Baby won t sleep after feeding

Newborn Not Sleeping? 9 Tricks That Can Help

Worried about your newborn not sleeping enough during the day or at night (unless she’s held)? Learn 9 effective tips to try when your baby won’t sleep.

I thought I knew it all.

I read parenting books, browsed through websites, and attended CPR and childcare classes. I even knew I wouldn’t know everything, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to learn all I could. I was ready to have this baby!

Except… I wasn’t. Not in a way that anyone who has yet to have a child of her own will ever know until the day she becomes a mother.

The biggest culprit? Sleep deprivation.

As a first-time mom, I found myself with a baby who wanted to be held 24/7. He’d easily fall asleep when he was in my arms, but woke up screaming as soon as he was laid down. This affected his naps throughout the day, and inevitably led to difficult evenings.

The vicious cycle continued: the lack of sleep only led to more restless sleep.

I knew that newborns don’t have a set sleeping routine yet, but I was concerned he wasn’t getting enough sleep. Even if he wouldn’t cry, he’d open his eyes the minute I set him down, or would fall asleep briefly only to wake up a few minutes later.

How to cope with your newborn not sleeping

If you’re reading this, I’m sure you can relate.

Perhaps your newborn sleeps 10 minutes at a time during the day. Nothing seems to be helping—she’s simply fussy and won’t sleep. You’re not sure what the issue is, or whether you should be concerned. Never mind that your newborn fighting sleep has left you feeling miserable and exhausted.

Rest assured, friend, this is all likely normal. Reach out to your pediatrician if you’re concerned, as she can point you to the right resources.

But if all checks out okay, you can still do plenty to cope with your newborn not sleeping. First-time moms have to learn on the job, and sometimes we simply don’t know what to do or the techniques to try.

Even with a sleep-fighting newborn, I learned several tactics that helped him sleep much better. No, it wasn’t a full 12 hours of sleep at night yet, but it sure beat holding him all day. Take a look at these tips—I hope they work for you, too:

1. Free up your arms

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission—at no extra cost to you—if you make a purchase.

Just because your baby cries when she’s not being held, that doesn’t mean you have to hold her all day. During the newborn stage, I relied on all sorts of baby gear to free up my arms. An extra 30 minutes added to my baby’s nap often saved my sanity.

Sure, your newborn may cry each time you put her down in the crib, but try different ways to help her sleep.

For instance, wear her in a baby wrap like this one. This not only keeps her close and snug to you, but frees up your arms to do other things. Or put her in a swing—the back-and-forth motion of a swing can lull her to sleep and keep your arms free as well.

Free resource: Did you know her awake time just might be affecting how well she sleeps? Join my newsletter and get One Mistake You’re Making with Your Baby’s Awake Time—at no cost to you! Don’t make the same mistakes I did—help her fall asleep with this one simple trick! Grab it below:

2. Hold your newborn until he’s (completely) asleep

Frustrated when you put your baby down asleep, only for him to wake up the minute his head hits the mattress? Try putting him down when he’s completely asleep.

How can you tell? One way is to go by the clock. The first 15-20 minutes after he falls asleep is still active sleep, where he can easily wake up.

Another trick is to lift his arm and let go. If he moves and stirs, then he’s still in active sleep, but if his arm is limp and flops down, then he’s likely in deep sleep.

Discover how to get your baby to nap in a crib instead of your arms.

3. Let your newborn try to fall asleep

After spending several minutes holding my baby to sleep, I felt so defeated when he’d open his eyes the minute I set him down. He wasn’t crying, but he wasn’t asleep either. I then felt compelled to scoop him up and hold him to sleep once again, hoping that this time he’d stay asleep.

I later learned that it’s fine to put your baby down awake, even after he had been asleep in your arms.

When I had my twins a few years later, I no longer scooped them back up if they happened to open their eyes after I’d just put them down. Instead, I allowed them to keep lying down, even with their eyes open. And what do you know… often they eventually fell asleep.

