Author Topic: Tired signs for 7 week old?  (Read 7953 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline vicstar

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Posts: 53
  • Location:
Tired signs for 7 week old?
« on: November 25, 2010, 10:50:13 am »
I'm having a lot of trouble with day-time sleep for my 7 week old DS (born 4 weeks early).  Today I spent an hour trying to get him to sleep to eventually gave up and feed him again.  Not fun when I've also got a two-year old boy running around wanting to play...
I think my problems might have something to do with me not understanding the tired signs - either thinking I've seen one and it was something else, or me missing it completely.
Can someone tell me what tired signs I should be looking for?
Thanks
Vicky
Vicky

Offline teilvnav

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 90
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 7851
  • Location: Ontario, Canada
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2010, 14:33:00 pm »
Hi Vicky, sleepy signs can vary a bit among children but generally at this age you are looking for your DS turning his head away from objects or people. He may flail his arms and legs involuntarily, or bury his face into your chest or neck. He may yawn, but infants yawn frequently so I wouldn't go on that alone! As he gets a wee bit older and gains more control over his movements he may start rubbing his eyes, or pulling at his ears. Being born early, though, he may take a bit longer to develop those sleepy signs.
Amy


Offline Kimberlina

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 26
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 1480
  • Location: British Texan
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2010, 21:03:39 pm »
Hiya! I always noticed that my little man would kick his legs - one then the other, so one up / one down and then switch rapidly...

Both legs is wind, alternate legs were tired!

HTH!
♥ Kim
   

Offline trimbler

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 37
  • Posts: 3029
  • Location: London, UK
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2010, 19:16:13 pm »
hey I'm having issues with this too! We used to just go with the first yawn, which seemed to 'work' for a bit, but then we realised it was too late as he didn't yawn until he was already OT (we think - at least, if we waited that long it became really hard to get him to bed!), then we went with flailing limbs (as Kim's LO but arms too), but now wonder whether that's also too OT as it's still really hard to get him to sleep if we wait for that... I've tried heading for the nap when he starts to look glazed, which has sometimes worked but he doesn't always seem to go through that stage. Sometimes I wonder whether I'm misinterpreting the flailing limbs and he's actually just excited and not ready to go down at all - when he starts crying the moment we enter his room and he realises what's expected of him. I'm so confused and feel like a rubbish mum for still not understanding him at 8 weeks! This afternoon he went through a flailing stage after nappy change but we put him in his chair for a bit and he was really happy 'chatting' to Daddy, then when he started to get more floppy I took him for his nap - he cried a bit when we first went into the room, but then actually got to sleep fairly quickly - was only 45mins but that was all we were aiming for anyway as we were about to cluster feed. But I do find it hard to distinguish between OT and just being active, experimenting with his body etc... certainly when he hasn't settled for naps at all he can get quite shaky and very jerky - but that's extreme OT! We normally start heading for the nap 30-50mins after he's woken up (if he went to sleep in the first place) - A times range from 45mins to 6h, depending on how long it takes him to get to sleep (the 6h was yesterday, 2 completely failed naps!)



Offline Kimberlina

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 26
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 1480
  • Location: British Texan
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2010, 22:05:09 pm »
Oh bless ya!! Good lord, I don't miss those days! Step 1: repeat to yourself, IT WILL NOT ALWAYS BE LIKE THIS!!!

I remember that I blasted some sleep training (DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS ON YOUR OWN!) when my little man was about 6 weeks old, we had about 1-2 weeks of "hermitising" myself and achieving some BEAUTIFUL independant naps... but then teething started at 8 weeks and it was back to the drawing board!

When Jack was so little, I'll be honest: I clock watched.  Jo (Calebsmummy) was my saviour... I'll try to find my old thread from when Jack was 3 weeks old: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=172322.msg1936878#msg1936878  not sure if it will help!

Vicky - is your lad 7 weeks old adjusted, so born 11 weeks ago - or was he born 7 weeks ago and is 3 weeks old adjusted?

Trimbler, I have no experience with spirited, but does he need a bit more wind-down time? From the http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164027.0, average awake time for a 1 month old is 1hr - 1hr15min... is he UT if he's only getting a 45min nap in?? Maybe try to aim for about 50 min proper activity, then heading upstairs and do a naptime routine for about 15 minutes to help him wind down? Is that what you said you were doing already?  For J, we would go in the bedroom, say goodnight to the village & close the blinds, start the goodnight song, swaddle, then sit quietly - shhing when necessary. And PS: YOU ARE NOT A RUBBISH MUM!! From your ticker, it looks like he's your first - so this is all very new to BOTH of you! Neither of you are 100% sure of what's going on, and that is SO normal.

