help: tearing hair out with baby not sleeping IN THE DAY

Morty_007

Hi all,
Not really money saving unless you count the fact that I might take to the bottle if I don't get this sorted out soon...

I am so exhausted and fed up trying to get my little boy to sleep during the day at the moment. He suddenly stopped when DH went back to work and now, despite sleeping really well at night (can sleep for 3/4/5/6 hours at a time depending on the night which I am totally happy with), he won't sleep in the day meaning that by about 5 he is tired and fractious. I just can't bear it. The amount he sleeps at night seems to have no bearing on whether he sleeps in the day either.

He is almost 6 weeks old and exclusively breast fed. He feeds well and falls asleep on my breast but when I go to put him in his cot he wakes up just lies there looking around as if he is not tired (can do this for over half an hour!). I can see he is tired though as his little eyes are all puffy and he is tugging his hair behind his ears. He seems to just fight it. Of course he then gets over tired and starts crying and by then he won't go to sleep even with controlled crying and it all goes to pot.

Please help. How did you all get your babies having naps during the day? Did they fall into it naturally or did you have to train them? (If so how?!) Am I expecting too much from an almost 6 week old baby? The only reason I am bothered is because he gets overtired and starts crying. If he was happy, i'd just leave him to it.

Finding myself in tears by about 6pm every day from his shrieking and being desperate for him to have some sleep and I don't want t be so stressed!!

Off out for a walk now for my sanity and to try and get him to go to sleep before he starts crying/screaming.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer
Morty
x

Psykicpup

-Ahh a baby with a 'wake-up' button in his back! - I do feel for you, sorry to sound flippant.
I found that laying my hand on my daughters tummy & gently 'rocking' her sometimes helped or if very tired stroking between the eyes would work. You just run your finger very gently from just above the eyebrow down to the dip before the nose comes out again- it seems to trigger automatic shutting of the eyes & can be too much for a tired babe to resist lol! Going for a walk or drive or being near the washing machine/dishwasher can all help too.....

sylphraven

Typing with one hand here as well!!!! My baby used to drive me nuts coz everytime I put him down he'd wake up. I learnt that if I wrapped him up tight in a blamket (I made a muslin sheet for hot days), making sure it was behind his head as well I could feed him & then put him down. He wouldnt feel the coldness of the sheet below him, or the space around him rather than my arms.

Does he sleep when you take him for a walk? If he does try & take him for a walk around the same time everyday so he gets into the routine of sleeping at that time, then after a while he may fall asleep at this time without needing the walk. My son now falls asleep around 8:30 and 3:00 regardless of whether we're doing the school run or not.

kj*daisy

MY son used t0 wake when putdown as well, I either had to feed him to sleep and hold him, or lie next to him on bed and sleep as well or go out in the car or put him in pram and walk him round.

mae

I cannot recommend the Gina Ford Contented Baby Book highly enough. She is very experinced and believes in regular naps and tells you just how to make sure even the most stubborn baby relents
I am sure you would find it second hand on ebay or amazon maybe.

I've recommended it to so many and they all have contented babies. My daughter was so contended I was a sickly mum. I only wish I had discovered it when I had my son who kept us awake 24/7 and also hardly ever fed well so very nearly sent me to a loony bin
Good luck you need a break in the day so I hope things change.

cheekyweegit

Hugs and my sympathies to you Morty.

Firstly - a question, as your breast feeding, could you be drinking anything with perhaps a little too much caffine in it which although is not unsettling to your little one, could be keeping him awake as it's trickling through your milk, or anything else similar?

The nappies from hell are not always a consequence of something which doesn't agree with little ones when breast feeding.

I used to bath my 3 boys about 11am and give them a feed (I breast fed too) and this used to relax them and me a bit and they would dover over in my arms, or I'd put them down for a nap afterwards, go for a walk in the fresh air either in the pram or with the baby carrier (they slept longer when in this as they can feel / hear your heart beat and it "apparently" reminds them of being in the womb.) If you don't have one can you borrow one for a bit?