In fact, try putting your newborn down drowsy but awake for each nap and bedtime to give her a chance to fall asleep on her own. If she cries or can’t sleep, then yes, scoop her back up to comfort her. But at least give her that chance to fall asleep independently.

As I say in my ebook, How to Get Your Baby to Sleep:

“When laid down awake, babies have a better chance of learning to fall asleep on their own. They never get these opportunities when we do the work for them. By giving them a chance to experience falling asleep, they’ll rely less on external sleep aids like rocking, nursing, or being held in someone’s arms to fall asleep.”

Learn how to get an overtired newborn to sleep.

4. Swaddle your newborn

Many babies sleep much better when they’re swaddled since it reminds them of the familiar snug environment of your womb. Plus, swaddling also prevents them from startling themselves awake when their arms flail and move on their own.

Whichever swaddle you choose, go for the “pre-made” ones like these, rather than creating one from a blanket. You’ll have fewer steps to contend with when putting your baby to sleep.

What to do when your baby only sleeps in your arms during the day.

5. Use a pacifier (and the pacifier “tug”)

A pacifier may not always work if your newborn is shrieking and in tears, but it just might help her stay asleep when she stirs.

You see, babies sleep in cycles, which is why you’ll often find that yours wakes up at the same intervals, typically after 30 or 45 minutes. When you know she’s entering light sleep, insert a pacifier into her mouth so that she starts sucking once again.

And if she already has a pacifier in her mouth, give it a little “tug” before it falls out and startles her awake. The tug will trigger her to suck even harder and encourage her to sleep another cycle.

6. Use white noise

Loud noise doesn’t make for good sleep, but neither does complete silence where any little sound is likely to startle your newborn awake. Instead, use white noise to muffle sudden sounds and provide a familiar environment like the sounds he heard in the womb.

You can create white noise through a fan or heater, a white noise app, or even a white noise machine like these:

Hatch Baby Rest Sound Machine

Dreamegg White Noise Sound Machine

7. Have shorter intervals between naps

As a first-time mom, I figured babies just fell asleep whenever they were tired. I didn’t pay attention to how long my baby had been awake, assuming that the more tired he was, the sleepier he’d be.

Except feeling overtired could contribute to your newborn not sleeping, starting an endless cycle that never seems to go away.

What to do? Shorten his awake time between naps—the younger the baby, the shorter the wake time.

Learn what to do when your baby won’t nap unless held.

8. Play the same music each time

I’ve found that playing calming music set the scene and established a “trigger” that the bedtime routine would soon start.

First, I’d play a few minutes of music—the same kind each time—to signal that sleep was on its way. After music, I’d then bathe and change my baby into pajamas, before reading a few books and nursing for the night.

Learn 5 things you can do when your newborn wants to be held all night.

9. Keep your newborn upright

Do you put your baby down to sleep after feeding? He might be crying because of digestion issues, like reflux or gas.

Instead of laying him down right after, keep him upright after feedings, even for as little as five minutes. This will allow his food to digest all the way down to his tummy, or for a burp to pass gas caught inside.

If he’s formula-fed, experiment with different brands and types of formula—a simple change can also do the trick.

Learn what to do when your baby burps a lot.

Conclusion

It’s rough when it feels like you’ve tried everything to help your newborn not sleeping. But remember: this is the season you’re in. And, like all seasons, it’ll come and go. Accepting your present moment—instead of fighting or rushing out of it—is often the best way to save your sanity and stay calm.

And apply the tips you learned in this article. Use baby gear to free up your arms so you don’t feel glued to your baby 24/7. Or simply hold her to sleep—for a good 15-20 minutes—before putting her down. If she happens to open her eyes when you do, allow her a chance to fall asleep on her own.

Pacifiers, swaddles, and white noise can help her fall—and stay—asleep longer. Don’t keep her awake too long or she’ll be overtired, setting up a vicious cycle of fitful sleep. Add music to your bedtime routine to signal the coming of sleep.

And finally, keep her upright after feedings, or even during sleep, to prevent digestive issues.

