2 week old meltdown. Please help!

[finn611]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post and my second day of implimenting the baby whisperer schedule.

Yesterday went remarkably well. She went from eating to nap to eating throughout the day without much trouble. The problem started when we went to put her down for the last sleep at 11 pm. She had eaten plenty, seemed content, I though she would just go back down. But when we put her in her crib she just started screaming....and continued to scream for 2 hours! We stayed with her and shush/patted her the whole time. She would fall off for 2 minutes and start up again. I know the only thing she wanted was to nurse and fall asleep on me.  She just could not soothe herself. (she's a sucker but won't take a paci--only boob)

Finally we felt like we had tortured her too much and I just gave her what she wanted (my boob). And she was asleep in 5 minutes.

Is 2 weeks too young to start this?? How long to you let them go on when they are distressed like that? So many people have told me just give her what she wants at this point, that you can't spoil her enough.

I'm so confused. Please help.

Thanks,
Amanda

[¤ Efka ¤]

2 month sod is still so tiny.
You could try to apply easy, but most wont really be on routine before 6 weeks.
Do you think she had gas?

And I really agree, when she cries and thats not gas, give her her boob.

[EllenS]

I would only try s/p for a limited time on one so young if you aren't making any progress, say 20 - 40 minutes.  That's enough of an opportunity to fall asleep, but does not drag it out too long.  With a tiny one you reach the point of diminishing returns fairly quickly.

[Cathy_D]

Not sure if this will help, but our DD was a very strong sucker from birth, too, and refused a paci.  She loved sucking an adult finger, though!  (The little finger, offered with fingernail downwards was preferred!)  Much easier than a paci as you can't lose it 

So, we'd put her in her carry cot to fall asleep and if (OK - when!) she cried, give her a finger to suck and that helped her calm down so that she would fall asleep in the cot rather than nursing. But without the screaming.

Once she got to about 5 weeks she found her thumb and so has needed my finger less since then. She still has it when she's v. upset, or too tired and therefore flapping her arms about too much to find her thumb!  Sucking my finger a but calms her enough to move to her thumb, and then I leave her to get to sleep on her own.

May not be the thing that works for your LO, but worth a try?  In our case, she learnt to fall asleep in bed from about day 2, which I think is why she is now able to self-soothe and has been sleeping through the night since 6 weeks!

Also, I realised later on, she hates anything cold in her mouth (cold milk, calpol etc!)  And the paci we offered her was straight out of the sterilizer so cool and wet. Which must have been a bit of a shock after warm, soft things like nipples and fingers. So, if I was trying to offer a paci again now, I'd be tempted to try and find a way to warm it up a bit first.  Might interfere with it being sterile, but I don't suppose my finger was ever sterile either!

Hope you find something that works!

Cathy

[stevebent]

Amanda,

SO NICE TO READ YOUR POST!!

We are in a very similar situation. Lucas James was 2 weeks old yesterday.

We've been using the same thing that Cathy pointed out. No paci as we're trying to avoid...actually I think we may give in at some point but we're waiting till at least 3 weeks to do it so it feels like we're making the decision! ;-) It would be great to get to that 5 week stage and him finding his own digit to use! Fingers and toes crossed.

He's a hungry boy, a super sucker and seems to have a lot of pain.

Thanks to all who posted a reply to you as it makes sense to me...and at least we're not alone!!

Good luck -

[*Mona*]

hi

2 weeks is too early to start EASY seriously if you ask me...
those tiny babies still can't really tell day from night at this point so no sleeping for 2 hours at night is really nothing unusual for them.
at the very beginning it's worth to try not too feed to sleep [hard, I know, especially at nigh] and get them used to their own crib.
have you tried Dr. Karp's '5s' technique? it really does help. I wish I could show you a video of him calming a baby

happiest baby on the block
Swaddling -Tightly! husbands are good at this

Side position (turns off the moro reflex)

Sound- Shushing or white noise. The louder the crying, the louder the noise. You have to meet their intensity.My LO loves radio static. I have had to turn it all the way up before.

Swinging, or jiggling. Babies often prefer jiggling. The head has to jiggle. I call it bobble head. Think of what it is like inside the womb when you took a flight of stairs. I find just putting him on my knees and bouncing my knees as fast as I could did it.

Sucking. You apply a finger or a pacifier only after they calm down.

Dr. Harvey Karp came up with this method.
His theory is that babies need a "fourth trimester" or time to transition from the womb. You are recreating the affects of the womb.
(this works for young babies only. and I don't advise you getting your LO too attached to this method as she needs to learn how to fall asleep on her own but it DOES help]

do you swaddle?
and as for paci- have you tried different kinds?
we didn't use paci at first but then gave up and it did help. but if your LO manages to find her thumb later on, that's good too of course.

hth
Monika

[Layla]

Amanda, agree with what everyone else said. She is still so young. They really need time to adjust to the new world & if you have to.. pick her up and help her fall asleep. I also limited shh/pat to 20-30 mins so if she was crying at 20ish minutes, I would pick her up & help her out. You really won't spoil her if you BF her to sleep or rock her to sleep.

I actually only started shh/pat with #1 at 9 weeks & within about 2 weeks, she was able to put herself to sleep on her own. Before that, she was carried around on the Babybjorn all day long (at 9 weeks I had enough cause my back was killing me  ). At around 6 weeks melatonin will be produced by her little brain & she will have longer sleep periods at night. At the moment, take it one feed at a time, one sleep at a time.

I totally agree - you cannot spoil a newborn!!!

Hang in there & enjoy your little bundle of joy!

 

[Samuel's mum]

Just to add - I agree with the previous posters. You also have big growth spurts to contend one (usually a hefty one around 2 weeks) and she genuinely could be hungry at unexpected times even if she seems to have 'just' fed. She could have passed some gas and realised there was room for more milk. The urge to feed during a growth spurt is incredibly powerful and she is doing the important job of building your milk supply.