5 week old overstimuilated/tired?

[sandy snowdrop]

Hi there,
I'm new here, and have a 5 week old girl called Holly, who I'm pretty sure is a 'spirited' baby! She normally feeds for about 20 min, then can be reasonably happy for another 15-20min, then goes into meltdown! A lot of the time she doesn't sleep at all until her next feed, just screams and waves her limbs about until her next feed - I'm guessing she's overtired/overstimulated. I only really started to use the EASY technique yesterday, but was doing the pu/pd down method, which I realise was wrong now. I am so close to using a dummy/paci just to settle her, but really don't want to if possible. Has anyone else had success with a pacifier and managed to get rid of it after 3 months or so? Also, for babies under 3 months, is it swaddle, pat and shhh until they start to go off, then put them to bed?

Thanks for any help,
Getting very desperate!
Cass and Holly (5 weeks)

[chell]

Hi, the first few weeks are the hardest, when the crying is at it's peak. I think with a spirited lo you will have to be very consistent and things may take a litlle longer on the sleep training front. I didn't use a paci, but maybe next time I would. A friend of mine did and it made her life a lot easier. Tracy recomends it for younger babies, as they have a need to suck, not just when they are hungry. Maybe someone esle who has weaned from a paci, could help you on that point.

Yes it is swaddle then pat/shush. When she has begun to go off then lay her down. You can pat/sshh in the cot, or you can pick her up again. (which is different from pu/pd). I used to hold, apt/sshh until Jacob had closed his eyes and then lay him down, you then continue to Pat/sshh until they have fallen into a deeper sleep. Eventually he got the hang of it, and I gradually reduced my input.
Make sure you are observing for her sleepy cues and act quickly, they can become overitred fast. Have a good windown routine, but if she is one of those bubs who gets overtired quickley, make sure it is not too long.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Antoinesmom]

Hi Sandy,

I know exactly what you are going through. My son Antoine is also a Spirited baby and when I started him on easy at 3 weeks it was the same too. He was overtired and overstimulated. It took me a while to realise that I was doing to activities that were to stimulating for such a young baby. Until 6-8 weeks all the activity babies need is face time. By that I mean, seeing mommy or daddy. Signing a song or two, just talking and making faces or simply doing a little gas relieving exercise. At five weeks Antoine was up for a approximately 45 minutes before going back to bed until the next feed (counting feeding time of 20-30 min). You'll have to pay extra attention to her cues and see what she looks like when she gets overstimulated or tired. The next time you'll be able to act before to escalates to too much. Really stick with EASY and use the shush pat method. Having a Spirited baby it will take more time to get her to understand the principal. Like Chell mentioned, Try shush pat in her crib and only pick up if she is crying and cannot be calmed in the crib. Keep her in your arms until she is calm and place her back in the crib and continue shush pat. After she's calmed down about 7 minutes, slowly reduce the shush until no more but continue to pat. I would pat until he was in a deep sleep but did reduce the intensity after a while. I know it might seem as though your becoming a prop for her to sleep but trust me eventually she won't need you to shush pat as long and you'll be able to just keep you hand on her back to calm her down.Antoine is getting close to that and he's nearing the 4 months.(We are having now also using pu/pd, now that I finally got how to do it and that he is old enough, it's a real charm)

I didn't believe in a paci and neither did my dh. All the nurses at the hospital kept saying how good it was for a young baby as they need the extra sucking time and it is soothing for them. I caved in and got him a paci. He never really liked it when he was awake but for sleeping it was a must for long time. I was happy about him not liking it for awake time as I really didn't like the idea of having a paci while awake. He is now starting to refuse it even for bed! He'll keep it after he's swaddled but the second he's in bed. Out it goes. He's weaning himself!

Take it for a mom of a Spirited ds, EASY is the best thing out there. Your DH will thrive on it once establish, use the shush pat to put her to sleep, look for the cues and give her a paci (at least for bedtime), it will help her learn to self sooth.

Hang in there, you'll get there.

Martine

[sandy snowdrop]

Thanks a lot guys, I'll give it a go. I've tried the paci, but she doesn't seem to really want it, and I think it looks awful in her little mouth! I'll persevere though.

Thanks again for the support,
Cass and Holly
-xx-

[avery's momma]

check out this link for the Aussie Swaddle- it worked for us, as it taught Avery how to suck on her fists instead of a paci (she didn't like the paci, but wanted her fists, but had a hard time getting them where she wanted them!)

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=1439.0

hope this helps.. it can be tricky until they learn to self soothe. i used to put my hand on her chest for a min or two after i layed her down, and i did shhh with it for about a week or two.. but then she started seeing me and it wouldn't work bc she got all excited when she saw me... now i don't do anything... i just lay her down at first sleepy cue, and she cries/fake cries for about 5 mins and then falls asleep. (most days )

good luck!
ali and avery

[Antoinesmom]

Sandy,
how are you holding up? Have you tried the paci?

I've tried a suggestion from another board and it worked like a charm, you may want to give it a go. I keep Antoine swaddled but now take all his clothes off except his socks. The blanket it a very thin coton sheet. Then I tuck a blanket on each side of the crib, here I also use a light coton blanket ( he gets warm easily). I tucked a towel on the wall of the crib to ensure a tight fit. Since using this methode, he falls asleep by himself. He does wake up in the middle of his nap but we are working on that.

Also, you may want to ensure that your LO's room is as dark as nighttime. I just tapped garbage bags to his window to make it pitch dark. If it works I'll go by a big poster, it'll look better.

Let us know how your doing.