Remember, mama: you’re doing your best. You’re not doing anything “wrong”—you’re simply learning on the job, as we all are. Because all the parenting books and childcare classes can only prepare you so much compared to the way being a mom to a newborn can.

Get more tips:

11 Ways to Cope with Newborn Sleep Deprivation
Top 5 Reasons Your Newborn Wakes Up Screaming
12 Things to Do When Your Newborn Keeps Fighting Sleep
How to Survive the First Few Weeks with a Newborn and Toddler
Burping a Newborn After Breastfeeding: Necessary or Not?

Don’t forget: Join my newsletter and get One Mistake You’re Making with Your Baby’s Awake Time below:

Newborn Not Sleeping: Tips and Tricks

“Just sleep when the baby sleeps!”

Well, that’s great advice if your little one is actually getting some rest. But what if you spend more time pacing the halls with a wide-eyed newborn than you do catching some Zzz’s?

Read on to learn five common reasons why some babies like the nightlife, and what you can do to get back on the sleep train.

Some babies start sleeping on what’s called a day/night reversal schedule. Your baby sleeps well during the day, but is awake and busy at night. It’s frustrating and exhausting, but it’s temporary.

Here are a few things you can do to help your baby learn that day is for play and night is for rest:

Keep them awake a little longer during each waking period during the day. This will help increase the need for sleep later. Some sleep experts recommend playing with your baby for a few minutes after a feeding instead of letting your baby fall asleep.
Get your baby outside and in the sun (make sure they’re well protected, of course). Natural light helps reset their internal clock. If you can’t get outside, place your baby’s crib or sleeper near a window that gets steady, bright light.
Avoid sleep-inducing activities, if at all possible, during the day. Don’t fight your baby’s need to sleep. But if you can keep them out of the car seat for a bit, that extra time awake will help them later.
Keep lights low or turn them out at night anywhere near baby’s sleeping area. Likewise for sound and movement. Your goal should be zero disruptions.
Consider swaddling your baby at night so their arms and legs don’t move and wake them. You can also try putting them to sleep in a small crib, so they feel snug and secure.

Your newborn isn’t eating all that much in a single feeding. If you’re breastfeeding, the milk is digested quickly. That means a baby can wake up hungry and ready to fill their belly.

Hunger is a common reason babies wake during the night. Babies need to eat to grow, so it’s not healthy to try and change this need or retrain it.

Even if you know that you just fed your baby a couple of hours earlier, check to see if food is what your little one needs.

Thirst is another reason babies wake up. A drink of breast milk or formula may do the trick.

There’s almost always something going on with your newborn’s body, and a lot of it is uncomfortable.

Your baby may:

be teething
have a cold or allergies
have gas
be constipated

Every one of those things will cause a baby to wake up often during the night. Check with your pediatrician if you suspect pain or allergies could be the culprit.

If you think gas is the problem, there are some natural remedies that can help, such as massaging your baby to relieve the gas.

Some babies are so in love with their parents, they can’t waste time on sleep. Your baby wants to know what you are doing. And baby wants to play. With you. In the middle of the night.

Some parents find that sleeping in the same room helps baby feel close while still allowing parents to get some rest. (Note that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends room sharing, but not bed sharing, with your baby.)

Babies are sensitive. Too much stimulation can throw them off their sleeping game.

Stimulation might come in the form of mom eating too much chocolate that comes out in her milk, too much pinching from Aunt Joanne, or just too much daytime play.

Baby’s wakefulness at night is often a clue for mothers who breastfeed that something in their diet is not agreeing with their baby’s tummies.

Other caregivers find that a busy day full of noise and activity makes it hard for their baby to switch to resting mode.

You can’t take back what’s already happened, but you can learn to gauge your baby’s threshold for activity. Maybe a trip to the park and a visit with the grandparents is all your baby can do for the day.

Don’t push for dinner with the neighbors, too, if you realize that means your baby isn’t going to be able to wind down and get some sleep.

In most cases, your newborn is awake at night during short phases of those early months of life. It can seem like an eternity when you’re exhausted, but it often lasts for just a few days or weeks.

