u/Ok_Medicine440

I’m a FTM to a 15 week old, sleep trained LO who sleeps about 11-11.5 hours every night.
He settles independently at bedtime and resettles during the night.

Naps, on the other hand, are a wild card. He settles independently but will typically nap anywhere from 30-50min. I know it’s totally developmentally normal. But I have seen 4-5mo old schedules with 3 concrete naps (the last being a shorter bridge nap) and am wondering if anyone else has achieved that.

Our sleep consultant shared a schedule for a 4mo old that looks something like this

7am wake feed
8:30/9 Nap for 1.5-2h
11 feed
1/1:30 Nap for 1.5-2h
3pm feed
5-6 Bridge nap
7/7:30pm bedtime

I’d LOVE to achieve that mostly because then I’d know he’s getting adequate sleep and also because, according to the sleep consultant, it’s good for his body to know when rest is coming etc. “Babies thrive on routine” she says.

If anyone successfully got on a nap/clock based schedule around 4 months, I’d LOVE to hear how you did it.

Edit:
So I found out the base disconnects from the sock if baby is wiggling a lot…. So basically I have to turn OFF the entire system until he’s asleep (he moves a lot as he powers down) and then I can get a reading…
But because of this, there’s no way I can keep the base in his room cause whenever he flips around during the night, it’ll beep and wake him.

Original:
Obv this is my personal experience with it (so far). If it works for you then that’s super awesome!
I’m sharing in case this helps anyone save $300. Our baby is turning 15 weeks in 2 days. We JUST got the owlet because he started belly sleeping and it made me paranoid.

Biggest POS product I’ve ever bought for baby.
In the first not even 24 hours we’ve had it it:

According to the company, the base needs to be basically in the same room as the sock/baby, which is stupid if you ever want baby to sleep in their own room. And useless if your room is far enough that the alarm ringing wouldn’t wake you if you did keep it close to baby. Literally every other Bluetooth product works from a distance, why can’t this one ?

2. Couldn’t connect to the sock anymore. It worked fine (when the base wasn’t disconnecting), but the next morning, it kept saying it wasn’t getting a reading after I placed baby down for his nap. Had me fucking with it back and forth while trying to get my baby to sleep, which made him really frustrated, ended up causing us to go over his wake window and he got overtired. He was crying at this point so I ended up taking the thing off his foot and unplugging the sensor.

3. It told me my baby was awake and because he was fussing audibly, I went to get him. Turns out he was clearly in active sleep (eyes closed despite making noise), so I effectively woke him up prematurely because of it. So can’t rely on it for that.

So basically, it works fabulous if baby is being perfectly still 2 feet away. But that hardly ever happens.

Seriously, save the $300, follow safe sleep guidelines, keep baby in your room near you at the beginning, and by the time they’re old enough to be in their own room, they’re fine anyways 🤷🏼‍♀️

Or get a cheaper alternative if those exist.

Hi everyone! I graduated from here 14 whole weeks ago now (wow).

And as I watch my baby do summersaults in his bed, pancaking front to back, dragging his head against the mesh, I’m thinking to myself “dammit! I wish we hadn’t gotten a wooden crib at home”

Oh. Did I mention we’re at a hotel? Yep. The hotel crib, ugly, foldable with the mesh all around is WAY better.

At home we have one of those nice expensive-wooden-pretty-aesthetic-all-the-good-stuff crib (one with wooden bars) and it’s…. Not great for my baby’s sleep.

Because the little man likes to rub against the sides when he sleeps, likes to explore every inch of the crib when he settles, and bonks his head against the hard wood all night! Sometimes he’ll get stuck at the very top of the crib and the hard wood headboard prevents him from rotating back down. So I have to step in! Yeepee!!

We had to get a breathable mesh net insert thing that wraps around but it’s not perfect because the wooden bars under are still fixed and hard.

Meanwhile the stretchy all-around-mesh hotel crib situation is wonderful for him.

