Help please! FTM baby suddenly sleeping worse

[Rawans]

My 7 weeks old is suddenly sleeping/napping worse. He used to be a perfect napper and would sleep ok at night, just had some fussy hours in evenings. The past couple of weeks he would not nap more than 45 mins at a time and will not sleep between 8/12 pm then might sleep two 3 hours stretches thats it!! However, yesterday and the day before he fell asleep earlier at around 10  and woke up at 5/6 am so that was a thrill for us, hope it continues. However, his napping is still going down the hill, we can tell hes extremely overtired!! I was trying to Create some sort of a soft EASY routine but its impossible since his wake/sleep times are unpredictible and hes overtired all the time (he takes 5 oz formula every 3.5/4 hours). Do you have any suggestions? Help? He needs to nap more and sleep better and i need him to nap as i have an exam coming and im not able to study, not even go to the bathroom/eat do anything during the day. He might nap well in my arms knowing that he is rocked/held to sleep. Is there something wrong, i feel im doing everything wrong and feel like am a  mom!

[Scottishmummy]

Hi!

Sorry you've not had a reply yet, it's quieter here during the holidays.

Firstly you are not "a poo mum". Babies this age do sleep erratically due to a number of factors, some developmental and outwith our control so short naps at this stage are common and often due to baby's age and stage  rather than anything you are or are not doing.

Sometimes there are things to try though. To help look into these, could you post your last few days in EASY format e.g.
Wake: 6am
E:6
A1hr15mins
S: 7.15-8
Etc
And also a bit of info on what you do to wind down and settle your LO for a nap.

And remember with short naps lots of people do an EAS AEAS routine, which is normal at this age.

Be kind to yourself and put house jobs aside and grab as much me time for food, loo trips etc as you can in those 45min breaks. You need to take care of you so you can take care of baby xxx

[Rawans]

Thank you very much and happy holidays!

Like I said it has been very random and its hard to remember the exact schedule of the past days but I can put below a somehow usual pattern

Wake 630
E 630
A 1 hour
S 730 (he starts to wake after 45 minutes although he used to sleep till next feeding a couple of weeks ago which i would love so i can get some more aleep)

A 8:30
E 9:30-10
S 10
A 10:45 (i try to talk to him during this time)
 
I Might try to shh/pat him to sleep or go in and place a hand on his chest but it wouldnt work most of the time.

E 12:15/12:30
S 12:45 (usually he prefers to take his day naps on his bouncer)
A 1:30
 
S 2:45 Try to make him to take another catnap by rocking the bouncer
E 3:30
A 4
S 4:45/5
A 5:45
E 6

Then it starts getting very random from here, he gets fussier and wont get settled but for 10-15 mins here and there.

E 8:30/9 Try to get him to sleep, lights down, pj, swaddle, white noise. He will probably sleep another 45 mins

A 9:45
E 11:30

Then he would sleep from 12:30 till 6/6:30. A couple of days before he went off at 10 and slept till 4, bottle burp rock to sleep (takes usually an hour) then woke up for the day at 7.

This has almost been the pattern for the past 3 days. During naps he sleeps on his bouncer with slight rocking, at night it takes much more effort to put him to sleep and i rock him for around an hour!

[Scottishmummy]

Hi there!
Thanks for posting that, short naps are hard on everyone, aren't they.

The first thing that strikes me from your day is your first A time is much shorter than the rest of the day, and the wu is relatively early for the time he goes to sleep at night. I wonder whether, rather than getting him up after 6.30 feed, whether it's worth treating it as a night feed (lights off, all calm) & trying putting him back in the cot and trying to get him back to sleep at that time for a bit more night sleep?

From then on it looks like your A times are in average range for his age (around 1hr15) Average A times- BOOKMARK ME! so I'd keep that the same.  I think those short naps might just be developmental. You could try going into him just before he wakes (e.g. Around the 35-40 min mark) and gently rock bouncer to see if you can extend the nap.

To be honest, at this age the A times and naps are so short that I admit I did some of my LO's naps in buggy, sling or car so we could get out the house & to save my sanity.

In the evenings, I think I would aim for a slightly earlier BT. I wonder whether the fussiness and difficulty settling is from being tired? With a CN finishing around 5.45, I'd aim for a 7pm BT.

Hope that helps, come back of you want to chat through more or have any questions
Xx

[Rawans]

Thanks alot! I have a couple more questions   

I tried putting him back into bed directly after th 630 feed treating it exactly like a night feed and he would only wake up aftee 45 mins as if his biological clock knows its day time!!

Regarding the bedtime ive tried every bed time possible and still he wouldnt settle. For example today i started since 730 and he kept waking every 10/15 mins,  its 1 am and he just fell asleep on my arm hoping thats it, i know it is very short night time sleep!! Noting that i dont feel hes deep asleep during his short naps, these are the only 5/6 hours solid sleep hes getting the entire day!!

I think him being OT is having a snowball effect im not able to control anymore   i would really appreciate any help!

[Scottishmummy]

Thinking back I do remember my DD going through a phase around the same age of taking ages to fall asleep at night. I think it could be developmental, especially because it's a sudden change. LOs go through developmental leaps (google wonder weeks) which can disrupt sleep and I think there is one at this age. Things usually settle down after the leap passes. Other possibility might be discomfort? Wind?  Any possibility he has reflux? (Not something I know much about but have seen other people here say it contributes to disturbed nights and naps)

I'd keep trying in the morning, or even try AP-ing back to sleep. My DD wouldn't go back to sleep in her cot at that time but would sleep in my arms until 9!

If you're worried about OT in the day, could you try for a couple of naps in sling or buggy if he'll sleep any longer there? Both of mine would only take short naps in the house at this age but would sleep longer in sling or buggy so I alternated to try to get some longer naps while still encouraging some in house naps.