Sleep question « Back to Group Discussions

[Gracecody]

I'm having a lot of trouble getting Luke to continue sleeping when I set him down or unlatch him.

He nurses to sleep 99% of the time, either lying next to me (at night) or in my arms. Then when I set him down on a blanket on the bed, he'll last about five minutes tops before waking up and wailing.  I do wait to set him down until he's really asleep, not just dozing.

There isn't a lot that I HAVE to do but it would certainly be nice to be able to do some things while he is sleeping. He does really well with this at night but i am sleeping right next to him!

Any ideas? Or are you experiencing this too? DOn't get me wrong, I love holding this little guy for much of the day but there is always this list going in my head of the things I want to get done when I have the chance. Sometimes things as simple as going to the bathroom, getting some water and perhaps taking a shower!

[borobaby]

Are you putting him on his back to sleep? DD sleeps in the bed with me at night and she is either nursing on her side or sleeping on her back/side right next to me and does great! But she can be dead asleep during the day and if I lay her on the couch or pack and play on her back she wakes right up. I only did that for a couple days and then started putting her on her tummy to sleep. DS1 was the same exact way. I am totally aware of the "back to sleep" movement and I am not giving you advice, just sharing my experience. both my babies have been tummy sleepers and sleep great.

anyone else have a tummy sleeper?

[rareimer]

I am not a fan of baby gadgets in general, but a lifesaver for us has been the baby swing.  I usually only put her in it when she's napping, and that is about the only way she'll stay asleep for any length of time during the day.  It was worth every penny!  She sleeps fine in the bed at night, but during the day she'd wake up any time I put her down anywhere else. 

[Springshowers]

Have you tried nursing in a side lying position so you can just get up and leave without disturbing the baby once they are in a deep sleep. Apparently babies take up to 20 minutes to be deeply asleep.. so waiting a little longer than you feel is necessary helps with waking up too.

I have a swing this time around and LOVE it... usually just put him in it once he's asleep nursing on my lap.. but he's often happy just hanging and watching me do stuff too. We didn't get anything like this first time around.. with with a 2 year old to entertain I felt it necessary.. and now I so wish that I had it for baby 1 too. I would have got so much more done and felt so much better about how I was handling my life.

[kathrineg]

Sometimes it helps for me to put something that smells like me next to him...often it's a cloth diaper that I put under him while I nursed him so it smells like mom/milk or a shirt of mine. Maybe it doesn't help really... I don't know. Worth a try.

[Gracecody]

So...I tried putting him on his tummy and he woke up after the requisite five minutes, quite distraught at being on his tum. He doesn't like tummy time that much either so this got the same reaction. :) I was hopeful that would work as I noticed he slept better on me when he was almost all the way on his tummy.

He doesn't like the baby swing that much. For my shower he has to be awake and happy and fed and dry, and even then he lasts maybe ten minutes. Usually he starts to fuss as I am finishing up and is full on wailing while I am getting dressed. Frustrating. Maybe when he's a bit older he'll like the swing more? I haven't tried putting him in there yet to see if he would sleep, he certainly has never fallen asleep while in it as apparently he does not find it to be soothing.

I think the best bet is nursing side lying and then slipping away as happy monkey said. I had the worlds' worst sleeper in my first baby (traumatic for me even to think of those days, so hard) and so I have read about every sleep book out there and am well acquainted with baby sleep cycles and such. :)  It's just hard to stay with him for 25 or more minutes while my 3.5 year old daughter is doing God knows what in the other room! Ha.

[Smurfy]

Mine's doing this too!!  Especially in the evenings.  I'm a night owl and my kids are becoming night owls as well, which is fine, except she falls asleep after every cluster feed and wakes up within minutes of me moving her off the nursing pillow and trying to put her down.  The only time she doesn't is when I'm going straight to bed myself.  Frustrating since I'm trying to keep her quiet so DS and DH can sleep and she starts screaming when she's not being held in the evenings.  She does like the bouncy chair if it's set on vibrate, but other than that I have to hold her or let her scream until I'm done getting ready for bed.  I may try the tummy thing tonight, though I swaddle her and she won't have her arms out if she wakes up.  During the night I often put her in bed next to me but I try to put her in her cradle, which is at the foot of our bed, to start off with. 

[Sukhada]

Mine loves to sleep on her side, snuggled right up to me, or tummy to tummy. I haven't yet figured out how to get her to sleep on her back by herself.

[Earthylady]

This is all quite familiar to me too. My little one sleeps in the swing for a max of 15 minutes. She does best if we lay in bed and nurses to sleep. Then I slip my arm out from under her and just lay beside her for a minute or two. Then I get off bed with my hand on her so she doesn't roll and gently tuck the blankets around her. She'll sleep like that on her side better than anything else I've tried. I check back with her every few minutes to make sure she's still ok and hasn't rolled or woke up.

[kathrineg]

Mine just suddenly started sleeping really well on his back, he's 7 weeks. A pacifier helps enormously (if he sleeps on the breast he keeps nibbling the entire nap...yeouch!)

[Earthylady]

Ah see, I don't hurt anymore and don't mind the comfort nursing. If I don't feel like getting back up, I'll still just lay and let her stay latched. That's still the best naps. None of my four have taken a pacifier though.