6 weeks, it's getting worse now :C

[KingCabbage]

Hi guys!

We were making some real strides after about a week and a half of shush-patting with my newborn. She turned 6 weeks this past Friday and for the past 3-4 days things have just gone downhill big time! 

Before, shush-pat was starting to work...she would fuss but maybe for 5 minutes tops then she'd settle for a nice nap (usually 1.5 hours or so). Once, she even went to sleep without any effort at all...we just swaddled her, darkened the room, held her for a moment or two (her wind down) and put her down. She went to sleep immediately on her own once in the crib.

But lately she fights as much as she used to in the early days. When we first started, she fought and fought against naps and drifted off to sleep very very slowly. We definitely had to stay by the crib for 10-20 minutes or so to make sure she was in deep sleep.

Now she still fights, but after a long bout of arching her back, crying, fussing, and trying to wiggle out of her swaddle, she finally just...stops and her eyes pop closed. It's like she instantly goes into the first stage of sleep. I think she must still be used to shush-pat being a cue to sleep and it eventually works. But it's a bigger struggle than it was, and it feels like we're going backwards.

On top of this, she wakes after only about half an hour now. Sometimes she wakes every 10 minutes or so. I've tried staying by her side and shush patting but she'll wake whether I am there or not.

What's going on? Is this normal?

Our EASY is roughly this:

E 530 AM
A none (she usually goes down again pretty quickly this early in the morning)
S 600-730
E 730
A 730-830
S 830-930
E 930
A 1000-1100
S 1100-1130 (only sleeps about 30 minutes or so)

It goes on like this most of the day. She sleeps well at night usually although last night we had a really hard time getting her to bed. Usually she's out by 7 or 8 and done for the night. But last night she fought and cried til 9.

She's eating about every two hours or sometimes every hour and a half or hour if she doesn't sleep well. When she wakes early we try activity before feeding her but sometimes even though it's not "time" to eat she fusses and acts hungry (hunger cues). I know every newborn is different so I want to feed her in case it's a growth spurt or something, but it worries me she is only going an hour or hour and a half between some feedings :/

[lolsyb1982]

Hi there

Just when you get a good routine working they like to switch it up don't they!

She could be a little UT now when going down for a nap with a 1hr A time. If that was getting you a 1.5hr nap with no real fussing and now she's fighting it she could need another 10mins or so A time.

There is a GS around the 6 week mark so she may well want to feed more often than usual for a few days. Is she bottle or breast fed? Is she taking good feeds or snacking? I'm wondering what you think are hunger cues could be tiredness (they're very similar for a lot of babies) due to the short naps.

[KingCabbage]

We just tried keeping her up an hour and 15 and she went down with ZERO fuss!  Here's hoping that's all it was, time will tell, but thank you for the suggestion!

My main problem is I can't always read her sleep cues.  She would yawn and stare around the 30 minute-45 minute mark which is why we kept putting her down early. But maybe it was leftover yawns from the previous naps? I guess yawns aren't a good indicator with her.

She is breast fed and usually takes good feeds. Although sometimes she gets distracted between breasts. She will eat at one, then when we burp her or change a diaper to wake her back up, she seems uninterested in the other side. But after about 30 minutes or so she will sometimes cry and make hunger signs (chewing at blanket, mouthing to the side, looking for the nipple, etc).

[Skadiver13]

My main problem is I can't always read her sleep cues.  She would yawn and stare around the 30 minute-45 minute mark which is why we kept putting her down early. But maybe it was leftover yawns from the previous naps? I guess yawns aren't a good indicator with her

Sometimes this can be an indicator of being bored and a simple change of scenery wakes them back up again.

[KingCabbage]

Good to know! I hadn't thought of boredom.

Tonight she's fussing more as we try to put her down. She fought hard at the usual time so we let her stay up a little longer... she started crying so I was worried we had let her stay up too long. She's difficult to settle again. Hoping it's an evening thing or even just being overtired. Will try again tomorrow and see how it goes!

[Skadiver13]

Remember she is only 6 weeks, my dd now 4 months was a little bestie between 6 and 10 it's the witching hour. We just had to wait it out and do what ever it took to get her to bed. Around 9 to 10 weeks it just stopped and we got her routine going.

[ireneasheard]

My experience was that I needed to keep my son up longer - alot of clock watching to make sure not too long and started incrementing awake times post growth spurt. I found if he was under tired he would fight going to bed ans yawning definitely was a first sign of tiredness but not entirely reliable. He would start rubbing his face on my chest when he was truly tired. He still does now at 20 weeks and has started rubbing his eyes. I started pushing his awake times up as mentioned above fussing and yawning can often be a signof boredom. My kids benefitted from longer A times and beinf pushed a bit more to be awake.

[KingCabbage]

It is definitely WitchingHour at night hehe.

Today's day naps have gotten worse too though. She keeps waking up an hour into a nap then being really sleepy. I think wet diapers are what wake her, though I guess she could just be waking as part of her sleep cycle.

I'm going to try putting her right back to bed when she wakes, she's getting sleepier and crankier as the day progresses! Even when we bring her in bed and cuddle her to sleep, she is cranky and unhappy.

[Skadiver13]

I hate to say it but she just might be figuring things out. I think at 6 weeks things can really be up in the air and you have to ride it out. Something I always try and remember and remind myself is "you can only provide them the opportunity to sleep you can't make them sleep".

Just keep her A time quiet and less stimulated when she takes shorter naps and see if she goes down easier. APOP a nap if you can. 

[KingCabbage]

How does APOP work?

Things got worse again. She's now napping so badly that she is always a little groggy but can't sleep. We try to put her down after an hour and 15 and she can't seem to stay asleep - and fights going down. I tried puting her down earlier on the theory that she was exhausted and still the same problems. I have no idea when her window is now or if it even exists anymore. I think she's just always tired maybe. It's throwing off the whole routine and feeding's affected too. I don't know what to do anymore.

[lolsyb1982]

So APOP is doing whatever you can to get them to take a good nap - car/buggy/rock and hold for the whole nap, whichever method they like best.
At her age you can get away with doing a lot of whatever's necessary to get them to sleep well as bad habits aren't learnt until they're around 12 weeks usually.

[KingCabbage]

Okay, will keep that in mind about the 12 weeks!

I just realized yesterday she might be going through a growth spurt which might explain why she's fussy....and she ate a TON last night, way more than usual. She's waking more often at night too which is very unusual for her. Though she hasn't been napping well she usually always slept well at night.

I am trying alternating APOP (cuddling her in our bed to sleep) and putting her in her crib. She went down okay in her crib earlier and is now napping pretty well. Here's hoping it keeps up!

Thanks for all the advice and help - when it's bad I just feel like giving up...but when it's good it's so good! I guess it's not meant to be an easy journey

[lolsyb1982]

You will find the first year very unpredictable and up and down. Just as you get a routine down they will change it up!