help re baby sleep (merged)

Paparika

What about a good old fashioned skin to skin cuddle?

scattymam1

We had the same with DD, the hoover and the hairdryer worked well but couldn't do that at night, you can get cds with white noise on very cheaply - we got ours from ebay - might be better for through the night.

Slings - there are ones that are just material and you just have to tie them up right but I had the mothercare one which was really fiddly but it worked well as I ran around doing things, it would normally rock her off with no crying involved.

Swings are great too - my daughter never seemed to fall asleep in one but it put her in a calmed state quite well.

How old is your baby? You mentioned she slept a lot through the day - could she be having too much sleep during the day, or too long a sleep at tea time? causing her to be more awake during night...I had a playmat with dangly things over her head for her awake times quite early on(about 4-6wks I hired it for 50p from my local sure start)just to give her a bit more stimulation during the day.

Infacol and baby massage are strongly recommended too.

pickle

Is it colic? If it is then the chemist can give you something for it. My daughter got this at about 5 weeks of age and it was awful, she didn't seem to stop crying for weeks. I also found a vibrating bouncer helped which I got from mothercare (had the same effect as a drive in the car).

scattymam1

P.S. Yes it will pass, no there is no miracle cure(if there was the inventor of it would be a multi billionaire for sure). But if you are having awake time during the day with no crying as you said in post 26 then that's great, my DD cried all day and all night - so you're doing really well.

I remember my MIL and her family saying their babies NEVER cried so I felt totally abnormal with my daughters crying, until my health visitor said that was a load of B*****KS! I found a group of friends who all were in the same boat and who admitted it and so I calmed down a bit and so did baby...it takes a little while to figure out their cries as well when it's your first but it will come.

hayleyc_2

Jo_R wrote: »

Sling. Sling sling sling sling sling.

Not one of those c*appy Tomy/Baby Bjorn ones, but a proper sling. I prefer the wrap ones, carried both LOs in them from birth, they went round eevrywhere with me and I swear I never used the pushchair!

Even at home, I'd pop them in if they were unsettled, and I used to sit on the computer swivel chair, swinging gently round... Worked a treat. Doing anything using the sling made my life easier, sometimes I'd engineer walks down to the shop or a journey into town on the bus as either LO was guaranteed to fall asleep!

Do get LO checked out though to make sure they're not poorly.

Totally agree, you need a proper sling where the baby is snuggled right in to you in an upright position. Once in the sling, fast walking, dancing etc are really effective in my experience. Also, once in the sling, concentrate on really slow and steady deep breaths. This has a really good calming affect. Obviously, check the usual things like nappy, hunger, temperature etc.If the baby appears to be crying for no reason or has just worked itself up into a state and won't latch on for a feed then the sling is really good to help calm the baby and they often will go off to sleep. I found that putting DS in his sling and then going out for a walk would usually get him to sleep within about 2 mins!

Carmina_Piranha_3

bartsimpson wrote: »

have a mothercare 3 position carrier but its fiddly and loads of straps to fix - hardly seems worth the effort at night. is a sling different? easier?

also some suggestions eg hoover, drive in the car - great for daytime, but not something i want to be doing at 3am???!!!

this brings back memories of those first weeks with my youngest :eek:

i hated the mothercare carrier thing and so did baby. waste of money for us.

we loved this http://www.ciao.co.uk/Infant_to_Toddler_Vibrating_Rocker__6391895
but anything that vibrates might do the trick. it wasn't too loud at 3am, and had 2 settings for gentle or stronger vibrations. he even fell asleep in it, much to our delight.

the thing that made the most difference for us was the colic remedy called 'colief' which can be added to formula or breastmilk. it's a bit fiddly but worth it because i got a totally different child within hours :T i just wish somebody had told me about it before he was 5 weeks old. most babies i knew who used colief came off it before 6 months old with no problems.

it does get better as they grow older, honest!

notlongnow_2

I used a Tricotti sling (google it) VERY easy to use, no straps or fasteners. Just 2 loops of fabric. I never used it in the newborn lay across position, always used it upright. Keeps baby very tight and secure and you dont need your arms to support baby when its in a tricotti, just get on with things, like your still pregnant without the aches and pains. Highly recommend.

Also, and im sure people will disagree. Although its hard, I dont think theres anything wrong with letting baby cry. Im not saying leave it for hours, but for 5/10mins if its tiny is fine. Wrap him/her up(depending on weather of course), take outside in the pram and leave. If baby is crying then baby is ok. It will give you time to put the kettle on or go to the loo at least. My baby prefers it outside(shes 14months now)

Good luck, newborns are horrible but they DO get easier.

SUESMITH_2

brought back many memories . dd would scream for hours at a time, so from personal experience:
swaddling
driving around the block
infacol
radio off station or vacuum cleaner
sling - i had a wilkanet (sp?) sling and they're just brilliant
and when she did sleep during the day i would put ds down in his cot, put a note on the door saying "new baby and mum asleep" and go to bed myself

my friend swore by cranial osteopathy

its a horrid time and it will soon pass but at the time it seems like its forever so lots of hugs for you all

katiecoodle

Hello - I just wanted to share my experiences to see if they could be of help.
with baby #1 she cried and cried and I used to walk all over town with the pushchair, or put her in the car at 10pm to get her to sleep, and she really was agitated whenever she was laid on her back. However once she'd learned to sit up unaided, (so a few months down the road from where you are now I'm afraid) her sleeping settled & when she turned 2 (yes 2 years!) she finally managed a whole night.
Baby #2 was much the same but I took a risk with him & put him on his tummy to sleep. I know the cot death people don't recommend this but it was the only position he'd sleep in. And he slept beautifully. I didn't tho cos I had to keep checking he was alive! Again, once he could sit unaided his problems disappeared.
They were both sicky babies and I think that they had some form of colic which was very painful to them and the only comfort they got was on their tummies.
If you think there's a problem & your baby is seriously in pain (I think mine were) then take it seriously & demand that your GP refer you to a specialist. The problem is though that babies grow and change so quickly that by the time your appointment comes though, the problem might have disappeared. But don't suffer in silence - try CRYSIS, I think someone else mentioned them. they're supposed to be good.
Hope it all settles down soon for you. x

Sparkkee

my two were screamers too. for six to eight months they only slept when moving. i used to push them in circles around asda at 3am in their pushchair so that oh could get some sleep and then he'd do the same for me at 7...

if it all gets too much and you really think you can't cope, strap baby into a cot/pushchair in a room so they are safe and walk away to another room for a two minute breather - turn the radio up, sing lalalalalala and try to calm down. i know i'm going to get a million replies saying that this is terrible advice and that it's a horrific thing to do to a small child, but this is a far better thing to do than losing your temper with a little one. it also means that when you come back you are a little bit less stressed than when you started and that makes it easier to settle the baby down.

this stage will pass and you will rediscover sleep. until then grit your teeth, watch rubbish tv, get to know your friendly 3am supermarket staff and invest in a vibrating chair thing!