Stimulation too much?

[cymonguk]

Our baby daughter has had various on and off time and really struggles with getting to sleep other than when fed to sleep, in her sling or at night. On Saturday she slept for two hours in the afternoon in her car seat, after we had driven to my cousins, last time we were there she was really grumpy and I put it down to there three kids and all the noise, which we just dont have at home. However this time she was fast asleep all the way through, Now her hood had fell over her face slightly in the seat, and we just left it that way because it wasnt bothering her.

I am now wondering if she is more susceptible to visual stimulation, and this is what causes her problems with sleeping? Can anyone recommend ways of removing the visual stimulation, she doesnt seem to like the dark, and I have to say we are struggling with her sleeping on her own (discussed in a separate topic). The three ways she goes to sleep suggest that she finds it hard to ignore visual stimulii (in the sling she snuggles to my chest, feeding obvious, and at night she snuggles near to her mum, chasing her across the bed... lol).

She is only five weeks old so I know some of these things arent very recommended but we needed to get thru these 5 weeks somehow, and now as we learn more of her cries its obvious when she is tired.

[branwen]

My dd has and still has problems with visual stimulation and noise- but it took me until the 4th month to figure most of that out- so you guys are way ahead! :wink:

I removed all of the "loud" bold colors from the nursery and things hanging above the crib that were very distracting.  Also I do not let her play in her crib with toys.  I was unsure about this approach at first but it really worked!!!  Making her crib just for sleep was the best solution for her. I found books to be very overwhelming for her-she would cry - so we didn't start really reading until 6 months.  She didn't like any toys at this age and was especially disturbed by people shaking them at her.

I added a black out shade to her room.  She only has a very dim night light.  We also use a white noise machine which seems to haze over the other noises that she finds distracting. 

If she enjoys the sling your dd might also enjoy a sleep bag/sack.  I started using one at the 7 month mark and wish I had started sooner.  She feels very comforted by it.

5 weeks is still young to determine temperament and you're probably still getting to know each other.  A growth spurt could also be disturbing her around this time with 6 weeks approaching.  It is so great that you guys are so aware of what might be bothering her.

If she is truly "touchy" as Tracy's book describes the best advice I can give is PROTECT those naps.  That made all the difference for us.  My lo can now handle most external stimulation if it is in A time and she has just had a nap

[cymonguk]

I think she is a touchy/spirited baby, she certainly shows some signs of spirited, but like you say only now are we beginning to understand her more and she gets less frustrated with us, and vice versa, as we can interpret and intercept things before they become huge cries usually. Her worst cries come when she is tired and we cant get her to sleep.

I have to be honest coming across the visual stimulation thing was pure accident, and I put that incident and the other issues she has together, and began thinking it might be that, certainly in the car at night she hates it, the lights pop up in front of her and make her cross.

We are fortunate that the nursery is cream with pale pink, so when we get her in there that will help, although again pure luck!! Good idea to remove all toys and stimulation from there though.

Phoebe likes you shaking toys occasionally but only specific ones, and she gets fed up quickly with those, she much prefers her changing mat mobile (if you can get one it has worked wonders for Phoebe, she sits and coos/smiles madly at it!)

We have a black out blind for her room (again when we get her in there), and she already has one of those sleep bags, which does seem to help her, again we dont use that during the day though, so something to consider for those daytime naps...