desperate mummy! going out of my mind

[Josie and Sams mummy]

pleasesomebody give me some suggestions and save me from insanity!

i have a 6week old who is so difficult to settle, we are on a 3.5 hr easy and at night we are kind of getting there but its during the day im finding it so difficult to settle him(we also have a 2yr old!) he gets so OT its clear to see. he has around 50min of a time which he is fine with, then on the 1st yawn i put him down,but he is so nosy he just looks around at everything and the minute he dozes off its almost like he wakes himself up and is eyes wide open, its almost like he doesnt want to miss anything! he also has a dummy but sometimes will just get frustrated with it and spit it out then scream, ive tried soothing him in other ways but he just gets so upset and beside himself. he finally settles when he takes his dummy (this can take up to an hour) and sometimes then only will sleep for around 40min before he wakes again screaming and we start all over again! he is better towards the end of the day but i think thats because he is totally exhausted, and when i try to wake him for his 5ish feed its almost impossible, i just wish hed have this deep sleep in the morning not just before bedtime!
do you think i should take his dummy away or is that just cruel as he is still so tiny and needs to suckle?
im finding it so difficult to keep running up and down the stairs to sooth him as i have a 2yr old im leaving each time, bless her she spends so much time infront of the tv at the moment i feel so sorry for her.
i just want him to settle in his sleep and be well rested

please help!
xx

[ball11]

Hugs to you!  My 12 week ds is very hard to settle also!  I was on BW chat forum every single day for 4 weeks trying to figure out how I could get him to sleep during the day.  My lo likes to look around and doesn't like falling asleep for naps or night time.  It's getting a bit better but if I don't do everything right to get him sleeping he will never fall asleep.  Not even on a long road trip which I found out the hard way!

What I found worked for my lo was using a light blanket or unfolded cloth diaper which I place over his head (sounds scary I know but of course I never leave it on his head without me right beside him).  After I cover his head (I pull a small piece up so I can see his eyes and he can get fresh air to his nose) I pat his back quite firmly and quite quickly while shhhing to him under the blanket.  I have placed a chair beside his crib so that I can sit while doing this and I let my 3 years old read or do a quiet activity in his room for this time (she knows if she tries to talk she has to play in her own room which is right next door) Between the two things and his covered eyes he becomes distracted enough to fall asleep... even through he doesn't think he wants to.  The first time it took 45 min to get him to sleep and after about 2 weeks it now takes 5 min to get him settled.  Also because he has such a hard time falling asleep he can't go back into another sleep cycle without my help which means during every nap he wakes up at the 30-45 min marks and I need to pat his back for 1 or 2 min to help him get into deep sleep.  Once he does that he'll sleep for at least another hour.

As far as the soother, I decided to take his away at 10 weeks because I was doing the same thing, "plugging him in" every 10-15min.  I felt bad too but he found different ways to soothe himself... he either rubs his head into the sheet or sucks his toungue.  I decided to keep one soother for car rides and am very glad I did but other than that he never gets one and he doesn't miss it.


Even though I've found a way to settle my lo I still find it incredibly difficult some days.  If I have to go out of our routine at all it's very tiring and very hard on both of us.  I sure hope he learns how to fall asleep on his own soon, I've heard that between 14-16 weeks they get better at soothing themselves so we'll see.  Good luck with your lo!

Michelle

[* Paula *]

Hugs I am sorry you are going through such a rough time.

Can you post what your routine looks like with the short naps etc, so that we can try and see if there is a pattern?

E
A - how long
S - how long

Do you swaddle?

I am wondering if your lo might be OT, and this is why he is taking so long to settle.  Have you tried having in down for his first nap before the first yawn?

Do you have a good wind down routine including the 4 S ritual?

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64277.0