, I'm all ears!
5 comments:
I recommend a book..."The Baby Whisperer" It talks about why babies cry...a need to mimic womb like conditions.swaddle, white noise,,,etc. Is he taking a paci? Hold him all night on the couch if you have to. Remember this will end soon enough. I can't barely remember it anymore.
Andrew had colic, and it was pretty rough here for a while. I highly recomend running a fan and a sound machine in Owen's room. Andrew would be screaming his head off and William would never hear a peep. It also works now when Andrew takes his morning nap to drown out William's loud screams. haha! Hang in there! You'll figure out what works best. Andrew slept in the swing for about 2 months because he would sleep better. It does get better! Promise!!
I remember trying everything we could think of, read in a book, read on the internet, buy in a store... We tried the swing. We've used a noise maker for a long time now and that works well. We tried a heart beat CD with lullaby music. I read "Baby Whisperer" and even read tons of posts on the site's message boards but it only made me feel guilty and stressed. We tried the milicon drops but didn't see much difference. We checked out the video about the Dunstan Baby Language from the library and watched it. That was actually very good. Apparently, Peter was gassy and it was getting to the point of no return which most likely was the reason for his seemingly non-stop crying. He was very hard to burp so we had a hard time helping him with all that gas pain I guess!
Looking back it seems like we held Peter constantly and walked and walked and walked. Not as easy to do when you have a preschooler running around! :) But many times we ended up holding him and/or rocking him just for the quietness. And to rest ourselves! I hope things get better soon.
Another book I would recommend that I used is Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child by Marc Weissbluth. It was a great help! I tried Baby Wise, but couldn't do it. Hang in there girl... I barely remember this newborn phase either!
So wish I was nearby to help you guys! You are in my thoughts and prayers. "This too will pass" but sure doesn't seem like this will ever end when you are struggling in the middle of the night. Owen will adjust with time... it's what sibs do for each other. My encouragement is not to worry so much about getting everything right but rather figuring out what works best for you guys. I would add that it could be a problem with the formula and you might need to change to a soybase or different than what he is currently on. Wish someone would have told me that with Leslie, but I figured it out only after Graham was born and we had to change with him. Poor babies... they just don't come with individual instructions! Be patient with Luke and with yourselves... it's amazing how stressful life can be at times. Sometimes, babies are just difficult and no matter what wonderful things you do, they still cry. Do what you know to do, ask for help, and then ask for help again. Know that you are loved!!! Take care of yourself, Ginelle, rest when you can. Oh, and give that baby a hug from me!
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