It’s also likely that most of the reasons your little one is awake are temporary, and not emergencies.

But there’s an increasing call in the medical community for pediatricians to pay attention to parents when they say their babies don’t sleep.

If you think your child is experiencing an undiagnosed illness or allergy, push your doctor to take your concerns seriously. It could be the key to both you and your baby getting some much needed rest.

Why does the baby not sleep after feeding?

Nikulina Anastasia Anatolyevna

pediatrician

Newborn not sleeping after feeding? Let's look at common sleep problems in infancy, as well as procedures and ways to try to calm the baby and fall asleep. The pediatrician Anastasia Anatolyevna Nikulina tells and advises.

— Anastasia Anatolyevna, why is it good for small children to sleep after feeding?

- Sleeping immediately after feeding is not good. But normal sleep for babies is an important factor. During sleep, babies grow and gain weight well. Sleep restores physical strength, energy. The brain is resting, the overexcitation goes away, the baby is not naughty and is in a good mood. A well-slept child develops comprehensively, actively shows interest in everything around.

Without adequate sleep, there is no good physical development. If the baby does not sleep, he will be tired, moody, stop playing. He may suffer from frequent digestive problems and other illnesses.

— Why does a newborn sometimes not sleep after feeding?

- A newborn can normally stay up to 40 minutes between naps. If wakefulness lasts longer than the age norm, hunger should be excluded first of all. And if the baby is worried about reflux (regurgitation), he is not gaining weight well, you should consult a doctor.

Reasons why a newborn does not sleep after feeding and cries

- Can a child be forced to lie down if he does not sleep after eating? How to get a newborn to sleep?

— Forced laying exhausts both parents and children. Everyone falls asleep as soon as they get tired. Anxious parents interfere with their baby's sleep because anxiety is transmitted to him, and besides, excitement reduces the mother's milk production, so you need to calm down.

How to help your baby fall asleep

Motion sickness and calm song: babies love to be held and listen to their mother's soft voice. Intense motion sickness should be avoided: you can not shake the child, it can harm him.
"White Noise": monotonous sounds on the same wavelength, which are reproduced by special devices, relax. But if the mother does not have such a device, you can go into the bathroom with the child, turn on the tap and turn off the light - the sound of water and the darkness will help calm him down.
Tight swaddling: simulates the conditions when the baby was in the mother's stomach. Helps reduce the Moro reflex (protective reflex) and make it easier to fall asleep.
Bathing: after bathing in warm water, children fall asleep more easily. The pores of the skin are cleansed and open, the skin begins to breathe.
General light massage, play, crawling are tiring, and after them the baby will fall asleep safely.

— How to properly prepare a child for sleep?

— All children are different. It is important to observe the baby, note the time when he sleeps and eats, gradually form his sleep and nutrition regimen.

Signs that the child wants to sleep:

starts to yawn;
rubs eyes;
is looking for a breast or bottle.

If these signs are ignored, the baby will cry and may even refuse the breast or bottle because he is tired and go to sleep hungry.

Getting ready for bed:

try to put the baby to bed at the same time;
a couple of hours before bedtime, play quiet games, read a book;
a walk in the fresh air and water procedures are desirable, which relax and increase appetite;
after a walk - evening feeding and a calm, prosperous sleep.

The sleep and feeding schedule will ease the rhythm of life, help you orient yourself, understand what else the child may experience discomfort from: for example, because of a wet diaper. The baby should not overeat or undereat - all this interferes with sleep. Mom should be next to her baby while falling asleep.

Parents should understand why the child does not want to sleep after feeding, and exclude the cause of his anxiety - hunger, poor health, lack of attention and care, or something else, and if the baby is sick, do not postpone a visit to the doctor. To establish a good sleep in a child, the daily routine and nutrition are also important. A bathed, fed, dry baby will fall asleep without stress for himself and his parents.

* Breast milk is the best food for babies. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of a child's life and continued breastfeeding after complementary foods are introduced until the age of 2 years. Before introducing new products into the baby's diet, you should consult with a specialist. The material is for informational purposes and cannot replace the advice of a healthcare professional. For feeding children from birth. The product is certified.

