7 week old not falling asleep for naps

[Nabla]

  I have a problem with my 7 week old daughter... she doesn't seem to transition to 2nd phase of sleep at all during naps.

She settles nicely and then keeps staying in the active half-sleep all the time. Eyes half shut, moving arms and legs occasionally, actively sucking on paci. It can last for an entire nap duration (up to 2h, she's hungry later on), she never actually doses off completely. And she needs company not to wake up

At nighttime, similar thing happens - after I put her to cot, she half-sleeps for hours (even 3-4!) and then eventually sleeps and sleeps well. The only difference is, at nighttime she seems to be content on her own, so I can leave her in the cot, but during the day she needs somebody by her side.

Any tips?

[jessmum46]

Hi and welcome

Frustrating as it is, I wouldn't call it a problem at this age - it's very typical for such a young baby not to be able to transition between sleep cycles or phases and really the only thing that fixes it properly is time.  Sorry that's not much help though!  Things you can do in the meantime - you could consider swaddling - it's not recommended here from the point of view of overheating but I know many people do it, or instead you can tuck a light sheet or blanket firmly over LO in the cot which has a similar effect of preventing some of the jolting.  Some people will also choose to do some naps in other ways at this early stage - who doesn't like a newborn snuggle? Or a sling is also very handy.  Obviously neither of those are independent sleeping but you could try working on one or two naps in the cot to begin with and then transition to more naps there once LO is a little bigger?

[Nabla]

Thanks

I'm just thinking - maybe she is simply undertired? I try to put her to sleep as soon as she starts being cranky, but maybe that's too early so she doesn't need to rest yet?

And sling is great indeed, actually that's the only way she really sleeps during the day, but as she was over 10lbs at birth and I had a pretty rough section, I cannot carry her. So it's basically daddy wearing her on evenings and weekends.

Other than that I'm very aware it's a first world issue - laying on a sofa and reading a book with a healthy baby by my side hardly qualifies as "problem" at all 

[jessmum46]

It could be UT if she is up for a particularly short time before sleeping, but actually I would say OT and overstimulation are far more common issues in the early days

[Nabla]

Ok, thanks. I'm confused because my son was very different - way more intense, screaming his lungs out for the first 3 months of life, but when he slept - he slept like a log! He was easily overstimulated, so I always tried to keep his activities short and very low key (basically cuddles, walk in a park, etc.). I'm doing the same now, but as my little girl is very different - quiet and gentle but a light sleeper -  I thought maybe I need to change my methods and engage her more during active time.

New baby, new challenge

[jessmum46]

Always the way!