Hi all! I'm having issues transitioning my 5-week-old between activity and sleep. Some of the time she's super sleepy after feeds and I put her right back down - no use in forcing her to stay awake. However, when she is awake after feeds, we have some activity time - talking, making faces, etc. Reliably, after about 15 minutes of this, she starts fussing/crying. I figure she's done, and start swaddling her up to go down for a nap - but at that point it becomes a complete crapshoot. She'll stay fussing/crying in my arms despite calming techniques. I put her down in her bassinet and that usually calms her down - to she point where she's not crying - but she stays awake and jerking her body. I eventually pick her up again, sometimes she'll calm down and sometimes she starts crying again... it's a cycle. Eventually she'll wear herself out and pass out (but it's not very restorative sleep), or go on long enough to get hungry again and then she'll fall asleep after the next feeding.
Basically, this unsettled fussing and difficulty napping happens after every "activity" period to varying degrees. I feel like I'm just floundering around trying this and that to calm her, and missing her cues. Unfortunately she doesn't follow the nice pattern of playing until she gets sleepy and yawns/rubs her eyes then seamlessly goes to sleep. Is she overstimulated/too tired? Not tired enough? Or is she in some sort of physical discomfort?
Let me know if any of you have experienced this and how you are able to get your LO from activity to sleep - also if, like mine, your baby has times where she's unhappy when held but also unsettled when put down. I know 5 weeks is still early days, and things will change - I just want to know if this is just "how it is" or if I'm doing something wrong or missing something important. Thanks!!