#Tips for Mom #breast-feeding #colic #gaziki 7-12

Why a newborn does not sleep after feeding

It would seem that the life of a baby is very simple and is subject to the cycles of food and sleep - "food-sleep-food-sleep". As a rule, babies sleep after feeding - this is facilitated by melatonin contained in breast milk and sucking movements that help the baby relax. But sometimes it happens that after the mother has fed the baby, he does not fall asleep.

Why does the baby not sleep after feeding? Misunderstanding of the reasons can alarm the mother, upset and even cause negative emotions.

The emotional reaction of the mother is explained by the fact that her idea of the picture of sleep and life in general of the newborn may differ from the real one. At such moments, a young mother may feel incompetent, be afraid for the child, think about whether everything is in order with him.

Mother's anxiety, in turn, is not only transmitted to the child due to the very close psycho-physiological connection of the mother with the newborn, but also affects breastfeeding.

A stressed mother transmits cortisol to the baby, which makes it difficult for him to fall asleep even after feeding. In addition, stress affects the work of oxytocin, the hormone responsible for the release of milk.

As a result, the mother, who is worried that the baby is not sleeping, not only does not help him fall asleep, but also involuntarily prevents him from calming down. What to do?

First of all, it is important for a mother to calm down herself. To do this, it is very important to take care of yourself - pour yourself a cup of your favorite hot tea, for example, take a warm shower, think about something very pleasant, look at the baby, walk around with him, looking at him. These methods also contribute to the stimulation of the production of oxytocin.

NEWBORN DOES NOT SLEEP AFTER FEEDING - HOW TO FIND THE REASON?

Keep a feeding calendar. So it will be easier to navigate the cycles of sleep and wakefulness of the baby and understand the reasons for such failures. For example, the baby woke up 10-15 minutes ago, his mother fed him, and he did not fall asleep. In this case, his wakefulness is justified - after all, the baby is simply not ready to sleep yet. Such a calendar can help you understand why the baby does not want to sleep after feeding.

The reasons may be the following:

The baby has just woken up and just wasn't awake enough and not ready for bed
The child is overexcited. This happens in cases where the baby's wake time has significantly exceeded the allowable norm for his age, for example, a child who usually kept awake for 30 minutes was left without sleep for an hour. In this case, he can be very overtired and do not fall asleep against the background of overexcitation of the nervous system.
The baby may have a stomach ache. This is especially true for formula-fed children when getting used to the mixture, as well as for babies with lactose deficiency. Soreness can also interfere with your baby's sleep.
Clogged nose, disease can greatly complicate the process of falling asleep.
The baby is hungry. If the child has not received the volume of milk or formula he needs, he may continue to feel hungry and not fall asleep because of this.
Unmet need for suckling. The need for sucking in the first months of a child's life is very high. In the first month, sticking before falling asleep is not yet considered a negative habit, moreover, the baby needs to make sucking movements to relax. If the mother took the breast early and did not offer an alternative (such as a pacifier), it may be more difficult for the newborn to fall asleep.
Uncomfortable sleep conditions. The baby's room may be too hot, stuffy, in addition, he may have clothes for sleep that are inappropriate for the season or a dirty diaper. All this affects the ability to sleep peacefully.
The need for mother's affection and warmth

VIDEO LESSON

Baby sleep from 0 to 3 months

HOW DO YOU HELP YOUR NEWBORN TO SLEEP AFTER FEEDING?

- Keeping a diary of observations of the baby with a note of the time when he sleeps and eats

- Creation of favorable conditions for sleep - a safe place to sleep, darkness, silence, comfortable temperature (20-22 degrees) in the room, sufficient humidity in the room (40-60%), comfortable clothing for the season

- Help your baby meet the need to suckle. In the first month, it is still not recommended to offer a pacifier to babies who are breastfed, since lactation is established in the first two to three months. A bottle-fed baby needs a pacifier to satisfy the need to suckle.