So of course we all want a nice nursery with a pretty crib, but trust me, get the cheap pack N play style (with a good mattress), and wait till they’re old enough to NOT hit their heads on the wood before getting the nice “permanent” crib.

Bonus: you can take their bed anywhere if it’s a foldable/portable bed by default

Bonus 2: you can keep it in your own room and switch it to theirs later more easily (and back to your room if you ever have guests that may need the nursery space who knows).

Ok that’s my now-experienced-mom advice

Hi! We’ll be flying to France from West Coast US (so a 9h time change) in August for a month to visit my family who hasn’t met baby yet.
He’ll be 4 months when we leave and turn 5 months on the trip.

He’s turning 3 months next week. As of now, he settles independently at naps (sometimes with some fussing) and goes ~12h overnight. He eats every 4hours. I’m expecting naps to only get more regular as time goes on.

I’m pretty worried about jet lag screwing that up though. We’ll be there a whole month so def worth getting used to that time zone.

We’re flying out around 3pm (timed with a feed so he can eat during take off, have a nice full belly to hopefully take a nice nap). I am worried about “bed time” but what can we do. The night flight was double the cost….

We land in France at 11am. My hope is that he’ll have snoozed in the plane and wake up somewhat rested. But I’d love your input for expectations and tips on how to handle the jet lag.

Regarding sleep habits: he’ll be sleeping in a packNplay in a dark room with his sound machine. We’ll keep bed and nap routine the same. I just have no idea how to time them….

My baby (9w) used to be a great sleeper. He’d doze off without much help provided we stayed within his proper nap window. At some point we introduced the pacifier, I forget why, but it’s gotten to the point where he won’t close his eyes unless it’s in his mouth. Like literally will be exhausted but wide awake UNLESS I put it in. Then he instantly shuts his eyes.

Which is ok for naps, I guess, but at night I’d like to SLEEP. I can’t keep putting it back in every 20min. He’s not sleeping and neither are we. He only eats once a night so his wake ups are purely because he struggles to self soothe consistently.

I try to give it to him to trigger sleepiness and then pop it out and see if he’ll stay asleep but that only works sometimes. When it works, he can nap for 2 hours. When it doesn’t, he’ll be up 20-30min later when the pacifier is gone. What to do? I’m worried he’s getting more and more dependent on it, which would be fine if he could put it back in himself but he can’t and likely won’t for a few months.

Thank you!

I’m a new mom crumbling with PPD/PPA looking to hire a helper/nanny to help me and tag-team during the day while I’m home.

I’m wondering how I could find such a person? I already made a post on care.com. Anywhere else you’d recommend ?

Thank you.

Crying as I write this. I feel like such a monster admitting this but I’m 2mo PP and most days, I don’t want to take care of my baby. I do ofc. I even give him leg massages before bed and sing him songs. But most days I just feel like crying and wish someone else could take care of him. It gets way too overwhelming when he cries or fusses. Especially when he won’t sleep even though he’s clearly tired.
I just end up crying which makes soothing him impossible.

I want to love my baby. I’d dreamt of kids my whole life. But now I hate this. I’m just so unhappy. And on top of it all, my mood is affecting my husband and dragging him down.

He asked me what he could do to help me. Offered to hire a chef and a cleaning person to help with chores. But the only thing that would help would be a nanny I guess. I just want someone to take care of my child for me and only bring him to me once in a while when I feel happy. Which is so awful to say.

I spent a week at my mom’s while my husband was on a work trip and I literally offered to do the house chores while she took care of my son. I’d rather do a pile of dishes than put him to sleep. It’s just so awful. He’s such a sweet baby. He has no problems (just baby stuff ya know). I’m just so unwell I can’t function anymore. I can’t cook, clean, laugh or enjoy my baby. I’m so paralyzed in anxiety I can’t even watch a movie or eat.

