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Why does everything fall to pieces at nighttime??

526 views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  ashleybrook 
#1 ·
My DD is 6.5 weeks, but she was born at 35 weeks, so technically she's only two weeks old. She sleeps great during the day, is mellow, goes with the flow, nurses great, but it's like she's a warewolf or something because nighttime makes her insane in every way. Is this normal?? I have a 6.5 year old DS and even though he woke frequently, he would be happy if I just nursed him in bed and we both got relatively normal-ish sleep.

But with DD, the minute it's nighttime and we're upstairs doing the nighttime sleep thing, she starts grunting, has gas, gets a stuffy/snuffly nose all of a sudden and won't lay in her rock and play which she will lay in during the day. She wakes to nurse every 2 hours and then after I feed her, she looks asleep, but she's all squirmy and gassy and nothing soothes her. The only thing that works is my husband giving her his pinky and her laying by him. But that just buys us a tiny bit of time and he can't be up with her for hours (since he has to work).

I have tried SO many things and I'm losing my mind because I feel like there must be something I'm missing but how finicky can one baby be?? We've tried every swaddle known to man. The Miracle Blanket seems to give us the best sleep (still not good). We've tried not swaddling (since she wakes up trying to get out of it at least once a night). I've tried her in bed with us, but laying flat makes it worse. I've tried the rock and play next to the bed, away from the bed, head facing east, head facing west and there's no magic solution.

I've thought about a milk issue, but I have good supply and there is nothing that is the culprit as far as I can tell because during the day, it's all fine. I've tried baby probiotics for all the gas and it hasn't hurt, but there's not significant change.

I've had her to a cranio sacral therapist and after that, she had the best night's sleep ever, but now it's crappy again and has been for weeks.

I've had her in the afternoon sun to help her circadian rhythms. One time she slept great afterwards, another time not.

We bought a swing on Craig's list yesterday and it only annoyed her last night, but of course, she just fell asleep in it and likes it today because it's freaking DAYTIME!!

Is anyone else in this nighttime hell like I am??! Will she just grow out of this?? My head hurts from trying to find the "solution" and from lack of sleep. I am already dreading tonight.
 
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#2 ·
Sorry things are so tough right now. My first baby was like that. Except even in the day a bit fussy. It sounds like "purple cry". It can really get to you! For us co sleeping/nursing worked. She nursed all the time it felt like every min of the night. We found once she was able to sit up things got easier and she was happier. It was almost like she was mad about being a baby and wanted to be up and running from the beginning.

Lack of sleep is tough on the whole family! Could you sleep with the baby in your arms or on your chest?

Good luck. Try to remember this to shall pass, that's what gets me threw tough times....
 
#3 ·
They have a name for that, unfortunately, and it's called the Witching Hour for a reason. Except in our case, it lasted four hours. I basically holed up on the couch and watched Netflix reruns while she cluster-nursed or went for very long walks (which was the only thing that really calmed her down).

They definitely grow out of it! In my DD's case, I noticed a huge improvement around 12 weeks. Everything got easier. I hope that's the case for your little one. It is super difficult on the whole family, but if you try to hunker down and know it will pass, it might make things a little easier. If things don't gradually improve you might want to look into other options like diet, but that doesn't sound like what's going on based on the timing. It sounds like newborn nighttime fussiness to me.
:(
 
#4 ·
Thanks ladies :) I was at a women's well care place today and I asked the lactation consultant about this and she said that this 2-3 weeks stage is brutal and to expect to have a few shitty weeks. She said that this is when babies are organizing their body and nervous system and it can wreak havoc for no reason.

I always thought the "Witching Hour" was evening-ish, but ours is in the middle of the night from midnight to 4am-ish. It is impossible for me to sleep with her on my chest. I can just lay there - as I did last night - but actually sleeping like that is a no go - and after 6 weeks of not sleeping well, my head is just pounding and I need rest. I would be happy to side-lying nurse her all night, really, but that position is just not comfortable for her right now.

But your posts give me hope that it won't be like this forever! Thank you.
 
#5 ·
Is your older child in school? Would it be possible for you to rearrange your schedule so that you sleep with her during the day when she's happy, and stay up with her at night?
 
#7 ·
If cranio sacral helped I'd take her in again. Sometimes 1 session isn't enough. Heck, I get it 2-3 times a month to keep me happy
:wink

Also have you tried eliminating anything from your diet that might be causing her intestinal stress?
Hang in there mama!
 
#8 ·
zoe had this grunting gas thing at 4 am for a long time...she didn't have that tummy upset any other times of the day like your dd, though she did have some gas other times...anyways, i don't know but it just worked itself out....was brutal though to be woken up like that daily and just when she was going back to sleep p would be waking up. for her sleeping across my belly did the trick for her--so that's what i normally did. though like you said, that doesn't mean i slept :). i hope you get some good sleep soon--it's so necessary, but so often lacking! hugs mama!
 
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