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The snoo was a game changer with my second baby from day one. She’d still wake up every 2-3 hours to feed during the first weeks but the fact that we didn’t need to rock her back to sleep was really amazing. So at night I could still get a decent chunk of sleeping between feedings. And after she recovered her birth weight and could sleep for longer stretches it was even better. But that was our personal experience... I also know parents whose baby didn’t adjust that well to it. It’s a bit of an investment, but you can rent one to try it.
Third vote for the SNOO! My 5 week old regularly goes 4-5 hour stretches in that thing and has since since she’s come home.
You can’t plan, you just adapt. Not helpful, but true!
One tip I would reccomend is using the Haakaa every time you BF. It will catch the leak on the other breast, and help build your stash. I used to catch about 6oz each time I fed from the breast that wasn’t being fed on. This is mainly while your supply regulates (first few weeks-months). Save it, freeze it. Once your babe has the latching down (re: nipple confusion), your DD can take on one of the night time feedings which is helpful. However, in the early stages/weeks I still recommend to pump or other during this time. Each time the babe isn’t on your breast but IS feeding (ex: bottle), it signals to your body “hey we are good on milk! produce less!”, when in reality babe is just having a bottle but consuming same amount.
Congratulations! Sleep training isn’t typically recommended until babe is at least 4 months old (usually between 4-6 months), so honestly the early newborn stage is just rough. We eventually did Babywise, and following the schedules on babysleepschedules.com also helped. I was never a fan of “cry it out” aka Ferber, but he is the definitive expert on sleep disorders, and I read his book to educate myself on both sides. Even if you don’t agree with it all, I highly recommend it. I got a lot out of it and learned a lot.
I did Taking Cara Babies and found it very helpful and flexible. Every baby is different, and she acknowledges that rigid schedules don’t always work.
Agree with copy supervisor if you plan to breastfeed. It helped me get some sleep by pumping enough to store a freezer supply. That means your spouse or family take “shifts” and help take turns feeding with a bottle while you’re sleeping.
Same. And it saved me and possibly my marriage. I was SO terrified about sleep beforehand but learned there is such a wide range of “normal” and you just have to kind of chill and adjust to the particular baby. Most important learning is to have a pattern from day one so baby learns “it’s time to sleep.”
So much of it is dependent on the baby itself... my first basically sleep trained himself, my second we had to sort of formalize a system (ended up doing a lot of what taking cara babies recommends). Didn’t/couldn’t breastfeed, so with formula feedings we had more control over how to space out feedings during the day to optimize filling them up so they’d sleep longer stretches and then ultimately through the night without being hungry.
Don’t be terrified!! new motherhood is definitely a challenge, for some more so than others, but if it wasn’t worth it, no one would choose to have more than one kid! :)
Thank you ❤️
Will you have live-in help the first few months? I have twins and my mom stayed with us the first 3 months. I started pumping on week 2 because I couldn’t do it all alone- just too much. I would pump one bottle per baby in the morning. We would go to bed at 9:30ish after feeding them and leave them with my mom. She would stay up and do their 11-12 feed with the bottle and change them, then put them back in our room. That way when they woke up at 3 or 4 we’d have at least gotten ~6 hours of straight sleep. It was a lifesaver.
In term of technique and gadgets, you really need to just adjust to the baby. What one person swears by will no nothing for someone else and vice versa. If there were a universal technique we’d know it by now 😂
It really helps!! And get a good pump - rent a hospital grade one if you can. You can’t really control what the baby will do but if you can afford it you can control how much help you have.
It really depends on the baby! My first would sleep for 4-5 hours at a stretch. My second was up every 90 minutes, hated the SNOO we rented in desperation, and ended up co sleeping with me most nights while my husband slept on the couch. We did do Ferber method on both kids when they started solids, around 6 months. It was honestly a life saver and he’s been sleeping through the night ever since, except when he poops his pants or is teething.
Honestly, it depends on your baby and you will feel what is right. My daughter had reflux as a newborn, so the only way she could sleep was upright with me holding her...I didn’t get many winks in those days, but it was fine. She’s still not a great sleeper at 4 and sneaks into bed with us every night, but I’m just happy for the extra cuddles 😊
Congratulations, you’ll be great!
As everyone else already said, it depends on the baby and what you’re comfortable with. For the first 2 months, I pumped to start a freezer stash and we also supplemented with formula. My husband and I took shifts (8pm-2am and 2am-8am) so that I could get some rest. Sleep deprivation is real! But once the baby was 10 weeks and over 11lbs, we did Tribeca Pediatrics approved sleep training and baby was sleeping 8pm-7am within a week. It was a total life saver for us and baby is happy.