I was the most joyful, positive, silly person ever before giving birth. The moment he came out, it’s like a switch flipped.

My doctor prescribed Wellbutrin and BuSpar (bupropion and Buspirone). In going to start taking them because I just can’t go on like this anymore.

Did anyone feel anything similar ?

I’m a FTM to a 2 month old and at this time, bedtime is pretty strict (7pm) if we want to maximize night stretches. We have a routine in place that starts around 6:15, involves a quick bath, massage and bottle and sleep. I really think it helps him. Either ways, he has to be down around 7-7:30pm to get best results.

The thing is the entire thing makes me so anxious and makes me based my entire day around it.

I’ll see my neighbors at the pool with their kids or families at restaurants and I wonder, when will that be us?

Obv it’s still super early and he’s so little. But I can’t help but worry my life has now permanently become a limbo of naps/bedtime.

When will I stop having to rush home at 6pm to start bedtime…? When can kids just ~go to sleep~ and a little later? I want to be at the pool or dinner with my son at 6pm not worried about a meltdown if I don’t wrap up the day at a specific (early) time… 

My baby is 9 weeks old and I really struggle with naps. He can sleep long stretches and he can sometimes go down on his own.
My biggest issue is he fights naps a lot/I miss wake windows (his cues aren’t that obvious). He gets so upset if he doesn’t nap :/

Please share your best tips. I’m desperate.

My baby is 8w old. We hired a sleep consultant to help us slowly ween night feeds and encourage full nights (he’s exclusively bottle FF, 12lb and has plenty of wet diapers etc).

She suggested we move our schedule from 8-8 to 7-7 as babies tend to do better that way. I figured sure, like that hubby and I have time to eat and maybe catch one or 2 eps of a show after he goes down.

With his first feed at 8, he used to stay up for a solid 1.5 hours (going back down relatively easy for his first nap at around 9:20). With the 7am feed, he’s falling asleep halfway through the bottle and if he’s not down for a nap by 8, all hell breaks loose. So I’m clearly sensing his wake window then is shorter.

I did read that early morning wake windows are shorter. By the 5pm, he can give us a good 1.5h happily (during which we do our bedtime routine etc).

Has anyone else noticed that trend with their babies ? Shorter wake windows earlier in the day? Everyone says to do 7-7 but when we do that, I’m rushing to get him back down what feels like right after he got up.

I’m a FTM to an 8w old. He’s a sweet normal (no colic etc) baby, nothing to necessarily complain about here. I have bad PPA/PPD (I am seeing a therapist).

One of my reoccurring thoughts is “when will life stop feeling like I may have made a mistake?”. I love my baby. I don’t want anything to happen to him. But I am struggling so bad with this new life.

I used to workout, see my friends spontaneously, watch hours of tv with my husband and go out to eat with him multiple times a week. We lived our lives on our whims. Even day to day I’d partake in my various hobbies whenever inspiration hit (painting, drawing, writing creative stuff). I’d cook for hours elaborate meals for my husband breakfast lunch and dinner (especially dinner).

Now with baby I don’t even have time to shower some days. Chores aren’t getting done (and the guilt is piling up). I don’t get to watch tv with my husband anymore and the anxiety of it all makes me not want to have sex (the second baby goes to bed I’m filled with dread that I should also catch up on sleep). It’s just awful. I want to cry all day.

When does life feel ok again? When do you feel like you’ve got a routine and a sort of grasp/control of your life? When can I expect to put baby to sleep and watch an ep or 2 of a show with my husband afterwards. When can I cook and bake again? I’m so sad because I feel like I do NOTHING but care for baby. I feel like I’m letting down my duties as a wife, as a home maker. How can I ever do both the parenting and the house tending ?

I feel like I took on a very unfun job that I want out of but can’t quit. When does that feeling go away?

I’m 8.5w PP and never breast fed (well, the first 36h but idk if that really counts). We switched to formula morning of day 3 of life.

