ANy advice for sleep?

So my babies are great and getting bigger daily. however they tend to want to eat more at night than during the day. they eat every two hours and it takes one hour to feed, burp and change them. needless to say, I am so exhausted. I fall asleep holding them so i put them down in their boppy for saftey!!! what have/do you guys do to make it through the nights? Doc says that right now they are too young to get into a schedule. when did you babies (if ever) get into a routine and sleep at least every 4 hours? they are on formula so i thought they would sleep longer!!! not the case! any advice is helpful! thanks!

 

My girls didn't start sleeping longer until 4 months old and even then they were up 2-3 times a night to eat.

One thing that worked for DH and me was to split up the night so we each could get a stretch of sleep. I'd go to bed right after their 8pm bottle and DH would keep the girls in the pnp in the living room. He did the 11pm feeding alone and then brought the girls into the pnp in our bedroom. I'd do the 2ish feeding alone and sometimes the 4-5ish feeding too. This way I got to sleep from 9-2ish and DH got to sleep from 12-6ish.

 

:hug: I remember that feeling of pure exhaustion!

Be sure to keep the night feeds very low key, no talking, no light, no fuss. During the day, be sure to make it the opposite, so they get their nights and days switched around.

I woke them to feed every 3 hours during the day, almost from the beginning. At night, I would let them go longer(which took them awhile!).

Are you feeding them both at the same time? I always did, as it was a huge time saver.

And the biggest piece of advice I have is to do what works! If they sleep better in the swing, then so be it! Emma slept in the swing, all night, for the first 3 months. Jake slept in bed with me. It was the only way I could get them to go back to sleep in a reasonable amount of time after a feeding.

 

:hug: That thing called sleep is elusive here still. They have a routine but not STTN yet. Ditto on the keeping it low key an quick and warm. Less tendency to wake fully if they stay warm. Also, i used to put a warm blankie down in their sleep place so when I put them back down the beds not cold. None of my kids STTN until they were over a year. :hug: This stage shall pass.

 

At 6.5 weeks both babies were in a routine of eating every 3 hours. They did this on their own. DH and I slept in shifts up to that point. You are in the thick of it right now :hug:. Hang in there!

 

At 3 weeks old mine were definitely still getting up twice a night to eat. Mine also were always on a 3 hour schedule and they stuck to it themselves, they woke up at the 3 hour mark every time. I was in the same boat as you, it took me 1 hour to feed them and then I only had 2 hours to rest until it was time to start feeding again. Hang in there! They will start going longer stretches! Mine started to go longer at 12 weeks old, but at 12 weeks it was hit-or-miss. They didn't consistently STTN (12 hours) until 6 months old. But starting at 12 weeks they'd sometimes go up to 6 hours.

 

mine definetly ate every 3 hours, the only way I survived was HELP, I had a few hours in the morning from grandma, lady from church, DH on days off, to let me get some sleep! I had help 7 days a week, amazing what 4 hours of sleep will do for you. I know it seems like an eternity away before they go longer stretches, but it will come-Hang in there

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ Jan 15 2009, 08:25 PM) [snapback]1149138[/snapback]
:hug: I remember that feeling of pure exhaustion!

Be sure to keep the night feeds very low key, no talking, no light, no fuss. During the day, be sure to make it the opposite, so they get their nights and days switched around.

I woke them to feed every 3 hours during the day, almost from the beginning. At night, I would let them go longer(which took them awhile!).

Are you feeding them both at the same time? I always did, as it was a huge time saver.

And the biggest piece of advice I have is to do what works! If they sleep better in the swing, then so be it! Emma slept in the swing, all night, for the first 3 months. Jake slept in bed with me. It was the only way I could get them to go back to sleep in a reasonable amount of time after a feeding.

I found that Austin likes to sleep with me in the bed in the morning and I did get two more hours today i try feeding them at the same time but sometimes it doesnt always happen that way! thanks for the advice. i do know they will grow fast and i wont have to deal with it! right now it is just killing me....

 

QUOTE(aimeethomp @ Jan 16 2009, 08:37 AM) [snapback]1149505[/snapback]
At 3 weeks old mine were definitely still getting up twice a night to eat. Mine also were always on a 3 hour schedule and they stuck to it themselves, they woke up at the 3 hour mark every time. I was in the same boat as you, it took me 1 hour to feed them and then I only had 2 hours to rest until it was time to start feeding again. Hang in there! They will start going longer stretches! Mine started to go longer at 12 weeks old, but at 12 weeks it was hit-or-miss. They didn't consistently STTN (12 hours) until 6 months old. But starting at 12 weeks they'd sometimes go up to 6 hours.

oh that gives me something to look forward too!

 

thanks everyone for the advice. i hope they get over the day is for sleeping and night is for eating! Last night Austin woke up at 2 am and was wide awake until 4!!! That was the first! I have always kept it low key as I know thats the way to go (and i am low key at that time anyway! ) but I guess they will just get over that when they are bigger and more alert during the day. patience is key!

 

We fed every 3 hours and if they woke up say after 2 hours my dh would do the "nose test" (his job only) and if they sucked on his nose then we fed them again, but fed them BOTH. then we reset the timer on the alarm clock and fed again in 3 hours. When they were increasing their weights decently say at one month we moved it to 4 hours between feeds. It was the only way to keep us sain. We also swaddled them... are you doing that ??? My dh would get them wrapped so tight -- they loved it.

 

I'm in the thick of it now too.......

DH are splitting the night in shifts but it is still not enough sleep. DH is a better sleeper than me. He can dose/take naps between feedings. I can't. It is easier for me to just stay awake until the next feeding.

I go back to work in 5 weeks. I'm getting nervous how I'm going to handle the lack of sleep and working!

 

My girls are 3 weeks as well. We split too, and so we both do pretty well. I make dinner, prepare all the nighttime bottles, then do the supper time feed (anywhere between 6pm-8pm) and then go to bed. Steffen then does the clean up from dinner, throws in a load or two of laundry while he's up, does the first night time feed, (anywhere between midnight and 2am) and then comes to bed. I take the early morning one (anywhere between 4am and 6am). So, on that schedule I get to sleep from about 8 or 9m til 4 or 6am. That's a nice chunk of sleep, and Steffen gets to sleep from midnight or 2am through til 7 or 8. we're both getting between 6-7 hours a night and we can cope really well on that amount. (Luckily when he goes back to work he doesn't have to go in til 9:30 or so!) We don't get alot of couple time, but you expect that, and know that it will get better!