VERY bad night :-(

[Crackers]

This is my first post in Baby & Toddler, hello!

My little girl is 2 and a half weeks old, and for the first 10 days or so was an absolute diamond when it came to sleeping. She would have a late feed at 10/11pm, sleep through tol 2-3am, feed and change and back in her crib within 30mins, asleep til 6.30/7pm.

However...she will not settle after her 10/11pm feed now!! To the point where last night I was up until 3.30am :-/ Fed her at 10.30pm, made sure she was hungry for it and she fell asleep straight after. Put her in crib, then half hour later she was screaming! Tried winding, dummy, cuddles, nappy change, bottle. Eventually she was hungry again and finally settled at 3.30am.

Where am I going wrong? Is she sleeping too much during the day now? Is 2 and a half weeks too early to keep her awake during the day, on a playmat or something??

Tired out new mummy, grateful for any comments!

 

[Princess81]

They tend to start with this around that age I'm afraid, it's like they realise they've been born!
It's far too early to get her into any kind of routine sleep wise. She'll sleep and wake when she wants at the moment. It's soul destroying but it will eventually improve.
You could try swaddling her perhaps? Give her a bath before bed to tire her out? Ummm put an item of your clothing in her cot so she can smell you?? X

 

[SunnySue]

I dont really know what to suggest in terms of getting her to sleep but I do think 2 weeks is too ealry to try and keep her awake during the day.
I do feel for you, lack of sleep is a terrible thing
Hopefully one of the lovely ladies on here has some advice for you and you can get some sleep very soon, good luck

 

[BevG]

aww hun, they go thru a period where they get day and night a bit confused. once they have woken up after the first week or so and are a bit more alertwe have to teach them the difference between day and night. make sure that you have lots of activity, noise and light in the day and that its dark and quiet at night. dont change her at night feeds unless she poos as this wakes them, dont speak to her during the night much, just soothing stuff like gentle sounds or singing. stuff like that. i kinda cheated on this phase as my oh dosent go to bed til about 3am as he works evenings so i used to leave her with him til 3am after her 11pm feed as i knew she would go til 3 ish and he would bring her up when she wanted her next feed. sometimes she would sleep and sometimes he would have to entertain her but eventually she started sleeping thru from 11 til 3am and so i started taking her to bed with me at 11 instead and that worked well for ages, now shes started sleeping thru from half 8/9pm so i put her in her cot then now. its been totally natural progression and now she sleeps thru the whole night but some babies arent as easygoing lol

day naps are totally necessary. keeping her awake more wont make her sleep better at night, in fact sleep breeds sleep so the better she sleeps in the day the better she will sleep at night. theres a whole thread on it somewhere

 

[BabyBrain]

Swaddling was my saviour hunny, Albert has steadily increased his sleeping at night ever since, he's 9 weeks and slept for 10 hours last night. I use the Summer SwaddleMe which are available from Amazon xxxxxxxxx

 

[Nurse 26]

I'm afraid princess is right, not much you can do, keeping her awake through the day will only make her over tired avd more grumpy, at that age they need to sleep when they want, its tough but will get better!

 

[Mrs N]

THink htey have a growth spurt at 3 weeks so she cud need a lot more feeding?? It does get better hun I assure you but she is starting to know her mind and you should be proud of that!! My boy always knows his mind!! Lol!!
xxx

 

[BevG]

growth spurts every 4 weeks til 4 months is what ive been told lol, they are fun too. cranky baby, wants to sleep n eat lots. you will have one coming up at around 4 weeks give or take a week

 

[LoopyLouize]

Agree with the girls, there isn't much you can do hun, she will settle down soon. She's just in a whole new world and needs reassuring xxx

 

[hesty14]

It will settle down and I agree with all the girls have said. From day 1 I have had a noisy house in the day, tv, washing machine lots of talking her E but at night as soon as she goes up for a bath it is quiet time. When she comes back down for bottle and settling the curtains are closed, lamp on and tv volume down. Just so she starts to know a difference.

Whine she wakes in the night it is feed in dim light, no talking etc.

It will pass.

 

[My1stBaby]

ohhh i really feel for you!! those early weeks can be a killer!

same as whats been said really but 2 n a half weeks is too young for routine and they need loads of sleep. bevs suggetions are great about learning day from night, i dd that with Max n i cant remember how long it took but he does know it now. i really struggled t this point so if you wanna chat PM me xxxxx

 

[Susanne]

I think it's all been said in the previous replies already, but I didn't want to just read and run... Hang on in there, you're doing fine! Hope she settles down for you a bit better soon.

 

[Samsgirl]

yeah, dont keep baby awake during day thinking this will make them sleep better. worst mistake ever! I learned the hard way. sleep does breed sleep and if they get lots of sleep during the day, they do settle better at night. at that age, babies need around 17 hours sleep...so basically, they are only awake really for feeds! its crazy and you feel like they are always asleep, but its how they learn and grow at this stage.

keep daytime naps light and make sure house is noisy. always put baby in bright colous during the day and then at night, keep room dark..dress baby in white for bed and keep it all nice and relaxed and quiet. they soon start to know the difference between day and night and it will all come right in the end...i promise. but the first few weeks are hard.

we always give LO a bath before last bottle and bed at night and she just knows now that the time we put her down after her bath is nightime and she just settles for longer....but so young baby may not pick up on that, but it will eventually start to sink in. xx

 

[BabyBrain]

Also, even though you are totally shattered and at your wits end, try to keep as calm as possible. Babies pick up on emotions, it's part of their survival instinct, if you are anxious or annoyed LO will be too. And always try to sleep when baby does, sod the housework!

 

[Nic36]

Agree with the other ladies... Those early weeks are incredibly difficult, but you really have to just go with the baby's demands with regards feeding and sleeping. It is too early to try and keep the baby awake in the day (IMO), but it really will get better. Everyone told me that things would improve, but I didn't believe them, but it really and truly does. Hang in there, it'll all come together eventually! Xx

 

[My1stBaby]

Yep I agree with Nic it 100% gets better!! It takes time but you'll get there xxx

 

[lyndsey_28]

hey hun i totally know how you feel, alfie was great at first then it was feed at 10 then awake with crying and not knowing what to do til 1 in the morning and believe me it kills you, it was worse for me knowing i had to be up at 7 to sort the others out ready for the school run!!

it got better but not by much until the last week or so and he has started this routine his self were he feeds bout 7.30 then deep sleeps til 3-4 in the morning then gets up at 7 which is great, but i still remeber the first few weeks i felt so down and exhauseted and was really tearful and can admit that now although i felt like the worst mom in the world a few weeks back

if you need anything hun or just wanna talk message me xxx

 

[Crackers]

Thank you so much for all of your responses!

I didn't mean keep her awake for long during the day, just half an hour or so after a few of her daytime feeds?

Differentiating between day and night sounds like a good idea. Not going to be easy with the light evenings but I'll give it my best shot!

I just hope she's tired out enough from last night to sleep well tonight!

 

[Loula]

I am so glad i have found this thread as i am going through extly the same. I know i shouldnt expect miracles as shes only a week old. Im fine with her during the day but as soon as she doesnt settle at night even i have tohave a little cry, soo exhausted xxx

 

[BabyBrain]

As weird as it sounds at the moment your body clock does adapt. Trouble is it takes a long time to adapt back lol. The first time Albert slept all night I was awake from 4am waiting lol. Now he sleeps all night I am knackered!