HTH!
♥ Kim
   

Offline vicstar

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Posts: 53
  • Location:
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2010, 09:40:42 am »
Thanks for the reply's.  DS is now 8 weeks old (4 weeks corrected age) - was born 3rd Oct, but due on 1st Nov.

I'm still not having much luck with his naps, it seems that some times he wants to nap and some times he doesn't.  I try to compare what I did each time, and honestly, I haven't been doing anything differently, he just goes to sleep by himself sometime, and others I'll try and help using shh/pat and it won't work.  We just gave up trying after 45 minutes - DH was holding him upright shh/patting for 15 minutes and all he did was stare straight out.  Generally, he is awake for 1hr - 1hr 20mins, though if a nap fails then it obviously can be up to 3 1/2 hours.

I watched a DVD called Dunstan Baby Language and it said that when a baby goes "owww" it means it's tired, though I'm not ever hearing it.  I guess I'll just have to watch for the kicking and gazed look.  I read somewhere that if they start fussing, you change positions and if the continue fussing it means they're tried, otherwise they were just bored.  Does that sound right?
Vicky

Offline Kimberlina

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 26
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 1480
  • Location: British Texan
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2010, 11:50:51 am »
Sounds about right to me, but remember - he is SO SO SO tiny. Only 4 weeks old, REALLY - so probably couldn't handle a lot more than feeding, nappy changing, and then wind down to sleep... If he's just staring, could you try putting him in his bed? Does he cry then?

Are you swaddling?   I remember with my little man, he was not interested in sleeping if I'd missed his window - he'd just happily be awake...staring. I know now with Jack, if there is something to look at - he'd rather look than go to sleep, so I have to remove all visual stimulation so that he can relax enough to go to sleep. Do you think that applies to your LO?
♥ Kim
   

Offline Kimberlina

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 26
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 1480
  • Location: British Texan
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #7 on: November 28, 2010, 11:53:40 am »
Oh, I was also going to post this link. I love it - not sure if it will help!

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=451.0
♥ Kim
   

Offline trimbler

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 37
  • Posts: 3029
  • Location: London, UK
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #8 on: November 29, 2010, 12:44:36 pm »
thanks! At the moment we're just trying to keep everything fairly low-key - yes, we usually start wind down after 45-50mins awake time, but if he looks tired earlier we'll do it then. Last week we had 2 golden 1st naps - indep sleep for 1.5h after 45min A time in total. Exactly the same thing later in the week produced 45min naps - one he woke up crying hard, the other he woke up, made awake but content noises for 15mins, then quiet for 15 (back to sleep?) - then a sneeze and awake noises (but content) till the next feed! So I don't know, it all seems quite random! If he wakes happy, was he just UT? This morning's A time (in total) was 1h 15 (was up 55mins before going into room) - he woke after 35mins and seemed content for another 5-10 - thought he might settle himself but then got agitated - a bit of shh/pat got him back for another 5-10mins (twice) - then he cried until I gave up getting hum back to sleep - so seems OT... just can't seem to get it right!



Offline vicstar

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Posts: 53
  • Location:
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #9 on: December 01, 2010, 08:24:59 am »
Naps are going a lot better these past few days.  I started putting DS down earlier and he is quite happy to just lie and stare until he's ready to sleep.

My only problem now is evenings where he won't settle down for the night without a lot of help.  And he wants cluster feeds usually at 3.30, 5.30, 7.30 then 10.30.  Trying to get him to nap between these is really difficult.  We usually resort to a pacifier, to extend feed times, which I don't really like.  Any suggestions on what to do?  Do I keep him up?  Do I try and hold off feeding so often (though he isn't happy waiting even 5 minutes)?  Do I just put up with out and expect him to grow out of it?
Vicky

Offline Kimberlina

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 26
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 1480
  • Location: British Texan
Re: Tired signs for 7 week old?
« Reply #10 on: December 04, 2010, 10:51:40 am »
I'm so sorry! Been a bet mental these last couple of days!

I would say really if he wakes happy - probably UT. I find even now that if J wakes up and is still laying down (rather than pushing up - he sleeps on his tummy), his nap will be able to be extended. If he's up and looking around - no such luck!

Re: clusterfeeds & catnaps... I didn't have a lot of success getting him to catnap. Instead, I think we tried to just keep everything low-key and maybe get him to rest on our shoulder in a quiet/dark room. To me, that was the next best thing!

I remember it used to be impossible to have Jack asleep for the dream feed, but it eventually happened - he got used to the routine and it became a lot easier!

I'm so sorry I haven't got anything that will help - just that it will get better! You both are doing BRILLIANTLY listening to you baby and taking the time to learn him. Keep up the good work!! I promise, it will get better!!

Are you both going into the Birth Clubs? There will be a lot of support there and ladies that are struggling with the same things you are. I found for me, it was simply having the support there and knowing others were going through it too: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=180943.0
♥ Kim