I am new here and I am so happy to have found this forum as I think many of my feelings and observations about myself and my baby were validated when I read some of the posts here. So, first of all, thank you.
I have lots of questions, but here's one to start with:
I would love to wear my baby more often, especially because she does not seem to want to sleep at all during the day, but lately it has been a painful struggle for both of us. Maia is four months old, I EBF her from the start. She recently has shown signs of teething.
At first we swaddled her a lot, and also used two different slings and they worked great- she basically went to sleep in them. In the past two or three weeks though, when I try to pop her in the sling, she kicks and screams and arches her back. I tried gently rocking, bouncing, pacifying with finger, binky, nothing works. She either falls asleep after 5 minutes of crying (which does not feel right at all!), or I end up just taking her out, almost in tears.
Since then I experimented with upright carriers too, like Baby Bjorn, but that one only works when we go for a walk. Then she looks around happily until she dozes off and usually sleeps for an hour.
Because we stopped swaddling her when she was about a month and a half, she now has an adverse reaction to being swaddled too. It makes things harder that recently she has been waking herself from sleep by flailing her arms or kicking with her legs. This way her nighttime routine, which used to include one nursing and lots of sleep, became a lot more intense and she now wakes every two hours to nurse.
I just don't understand my baby. I feel horrible because I am trying to help her feel contained in her body and she seems to hate it. And if she is not contained, she is restless and irritable. I hate to make her cry...
The only way so far (which we have been pursuing) that she sleeps better is if we cosleep at night (we've been doing crib and co-sleeping) with my arm lightly resting on her "flailing" arm... At least at those times I feel like she feels safe in mommy's arms...
Any advice, insights, thoughts?
Thank you so much.
Orshi
I have lots of questions, but here's one to start with:
I would love to wear my baby more often, especially because she does not seem to want to sleep at all during the day, but lately it has been a painful struggle for both of us. Maia is four months old, I EBF her from the start. She recently has shown signs of teething.
At first we swaddled her a lot, and also used two different slings and they worked great- she basically went to sleep in them. In the past two or three weeks though, when I try to pop her in the sling, she kicks and screams and arches her back. I tried gently rocking, bouncing, pacifying with finger, binky, nothing works. She either falls asleep after 5 minutes of crying (which does not feel right at all!), or I end up just taking her out, almost in tears.
Since then I experimented with upright carriers too, like Baby Bjorn, but that one only works when we go for a walk. Then she looks around happily until she dozes off and usually sleeps for an hour.
Because we stopped swaddling her when she was about a month and a half, she now has an adverse reaction to being swaddled too. It makes things harder that recently she has been waking herself from sleep by flailing her arms or kicking with her legs. This way her nighttime routine, which used to include one nursing and lots of sleep, became a lot more intense and she now wakes every two hours to nurse.
I just don't understand my baby. I feel horrible because I am trying to help her feel contained in her body and she seems to hate it. And if she is not contained, she is restless and irritable. I hate to make her cry...
The only way so far (which we have been pursuing) that she sleeps better is if we cosleep at night (we've been doing crib and co-sleeping) with my arm lightly resting on her "flailing" arm... At least at those times I feel like she feels safe in mommy's arms...
Any advice, insights, thoughts?
Thank you so much.
Orshi
There might be a way that best suits your baby to help her sleep more comfortably.
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