Preemie baby sleep habits

M

mom_of_2

Registered User
Hi there

I have an almost 12 week old preemie who was born 6 weeks early. She is now at 6 weeks adjusted age. She came home after about 2 weeks in NICU at QMH and slept most of the time then. Now I can't quite figure out how much sleep she needs during the day. She cries a lot and seems really tired all the time. She also has reflux, so that is part of the reason why she cries.

Anyone out there who had a preemie who can share their experience?

Thanks!
 
Hi - I didnt have a preemie but did have a little girl with reflux. Its just hard with a reflux baby. My baby liked to have lots of little feeds - snacking all day and preferred to sleep on her side. I also ended up putting pillows under her mattress so that she was elevated which seemed to help her to sleep.

You can get medication for the reflux if its bad
 
Hi Sazzy

She is on medication, and it's helped a bit, but now she is just very very fussy and seems tired all the time during the day. For example, she had a 3 hour nap today, and I had to wake her to feed her, and shortly after the feed she was fussy, and back asleep within an hour after waking up.

How long did you elevate your daughter's mattress?

I've put my DD on her side a few times to sleep, but she rolls on to her back. Did you use a sleep wedge to keep your baby in position?

How long did it take until your baby's reflux improved?
 
I've had 2 preemies, one born at 33wks, the other at 30 weeks. both also slept a lot, the 2nd had reflux and slept in a car seat for 3mths because he couldn't lay on a flat surface.

for us, as soon as the baby yawned, we put him down for a nap, even if he had only been awake for 1hr. My elder son was a very sleepy baby- an still is as 2.5yrs, but much less now. He used to sleep up to 16-17 hours a day for the first few months and we just worked with him and let him sleep and "catch up".

The second cried a lot a night because of the reflux but he too slept a lot, not as much as the elder one but he couldn't stay awake for longer than 45mins at times and would go back to sleep. we figured since he was up crying a lot a night, that he was really tired during the day and needed to rest up. we didn't do any sleep training until 5 or 6mths when solids were introduced. the first few months with a preemie baby is tough. they eat a lot and frequently and in our case, were sleepy. We also found over-stimulating with music and toys seemed to make things worse. I.e, our face and calm talking and being cuddled was all they could really handle for the first few months. If she seems tired, maybe you can let her sleep - 6wks adjusted is still very young, at this age (for us) all they really did was sleep, poop, eat and cry lol try to hang in there and rest up when you can. xx
 
hi
my preemies were born at 26 weeks and it is very difficult having a baby with reflux. i agree wth the pp's who suggested elevating, and we even let our babies have naps in their swings or car seats. that really helped them.

we used mylanta as well as prescribed medication and the mylanta made all the difference to the kids.

hang in there and i am glad your sweet baby is home.
 
Hi MilkMonster & dimsum mum - thank you so much for your replies! It's encouraging to hear from others who have had the same experience. We have good days & bad days. Some have been really terrible, but I try to stay focused on the fact that eventually it will get better with the reflux & fussiness. If you check this post again, I just have another question for you - when did your babies start sleeping through the night?
 
I have a son who was born at 28 weeks. He was in hospital for 7 weeks and when he came home he was feeding every four hours and would sleep for three and a half hours in between each feed! He was only awake for a very short time during the day until he was about seven months old.

He slept through the night from when he was 6 months old (3 months corrected). I also elevated the matress and found that this helped. We also used to make a makeshift nest in his crib by rolling up a long blanket into an oval shape and lying him inside it so that he was always touching the edges (nurses showed us this and it worked a treat as when they are prem they really like to feel like they are still in the womb).

Hope this helps.
 
Both my kids slept 12hrs continuous from 5 or 6mths not corrected age. but getting them to fall asleep was a tiresome process - but once they were down, they were down for the night. It's very hard to have a fussy baby who cries a lot...hang in there!! it does eventually get better!!!
 
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