Another tip given to me, was to sleep with a towel, baby's blanked, pillow case used for the moses basket / pram etc etc for 24 hours in your bed then put it in the baby's sleeping quarters, and as they can smell you they feel close to you and this helps them dover over so to speak.

Another one which worked wonders for me but don't laugh, was for me to take a couple of paracetamol and it seem to work it's way through to my milk and my boys always seemed to sleep like a log after I'd taken them. I suffer from migraines and it was the only thing I could take safely for them so I discovered this by accident. Might be worth a try though for a few days to get little one into a routine.

The hoover and washing machines are also quite good as they have a continuous noise which babies seem to like. The washing machine has in house entertainment too as the washing tumbles going through the cycle before the final spin.

Calpol and sudafed (snotty nose medicine) used to knock my middle son out within 10 mins of taking it. But he was a bit older and we thought it was coincidence the first few times.

Oh and as hard as it may seem don't pick them up right away when they start crying. It's amazing how quickly someone who looks so small and helpless can manipulate you into doing what they want! Oh the memories on this front!!!!!

I never used and don't believe in "dummies", "soothers" or whatever they are called now. I think, actually probably best I don't put in what I think about these, it's a discussion for another forum.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Good Luck Morty, and hopefully things will settle soon.

Js_Other_Half

<hug>

At this age, my DS would only sleep during the day in his Fisher Price Cradle Swing...:o (This is the newer version: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3760378.htm)

I really did think I was making a rod for my own back, but he just gradually stopped needing it. Otherwise he would only catnap for 20 minutes here and there. He was a very angry unhappy baby up until 12 weeks, when he started needing less feeds in the night, and has been becoming happier ever since.

As for the dummy - I felt I had no choice - it was either that or go insane. We managed to avoid giving him one until he was 8 weeks, but it made a real difference.

Good luck - it will pass!!

Kimitatsu

Hi morty

My sympathies are with you 1000%! DS1 was just like this, he would fall asleep being fed all of the time but never ever slept in a moses basket or a cot until he was 2.

I can hear the cries of outrage already building but for me it worked taking him to bed for a nap, because he could reach out and touch me, and that was all he needed. As long as he could touch me it was ok.

He also had awful colic as a babe, so I gave up all dairy products for number 2 and he was as right as rain. Dont want to get into the details that are too personal but was it an easy delivery? DS1 was induced and came out like a cork in a bottle, with hind sight (which is always great!) cranial osteopathy would probably have helped him and my stress levels!

There were several times I would walk him to sleep in the pram, and when I was pregnant with DS2 would go for a drive and when he fell asleep would pull into a layby for a quick 20 winks. It may be the position in which he is sleeping that feels uncomfortable, maybe he just feels better sleeping upright?

Try the baby sling for a while and good luck!

Fen1

Hello. I'd just like to second the idea of wrapping your baby in a thin blanket that "smells" of you when feeding, then putting him down. As suggested, he doesn't get the shock of going from warm to cold, plus he 's comorted by your smell. You could also try putting him down somewhere that's not brightly lit - a shady corner? - to encourage restfulness. It might also help to put him down whilst he's still awake rather than dropping off or asleep. No-one likes being disturbed when they are asleep in a comfy place! And he'll associate sleep with routine rather than milk/cuddle/sleep.

TheWaltons_3

Hi Morty

I totally understand where you are coming from -don't forget, they use lack of sleep as a form of torture to glean information out of hostages!

Lack of sleep is the worst thing about having a new baby - I know that when mine starting sleeping through, it made the biggest difference. You can handle the whinging so long as you get the breaks in the afternoon.

What has always worked for mine has been those swinging chairs. Apparently they are good for Colicky babies too, however, none of mine had Colic and have read online that nothing cures Colic... who knows...

Anyway, also, swaddling is really good. Pin babies arms down and roll them up really tight - worked for both my twins and I was doing it until they were about 4 months old.

I really feel for you in this situation, but it wont be for long xxx

heather38

a tip some one on here gave me was to put baby down to nap feet first not head first as the tipping motion wakes them up.
i used to get baby to sleep by curling up with her on the sofa and taking a nap myself.
i also invested in a vibrating baby bouncer and it would knock her out within 2 min of turning it on.