- Helping the baby to relieve tummy pain (colic) - let the baby "burp" the air after eating, vilify in his arms, apply a warm heating pad to the tummy. It is also important to clean the baby's nose with the help of special devices

- Try not to overexcite the baby, do not visit noisy places in the first month of life, when his wakefulness is still quite short.

- Feed your baby on demand. While lactation is established, it is important that the baby and mother adapt to each other in terms of milk production as well. Therefore, it is very important not to wean the baby prematurely, especially since hindmilk is saturated with fats that a growing baby needs.

You can determine the degree of his readiness to sleep by the following signs:

- The baby starts to yawn

- The baby rubs his eyes

- The baby is looking for his mother, poking her nose, looking for a breast or a bottle.

If you miss this time, signs of fatigue can develop into signs of overwork:

- The baby becomes more capricious

- The baby cries

- Can arch

- Can latch on and then push off

Overfatigue threatens with complicated falling asleep against the background of overexcitation of the nervous system. To help your baby calm down and fall asleep, moms can use a range of sleep aids.

- "White noise" - monotonous sounds on the same wavelength, which work as the right association for sleep, help to relax. If you don't have a white noise machine, just go into a dark bathroom and turn on the faucet. The darkness and the monotonous sound of running water will help the child relax and fall asleep.

- Motion sickness - in the womb, the baby is used to constant motion sickness, so motion sickness works to relax and fall asleep.

Do not abuse motion sickness, do not use too intense motion sickness (for example, on a fitball or special swings) and, moreover, never shake the child, it can be dangerous! Just walk around the room with the baby in your arms, softly hiss or sing a lullaby.

- Darkness. Babies in the first 3 months of life are not sensitive to the level of illumination in the room during sleep. But nevertheless, they are curious, every day they observe and notice more and more. Many objects can attract the attention of babies in the first months of life, frighten and distract from sleep. The simplest method of "turning off" the visual analyzer is to organize complete darkness in the bedroom for daytime and nighttime sleep.

- Closeness to mother , mother's hands, mother's warmth will help the baby feel safe and fall asleep.

- Soft Swaddling mimics uterine conditions well and helps to dampen the Moro reflex. If swaddling is organized safely, with the swaddling system available in our store, you can be sure that the baby will not overheat or the blood circulation will not be disturbed.

These conditions will remind the newborn of uterine conditions (dark, warm, cramped, and motion sickness), which will have a relaxing effect on the baby and help him fall asleep.

Sometimes it happens that young parents tend to overly scrupulously follow the norms given in encyclopedias on child care, on the Internet, on forums about motherhood. And, of course, these rules may vary. When parents do not have some unified theoretical base on which to rely, they can seek help from their parents - the older generation or friends, acquaintances, also parents. But here, too, the information can vary quite strongly - the older generation, for example, may advocate fairly tight swaddling and feeding the baby strictly by the hour, while modern approaches to caring for a newborn promote free swaddling and breastfeeding on demand.

Thus, despite the abundance of information, young parents are completely confused and do not understand how to feed their child and what to focus on in order to understand if everything is in order with him, from which he does not fall asleep after the mother has fed his.

Parent Alert:

Trust trusted sources. Watching weight norms, for example, it is worth trusting sources that have a large research base and grounds for certain indicators. For example, WHO is the World Health Organization.
Remember that people on the forums, your acquaintances, friends, your parents are people who have other children. What works for them may not necessarily work for your baby.
Observe your baby and keep a diary of observations. For example: woke up - 9:30, application - 9:45. So it will be easier for you to navigate if the baby bursts into tears at 10:00 - in this case, he is most likely not hungry yet, but is either already ready to sleep, or he, for example, has a wet diaper or some other discomfort.
Find ways to relax yourself. An anxious brain is prone to making rash decisions, so rested, full of energy parents will be able to find the best solution in any situation with their child.

The most important thing that parents need to do in order not to worry about the fact that their baby does not sleep after being fed is trust in trusted sources of information, their own calmness, trust in their own parental wisdom and, of course, love and attention to your baby.