My milk came in strong and boobs were leaking a lot for days. Now a few weeks later, my boobs still occasionally leak a drop or two here and there. I have a bigger chest so whenever I hold baby, it puts pressure on them.

I stopped PP bleeding weeks ago now and have noticed some discharge that’s more or less like what I’d see pre pregnancy/during pregnancy. I’m wondering if that means my period will return soon.

What’s been your experience ? Not that I loveeee getting my period but my doctor mentioned it’ll help level out my hormones (struggling with bad PPA) and I’m looking forward to that…

Je suis une nouvelle maman d’un bébé de 8 semaines. Je sais qu’il est encore tout petit mais je suis épuisée et est besoin de conseils.

En ce moment, on fait le bain/la routine du soir vers 19h30 et il est dans son lit endormi vers 20h30-21h selon les soirs. Le problème, c’est qu’on doit soit manger avant la routine du soir/du bain, donc entre 18h et 19h, ce qui est tôt, soit après.
Mais après, il est déjà tard et on est tellement fatigués qu’on va juste dormir (il ne fait pas encore ses nuits)…

Du coup je me demande à quelle h vous couchez vos bébés/enfants pour avoir le temps de manger/passer du temps avec votre conjoint/conjointe?
Vous faites le bain / coucher à quelle heure ?

J’ai entendu certaines personnes dire que leurs enfants sont couchés vers 19h-19h30, comme ça les parents peuvent manger et passer du temps ensemble après. Si vous faites ça, à quelle h vous commencez la routine de soir ? Ça a l’air génial, mais j’ai peur qu’il ne reste pas couché jusqu’à 8h du matin après/qu’il demande à être sorti du lit beaucoup plus tôt.

J’ai du mal à comprendre comment organiser la vie et les horaires de sommeil….

Tous les conseils sont les bienvenus. Qu’est-ce qui a marché pour vous ? Et à quelle âge avez-vous mis en place la routine qui a marché?

Merci!

Je suis une nouvelle maman d’un bébé de 8 semaines. Je sais que c’est encore très tôt et qu’il est tout petit, mais vos enfants ont commencé à dormir de longues périodes de façon régulière vers quel âge ? Genre au moins 6 heures d’affilée régulièrement….
La, Il se réveille deux fois par nuit pour manger (vers minuit et vers 4h), mais parfois il se réveille aussi pour des raisons aléatoires qui n’ont rien à voir avec la faim.

I’m a FTM desperate for advice from fellow moms.

I have a 6w old and I’m plunging deeper into PPA/PPD as the weeks go on primarily because I cannot exist/live anymore…. My baby takes up ALL my time.

He’s a sweet little guy I have nothing against him, but I just don’t know how to exist anymore. I have no time to shower, eat, poop or just exist. I am consumed by the stupid wake window concept and the naps (it can take forever for him to go down and then he’ll wake 30min into it). I HATE having to RUN to chores and stuff the second he goes down not knowing when he’s going to wake up. It’s like a fucking time bomb is gonna go off any minute at any given time.

Bath/night routine happens right when I once upon a time cooked dinner and by the time he goes down, I neither have the time nor the energy to cook and eat. I go to bed right away. So most days I just don’t eat dinner. And that for the last 6 weeks.

Morning nap is supposed to happen when I would’ve once made breakfast. So either I leave him in his bouncer, cook, eat aka ignore him and then hope he’s not too fussy to go down. Or I try nap but that takes forever and he wakes up before I’ve had time to eat anyways.

I don’t even get to play with him or do tummy time most days because he’s usually fussy (probably cause he never naps enough or properly…. Or cause of poop issues). He hates being worn so that’s not really an option.

I am miserable.

So fellow moms, how do you find time to do anything ? When do you make breakfast? When do you make dinner ? How do you find any time to have any sense of normality? How do you handle wake windows? Or do you not and just go by vibes? I’m withering away here. There’s no way this is just how it’s supposed to be… right ?