Please help - wont sleep during the day

[Eva's Mummy]

I have posted here before but i feel i am losing the plot. Last night at 6pm i was sitting in the dark feeding my baby girl crying my eyes out.

She is 6 weeks old and was born weighing 5lbs 8oz and she is gorgeous.

For the past few days now i can't get her to nap during the day. I bottle feed her Aptamil comfort milk at 10, 1, 4 then cluster feed at 6 & 8 then off to bed where she sleep brilliantly usually till 5/6.

But during the day i.e yesterday she slept for 30 mins at 11:15, 20 mins at 2 then 30 mins at 6:30 the rest of the day was spent trying to get her to sleep. Every time i put her down in her moses basket she wakes up and starts crying i try to settle her again and when she starts to nod i put her down again and she starts crying again. I don't know what i am doing wrong.

She currently takes her naps (well, when she used to sleep) in her moses basket in our living room.

Can someone please tell me kinda step by step what i should be doing, I.e.
.Should ikeep her basket in our room for naps
.what do i do when she starts to ge tired (currently i just pick her up and cuddle and rock her a bit till her eyes start closing.
. Should i swaddle (she never seemed to like it) and if so when do i do it.
.When do i take her upstairs
.What do i do when i get upstairs (should the room be dark like it is at bed time)
.At what point do i put her down
.How log do i stay in the room with her

I know im asking alot but i just feel like i can't do anything right at the moment.

PS She also like to lie on the floor and what the colours on the TV during her awake time, could this be too much stimulation for her?

[amayzie]

Oh hi honey!!you sound like you are in a right mess!!

First of all- it SOUNDS like things have been going well for you- I would SUSPECT that she may be having a growth spurt. One is due at 6 weeks and this could well be throwing EVERYTHING off. SHe may be wanting to eat a lot more and may be less settled overall. Are you breastfeeding or bottle feeding? This should pass in a couple of days- then things should settle again.

Also- at 6 weeks she's VERY young- so there's no problem in doing one or 2 naps holding her, or in a carrier/wrap carrier (this is good if you have another, or want to use your arms). Especially if you are worried she is getting way over tired- just rock her, hold her, put her in the carrier to get her to catch up.

How long is her A time at the moment? is she showing tired signs? Does she have any signs of reflux?

Ok- so as to some of your questions: Try the moses basket in a darker, more quiet place- it might be best to keep her near you  of the bedroom is on another floor or something, but perhaps she is more aware now of the light and sounds and so will settle more in a darker, quieter space

- wrapping always worked really well for us, but it doesn't suit all babies. Most will complain about it- but it does calm most of them down. Perhaps try it again and if you find it is razzing her up rather than calming her then don't use one.

- Wind down: What does a good wind down consist of (Includes 4S ritual)

- the things to focus on: Getting started - how I survived the first 3 months

- With the TV- I would probably try to limit this if i were you. For a little bub this can be a little busy- for a little bub even an arch with some toys can be a bit busy! So- you could have her watch a few minutes of the TV, but i'd try to limit it to that- i've done things like put my guy at the other end of the coffee table so he couldn't see it if i wanted to watch it while he was up.

Hope these help- It may well just be a growth spurt- fingers crossed for you!

[Eva's Mummy]

Hi Kate,

Thank you so much for your reply. I am hoping it is a growth spurt as she was weighted yesterday and she put on 11oz in a week.

I think sometimes i just put to much pressure on myslef to have everything right, and i kept thinking i was doing the wrong thing by cuddleing her while she slept as i didn't want her to get used to it. Today i am trying her naps in another roon downstrairs which just happens to be near the tumble dryer so i will try that on for some white noise.

She is bottle fed apptamil comfort milk, not sure about reflux. She does have the hiccups after every bottle, and a wee cough. She is not really sick at all if anything just a wee mouthfull of milk now and again.

I will try swaddling again as she does wake up with her arms flapping around.

At what age should i begin to get her into a better routine?

[amayzie]

At this age - and to be honest any age- you can't cause any problems by holding your LO that you can't undo when you need to. As far as getting into a routine, i would try as much as you can to stick to a loose eat, activity, sleep schedule- but don't panic too much about having every nap in the cot, or having her settle herself. They aren't really able to 'self settle' till closer to 3 or 4 months, but using a strategy like shh-pat will help her to settle more quickly by herself in her cot before that age. We started early with the shh-patting and the easy routine and this worked well for us- but there are HEAPS of people on here and that i know elsewhere that have not done ANY sleep training till aout 3.5 months.

Great idea about the white noise- this can really help some bubbas. And as far as not letting her getting used to being held- we tried to get MOST naps in the cot, and if we had one or 2 not in the cot i just tried to make sure it wasn't two naps in a row.. i mixed it up a bit if you get me.

That said- she is a little baby and you should NEVER feel guilty for holding her! It's beautiful looking at their little faces sleeping peacefully on mummy!