baby sleeping questions

[jsh7809]

(you notice I named the thread that so that I don't feel like I'm the only incompetent rookie mama asking for help! feel free to post your sleep/ baby questions here!)

DD has been getting pretty good at sleeping at night and sleeping in the cosleeper for a few chunks. But she's also doing more and more of this mumbling/ muttering/ grunting/ chattering business in her sleep and it is driving me CRAZY. Last night she slept solid till 1:30am then I gave her a good long nurse and she fell right back to sleep. But then at around 2 or 2:30, she started in with the grunty/ talky business... and kept up at it until sunrise.

At first, every time she would get going I would put her to breast, thinking she wanted something. I've been trying to stop that because she gets overfull and I get exhausted. But last night I did give her a few smaller drinks here and there (when her chattiness seemed on the verge of crying) and she wouldn't take much before conking back out. But a few minutes later, the chit chat would start up again.

So now it's looking like every 15 minutes or so, I think she's going to either soothe herself down into a deep sleep again or wake up hungry and crying or wet and crying. But it seems to just go on and on and on for hours in this weird half asleep place instead - which is keeping me half asleep since I am forever on the verge of "do I need to do something?". Her eyes are closed throughout all of it.

A tight swaddle seems to help somewhat but a lot of the grunting seems to be her fighting the swaddle. It's also a little better if I have her sleep on my chest but then the noises are even closer by.

I finally tried changing her around 5am to see if she needed to wake all the way up to eat or something but she STILL didn't really open her eyes and kept sleeping. But it's just this weird crappy half sleep! What is going on??

I know I shouldn't complain (she's not screaming crying) but I am having a hard time figuring out if she needs something or if I just need earplugs . If she slept in her own room I would probably be better at only getting up with crying, but I'd like to wait at least a few more weeks for that.

Anyone with a "talker" have advice here? Just learn to ignore the talk and grunting? Or try to wake her up thoroughly every few hours for a real feed?

[snoopy5386]

I'm in the same boat, but I've got no advice, DD1 wasn't like this. DD2 is so loud and grunty and moves around so much. I also think she might be fighting the swaddle at times but I'm not sure. I keep trying to stuff the boob in her mouth but half the time she doesn't want it and the other half she is grunting and squeaky while nursing. It definitely makes getting deep sleep hard and I'm trying extra hard to keep her quiet so she doesn't wake DH. I think this week we're going to move to the nursery together (we've got a double bed in there) so at the very least I can experiment with letting her settle herself.

[rhiOrion]

L has just started doing this. Her sleep patterns have shifted... it used to be that I could count on her falling asleep when the sun came up. Now I can count on her waking up with the sun, and it starts with the grunty noises, which means that *I* wake up before she does.

I've also been noticing some more pronounced "naps" than before, and she'll start to cry and then soothe herself before I can finish typing a sentence and get to her.

Except this time, I think this time she means it... byebye.

[rhiOrion]

nope. she changed her mind and fell back asleep

[briome]

This baby of mine is a chatter/grunter. I think she is either telling me she has a burp, wants to nurse or wants me to hold her. She sleeps for hours in my arm pit, head on my shoulder facing my clavicle.

Your baby might be making sure you remember she is nearby. I often imagine what purpose an infant might have for a behavior in cave people times! If you don't wat to hold her while you sleep maybe you can pat or touch her when she makes the noise in her sleep, even a verbal respone "mama' right here" might be reassuring.

[lizziebits]

nak

Elise does this, even when sleeping right on top of me. DS never did. The only thing I've heard is that they pretty quickly outgrow it -- I hope so, its hard to sleep through.

[Pepper44]

My DD does this when she has gas or when she has to potty. Last night she was really grunty/gassy for some reason--I think she gulped too much milk because she somehow totally drained an engorged boob!

I've discovered the only way for her to relax when she's grunty is for her to be propped up on my knees a little. It's not a very comfortable way to sleep, but usually I can pat her back while she's on the incline of my knees and she'll settle. After that I can sneak her back to laying down.

For some reason she hates sleeping on my arm. DD1 still loves to sleep on my arm at 3.5. New baby likes pillows under her head! But obviously that's not safe just yet.

[rhiOrion]

L likes to be propped on my knees sometimes, too. I take the boppy and lay it on my lap, and then lay the boppy newborn booster on top of that at an angle, and then baby.

of course, the boppy and booster both have about a thousand warnings against letting the baby sleep on them, but it's in my lap, and it feels safe and comfy.

[Elecampane]

DD1 was like this, very grunty. DD2 hasn't been grunty at all; she is very very quiet. I was actually worried because she wasn't grunting and snuffling!

[DoulaAlicia]

We have a grunter too. I think it is gas and other annoyances and just personality. My DS2 was like this as well. Very hard to sleep next to. And he still is at 5 years old...never stops moving in his sleep! What I do is change Judah's positions alot. Sometimes it helps. I notice in the morning he has a gigantic poop and tons of gas. I think it builds up at night. I've tried rubbing his tummy and moving his legs etc to work the gas out at night but it only soothes him temporarily and he doesn't seem to fart. Finally when he wakes up in the a.m. he gets all the gas out. Tummy issues and sleep disruptions always seem to work out by 4 to 5 months for my kids. Until then we suffer a bit.