Newborn sleep patterns ... confused

[migirl]

Thanks so much guys, I guess I just needed to hear that this is normal and that I'm not missing something and completely screwing up here (I told you I'm new at this! ). I'm still hanging in there and hoping it gets better.

We do some of the 5 S's from Happiest Baby on the Block (swaddle, side, and sshh), and he usually falls asleep after feedings (although lately he's super-fussy even during feedings and gets himself all riled up), and almost always falls asleep either on us or as we're walking around. Both of which are fine, but can't go on forever!! DH's stepsister suggested supplementing with formula at the bedtime feeding so he'd sleep longer at night (I'm exclusively nursing right now), but I'm a little reluctant to do that just to make it more convenient for me. I do go to bed when he does, around 9-10pm.

Thanks again for the ideas, I'm going to try some different things and see what works for us. Must run now and tend to a fussy baby...

[Flynn]

Good luck!!!! Every kid is different and every parent has preferences. The beginning was VERY overwhelming to me (sleep stuff) and looking back we had an "easy" infant first.

It DOES get better!!!

Having your husband give a bottle for one of the night feedings is a good idea. That way you can get a few consecutive hours of sleep. I would pump a bottle so DH could take care of the midnight feeding and I could get 4 hours of sleep in a row...doesn't sound like much, but those extra few hours made a HUGE difference in the way I functioned the next day!

I remember when DS was only a month old, EVERYBODY would ask me if he was sleeping through the night yet. When I would say, "No," they would always act surprised, as if every newborn slept through the night from birth. I started to worry that I was doing something wrong and began to second guess myself.

[migirl]

I remember when DS was only a month old, EVERYBODY would ask me if he was sleeping through the night yet. When I would say, "No," they would always act surprised, as if every newborn slept through the night from birth. I started to worry that I was doing something wrong and began to second guess myself.

This is exactly what's been happening to me, and it's been driving me crazy (and what prompted me to start this thread!). Just the other day my MIL acted all surprised that we didn't have him on a 'schedule' yet.

I've been pumping and have built up a little stash of milk, but we haven't been good at DH trying to consistently give him a bottle. The first time he tried, Jack tried to inhale it and ended up with more milk on himself than in his stomach. We'll have to try again and see how it goes - I agree, 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep sounds pretty good right about now!!