4 weeks old.. touchy/grumpy.. Can I have your wisdom?

[jasmynesmum]

HI...  a bit of my history..

dd is nearly 3 and since birth was very predictable and takes things in her stride..  she was falling asleep independantly from birth and she was/is an angel/textbook lo....

ds is 4 weeks old and a touchy/grumpy baby who I say 'fights the sleep'...   he is on a good feeding routine.. bf every 3 hours and 4 hourly at night, the problem is that he resists sleep...  in the mornings he generally catnaps and is 'usually' pretty content, but when he gets exhausted (catnaps do this to him I think!!) he gets very fussy and often angry.  He loves to snuggle and is quite happy to be tucked up under your chin when he is awake, but I am worried I am going to end up with a bad case of AP..In the afternoon he usually naps for a good 3 hours.  between about 2 and 5pm.

I try to keep his A time to about 45 mins, but when I try to put him down he gets really fussy and I end up picking him up because he gets so upset.

What advice can you give me?  Do yo have lo's who were similar to mine?  AM I WORRYING ABOUT THIS AT TOO YOUNG OF AN AGe?\

Thanks everyone.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Hi,

I have a 16 week old touchy/spirited, but was in denial about it for the first while!! (DD1 is spirited/textbook and that was bad enough!) Really there's no time like the present to do things, I figure (the whole start as you mean to go on in Tracy's books!)

Spencer fought sleep hard too in the beginning, and at about 3 or 4 weeks I started doing sh/pat (or rather just pat as the sh part annoyed her!) She would fuss to sleep all the time, and even now that she can self soothe she fusses off to sleep most times. She doesn't get angry when OT, so much as wired (loves to yell)

Have you tried sh/pat on him? It was hard to do as Spencer cried through it, but it really worked with alot of persistence. I also have her room blacked out and a fan for white noise. We also still swaddle her, she can suck her fingers, but likes to scratch her head and wake herself up!

lots of hugs,
Heidi

[jasmynesmum]

OK.. sounds very similar! 

I have briefly tried shh/pat, but this is when I feel like he gets angry...really starts yelling and the amount of tears is shocking!  so i quickly pick him up and he just 'growls' for a while then relaxes... 

we swaddle too although sometimes he gets mad and tries to break out of it...  then he gets really p'd off!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Spencer used to break out of her swaddle too! now she seems to like it, and rarely busts out, even though I know she can! Really, I'm sure she would love to be held all the time too, I'm so glad I persisted with sh/pat.

Do you keep sh/patting him when you pick him up?  I did this with Spencer to start with then worked on doing it in the crib, and gradually worked up to just putting a hand on her back and then one day, I just left the room! (this did take a few weeks) I still occaisonally hold her and pat her when she's really cranked up, otherwise she has a long am nap and short naps in the afternoon. Does he sleep good at night? Spencer does and I figure if her short naps dont' interfere with that, it's working for her!

lol on the growling, he sounds so cute!

Heidi

[charmie]

Can you post your routine as in;

E
A
S

E
A
S

etc...

xxx
charm

[jasmynesmum]

ok,

loosley it is this..

e 8am
a
s 8.45 ... try shh'ing in the bassinet to no avail... he gets very frustrated after about 30 mins and becomes quite hysterical...  usually by about 45 minutes into it I give up and cuddle him.. he will not always fall asleep.
e 10.30
a
s we go for a walk or out somewhere and he'll typically fall asleep and stay asleep until next feed ( 1.5hr nap)
e 1.30
a not really ... he usually is asleep while I burp him...
s long nap here... about 2.5 hours
e 4.30
a..
s doesn't really take a cat nap here....
e 6.30
a nightime routine... jammies (occasional bath)
e 7.30
s 8.00pm
e10.30
e2.30
e7.30 am

so thats pretty much it... the reason I give up on shh/patting is b/c I have an active 3 year old here too. 

Thanks!

[charmie]

Will he sleep if you do win down, put him in crib and leave?

I was also thinking he might be ready for more a time.  Maybe 1hr.  So if you are putting him to sleep when he is not tired, he will fight it and become OT in the process IYKWIM.

Have a look at these;

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=127592.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=104500.0

xxx
charm

[jasmynesmum]

Thanks... he has only gone to sleep happily in the cib once...I will check out the links and maybe increase A time a little bit.

[charmie]

Good Luck.  Let us know 


xxx
charm

[jasmynesmum]

well, it seems that I may have been misreading my ds and he was just taking his time to settle into the 'real world'.  He and I seem to be getting into a good rythm and he is doing pretty well with his sleep.

I'll be back soon for more advice I'm sure!!!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

That's great, glad to hear things are going good for you!

Heidi

[charmie]

That's fantastic!!  Come back anytime 


xxx
charm