- Getting Pregnant
- Pregnancy
- First Year
- Toddler
- Family
- Baby Names
- Baby Products
- Registry Builder
- Registry
- Community
- News
Community > First Year
Baby's First Year
80.5K Discussions
250K Members
Start Discussion View Members Join Group Visit Archive
Community Guidelines Community Glossary
The views expressed in community are solely the opinions of participants, and do not reflect those of What to Expect. Learn more about our guidelines
Just so you know, What to Expect may make commissions on shopping links on this page.
Bookmark Discussion Report as Inappropriate
S
SCoughran
Hi everyone. FTM here! I need help with establishing a shifting schedule with my husband. the nights have been brutal lately and I’ve been on fumes. For example, tonight, my 2 week old got up around 12 and has not really slept until close to 4:30. Meaning, I might have gotten 1-2 hours of sleep. My husband is a dentist and is back to work. So originally we did it to where I’m mainly the person during the week and he helps on the weekends. But idk if we can do it that way anymore since my son is waking up so much during the night. It’s making my health go down. I’m not eating as much during the day nor drinking. I try to take naps during the day, but even those are hard because he wakes up. I know my husband needs sleep for work but idk what else to do. He has to get up for work at 5:30 every day. So, what would be a good shifting time for him and me?
Like
Reply
11 Comments
Oldest First
Report as Inappropriate
k
katiex07
My husband only had one week off but always took some overnight wakes. We would go to bed at like 8 or 9 and he would take the first wake (usually around 11 or 12). This way I could get a stretch of sleep. Then I’d take the rest of them. He gets up at 5 for work so then after that first wake he’d get a stretch of sleep. Once I went back to work, we just took turns because we both wake up at 5. Luckily by the time I went back to work there was usually only one wake per night
Like
Report as Inappropriate
Report as Inappropriate
S
SCoughran
@midwestmom0213,
I’m breastfeeding! I’ve tried to introduce formula but he won’t take to it. I have been pumping, so, I have breast milk in the fridge. We introduced a bottle early since I will be going back to work when he’s about 8 weeks.
Like
Report as Inappropriate
m
midwestmom0213
@SCoughran,
that makes it a little harder then, because you’ll probably still need to wake up to pump during the night!
Like
Report as Inappropriate
lucybaby2024
my husband is up at 4 for work on day shift and while I take all baby wakings, we used to split our puppies potty breaks. He would go to bed at 8 and I would take 8-1 and he would take 1-4. We switched around a few times to see what worked. Most often I took the puppies and didn’t wake him as I need less sleep than him but on bad nights I would wake him. Same with the baby, if I need him I wake him.
Like
Report as Inappropriate
willowoaktree
we took turns at one point, did time shifts before, and at some points we would just tell each other whenever you can't do it anymore and need a break wake the other person and they'll take over and if he's still not asleep hours later wake the other person.
it may take trying some different approaches and finding whst works best. or seeing if one if you goes to sleep early and other takes care of baby for first shift.
Like
Report as Inappropriate
a
ashynd710
My husband would stay up until the late evening feed around 10 or 11. I would go to bed early around 8 and then take the overnight feeds which meant getting about 5 hours of continuous sleep. My husband wakes around 5:30 as well so he would get about 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep which is good enough for him.
Like
Report as Inappropriate
h
hrusso99
@ashynd710,
this is exactly what we did too
Like
Report as Inappropriate
a
ajlein
@ashynd710,
This is also the system my husband and I have been doing for months. His shift is 8pm-12am and mine is 12am-5:30. It ensures that we both get time to sleep. The first month is difficult but it will get better 💕
Like
Report as Inappropriate
l
ladebrouillarde
Since he has to be up early, it probably makes the most sense that he takes the first shift and you go to bed at like 7 or 8. Then you can handle the middle of the night and he can get a solid chunk of sleep before work.
Like
Report as Inappropriate
D
Daisydittloff
My husband was up at 6 for work so the way we split it up - I would go to bed at 7pm and sleep til midnight so hubby would do last feed and bedtime, andthen he would have from midnight til 6am uninterrupted.
He would go to bed around 10 when bubs went to bed for the night, andwould manage any wakes. And then when I took over i would still manage to get a couple hours until morning.
We also sleptin seperate rooms as my husband is a light sleeper and we felt we needed to have uninterrupted blocks (he would wear ear plugs and stuff).
Eventually bubs slept long enough stretches (by about 12 weeks) that i took over the weeknight wakes and my hubby would take Friday/Saturday nights!
At 10 months, he only wakes 1-2 times for his dummy so it’s a non issue and I go back to sleep very quickly.
Like
- 1
- 1
{{/hideMessage}} {{^hideMessage}}
{{^IsArchived}}
{{#canEdit}} {{/canEdit}} {{#showIgnore}} {{/showIgnore}} {{^IsBanned}} {{#IsAbused}}
Violation Reported
{{/IsAbused}} {{^IsAbused}} {{#canEscalate}} Escalate for Review {{/canEscalate}} {{^canEscalate}} Report as Inappropriate {{/canEscalate}} {{/IsAbused}} {{/IsBanned}} {{#canDelete}} Delete Post {{/canDelete}}
{{#IsHidden}}
{{/IsHidden}} {{/IsArchived}} {{#AuthorIgnored}}
This post is hidden because it's being reviewed by moderators, it was created by a blocked user or was hidden by the original poster.
{{/AuthorIgnored}}
{{#HiddenRepliesCount}}
{{ShowMoreText}} {{#HiddenHasAbused}}
{{/HiddenHasAbused}}
{{/HiddenRepliesCount}} {{/hideMessage}} {{/object}}
You May Also Like
First Year Must Reads
Milestones by Age Range Milestones by Type First Year Month by Month
