I'm so tired.
Levi apparently has his days and nights mixed up. And he thinks he needs to eat every 1-2 hours around the clock. He's had some reflux issues, which prevents me from completely filling him up on milk to make him last longer. Unless I want that milk all over me.
And he wants to be held. All.The.Time. I definitely wanted a cuddly baby, and I got what I asked for! ;-) Thank goodness for baby slings!! Levi LOVES the sling.
Any ideas for straightening out his days and nights? Ideas that don't involve letting him cry for hours on end because I can't do that to a 2-week-old. And my nerves can't handle it.
Now you know why I haven't been posting. I'm either feeding a baby or trying to get Caleb to stop touching his brothers eyes, stop standing on the coffee table, or I'm trying to chase him down and wrestle him to the ground to change his diaper.
Justin's mom left today, so now I'm officially alone with both kids by myself. Thankfully Caleb still takes a good, long afternoon nap.
Gotta run. Maybe I can sneak in a nap on the couch before Levi thinks he's starving to death once again.
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17 comments:
Hang in there mom. We are praying for you!
This is a tough time but I can tell you that things do get better. Two boys are a handful. No real good ideas on the sleeping thing - Baths at night seemed to help with both of my boys.
there is a reason they call these "the long,long days and the short years" The days creep by so slowly and you are so tired you think you will just die and then all the sudden your baby is a toddler and you wonder where the year went. My baby will turn 10 yrs old in about 12 days, and it seems like yesterday she was a baby in my arms. Hang in there and try to sleep when you can. I know it is hard!
My youngest had his days and nights mixed up. I just tried my hardest to keep him awake as long as I could during each cycle and wake him up from his naps if he was still asleep when I thought he should be awake. he finally got it figured out.
Oldest had/has reflux. That boy spit until he was 18 months old consistently. We still deal with it some still and he's almost 3. We tried the medications and nothing worked with him. I'll keep you in my prayers!
hang in there!
With my kids I just woke them up a lot during the day. If it has been 1 1/2 hours since he ate, WAKE HIM UP! Then at night prolong how long you go before feeding him. Try other things to soothe first. I know my #3 would get frustrated when I did this, but it worked. I agree, letting a 2 week old cry is just too much.
Ah this is a difficult time and hard problem. I had a premature baby and one thing they had me do to stretch the feedings is sugar water. The nurses did that in the hospital (this was 13 years ago though)...
Hang in there.
I would say to just enjoy them as much as you can--but then when you are exhausted--that's not always easy! Glad you can grab some rest here and there! Surely Levi will stretch the feeding times out soon.
This is the first time I've seen your blog, so I don't know all the background, but with mine I would be sure to feed them regularly during the day and keep them awake for a bit after the feeding(every 3 hours even if I had to wake them during the day, but we didn't have the same reflux issues so I could be sure they got full feedings). Then at night let them go as long as they wanted without feeding. When they did wake to eat at night I often kept them in bed with me since the snuggling put them right back to sleep, and helped me get some extra rest. It seemed to help, although the first few weeks are just hard!
Snuggle him in bed with you at night! That was our saving grace!
My eyes filled with tears for you, because we went thru this with baby as well. I would just cry and cry because I felt like I was being pulled in a zillion different directions. My mil suggested that I do the eat, play sleep business. I started that at 3 weeks (because hubby went out of town for a full week). Just try to keep him up for even a little while, it is hard though, but worth it.
Baby also thought she should eat every 1-2 hours and I went along with it until my ob and the pediatrician both told me she wasn't getting good nutrients because my body wasn't able to build the milk back up quick enough. So there were times when she would just have to cry (though I couldn't stand it) for a little while (NOT HOURS ON END).
I am praying for God's grace and guidance for you!
Malachi loved being held. He hung out in the snuggli for hours on end while I chased Emily. I was big on the eat- play- sleep cycle also. Malachi only wnet every 2 1/2 hours and Emily 3 hours. In between if Malachi woke up early to eat we put the "bapooh" in quick. He and Emily both liked for me to hold and rock them while tapping on the end of the pacifire. It seemed to help??? Do your best! Be patient with Caleb! He needs lots of attention and just wants things back to normal. Really soon this to shall pass! I can remember with both kidos looking at Ben and saying WHY did we do this to eachother? That always happened around week 4 and then about week 6 when you think you are a goner, they start to smile!!!!!!! Enjoy the snuggle time. It won't last forever!
We're praying for you! Hope things begin to settle soon.
Well, there's always whisky...
Seriously, I recommend that you wake him often during the day with a wet washcloth or a little foot thumping. Then maybe you can squeeze a few extra precious minutes of sleep out of him.
I'm saying a prayer for you right now, sweet Jenn. It will all work out over time.
First of all, CONGRATS on the new baby!
I really have no solution to the issue about getting day and night mixed up. It has been almost 8 years since I had a newborn living in my house....we have been watching a baby for almost a year but she goes home in the evenings!
Take care of yourself and get as much sleep as you can!
I will keep you in my prayers!
Hunter was very refluxy. And projectiley. He went on formula when he was 5 wks old bcs I stopped producing milk, and the doctor told us to put some rice cereal into his formula. That really, really helped. Maybe you can try pumping and adding cereal to the breast milk in the evenings?
Also, we read that in order to teach your child that eat-time is EAT time and sleep-time is SLEEP time, you shouldn't let them fall asleep when feeding. Tickle their chin, their feet, blow lightly on them, etc. to keep them awake, and then 45 minutes after their meal, lay them down to sleep.
We did this with Hunter, and after a couple days, he got into the swing of things. I would hold him,or set him down to play with him while he was on a blanket, etc.
I didn't let him cry it out until he was 4 months old and we were transferring him into his own crib/room. that was H-A-R-D, but it only took him 3 nights of crying and he got the hang of sleeping in his own room.
Hunter has always been a great sleeper (with a few catches here or there), sleeping through the night by 8 weeks (8-10 hours), and 12 hours by 12 weeks old.
I really think it's because we taught him WHEN to sleep.
It's hard, isn't it? Wish I could come over and watch the boys while you nap...
Hugs!
I don't have 2 kids and I still want starbucks pumped in me. you are doing great jenn.
Oh Jenn, my heart goes out to you. I remember how hard this time is, adjusting to a family of four, getting little sleep, dealing with toddler issues. Oh I get tired just thinking about it. Hang in there! It will get better (and easier) soon. I'm thinking of you!
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