So I did it. I committed the ultimate parenting sin of saying (rather smugly) that my newborn daughter sleeps quite well at night. I have been quite amazed at how well she does as the first 6 months of nighttimes with Izzy were pretty horrendous. Chloe will most nights have one five hour stretch of sleep without waking for a feed. I think for a 7 week old baby that this is fabulous and I wouldn’t expect anything more.. One night we had 7hours but that was definitely a fluke.
The problem is when you think sleep is going to be ok that you sort of begin to depend on it but to do this with a new baby is silly. It’s better to think that sleep will be awful and be amazed when it isn’t rather than the other way around.
You know when you wake in a mild state of panic feel your incredibly engorged breasts and frantically check the baby is fine. You then try to wake baby who is in a deep sleep and is having none of it before sneaking to the bathroom to hand express in the sink.. Or is that just me?
Lack of sleep does crazy things to you. Last night my daughter didn’t sleep. From the time we went to bed until 6.30am. She also fed from 7.30am yesterday morning until 6.30am today every 45 minutes ..or less. So I was pretty drained without the lack of sleep to accompany it. It made me feel like I was going insane. If she did that every night I would go crazy I’m sure.
I’m pretty sure I know why it happened. Firstly she was (I’m assuming) having a growth spurt hence the manic feeding and secondly before bed I drank a soft drink which contained caffeine (Dr Pepper) I’ve cut out caffeine completely since Chloe arrived and I’ve drunk Dr Pepper on 3 occasions not knowing it contained caffeine – oops. On each occasion we have had a real problem with sleep. Last night being the worst. So perhaps Chloe is sensitive to caffeine. I’m cutting it out completely now.
Anyway today has been a bit of a blur. I chose a bubble bath instead of a nap – impossible to have both when you have a toddler and a newborn and I regretted that decision all afternoon. Never mind.
I’ve realised since C arrived how lucky I am that Izzy still has a good 1.5hr nap each day. Without that I wouldn’t get anything done. I’m hoping we can keep it going until she turns 3. That is a big ask but she does love her sleep so fingers crossed.
What helps your baby/toddler sleep? For us with the baby it’s swaddling, white noise (via Ewan the sheep) and lots of milk before bed. For Izzy it’s keeping her busy in the day, her snugly toy for bed at night. A cosy bed with blankets and her pillow and protein in the afternoon/evening.
Great post! I feel your pain and it’s difficult to get a good nights sleep with a new baby around. Every baby is different so different methods will help to encourage sleep. Just try to find what works best for you and the little one and thank the heavens your getting sleep while you can!
This is the main reason I couldn’t have a third baby – I just can’t handle the (risk of) lack of sleep, and mine both sleep/slept pretty well. I found that swaddling and white noise helped C when she was a small baby. Fingers crossed for Izzy keeping up her nap, L didn’t drop hers until long after her 3rd birthday.