It can't be healthy.(virtually no sleep!)

[benandmichelle]

Hi my LO hasn't slept for more than 8 hours in the last 24 and this is quite a normal pattern. I am worried. It can't be healthy.
1.Is it not essential that at 6 weeks they need sleep (14-17hours a day) to grow?

Our situation is ridiculous. He kicks and kicks and pushes and passes wind for hours on end when I try to put him down for a nap. It is literally disturbing every facet of his life and impossible to do EASY with.

Is there a point where spirited babies sleep more and the gastric problems go away?

Is pushing with the legs and stretching them out ALWAYS a sign for gas or can it also be for overtiredness.

I can't really sleep train him him with the sh/pat or any other method because he just kicks, grunts etc.. and WIL NOT calm down. What can I do? I am losing the plot. When can I expect it to start improving?
Michelle

[Andrea(aka Jersey)]

That sounds exactly like my lo. When he was 6 weeks old DH left for a business trip and I thought I was going to go crazy he'd slep 30 minutes in 8 hours was spent a fair bit of it screaming kicking and generally fighting everything around him.

First ?. Do you swaddle? Ds is now 6 months old and we still have to swaddle because if not his arms and legs would still wake himup.

2. Do you use gas drops of any kind?

3> what do you do for wind down? A overtired spirited bay often needs a lot of help winding down. Ours involved a diaper change, swaddling and quiet cuddles in a darkened room. and then once he was calm I'd put him down and do SH/Pat.

HTH

Andrea

[benandmichelle]

Hi Andrea,

1. yes I swaddle but he normally wriggles out of it.
2. I am using a mycolin similar drops. Although saw no result today and am really weary about giving them. Scared of side effects or that he will get hooked on sugar ;/
3. Yes our wind down leaves a bit to be desired. Don't do much just tryy to sit with him a minute and put a soothing cd on.

Thanks
Michelle

[Layla]

Can you tell me what his day (roughly)  looks like. How long is he awake for? He really needs more sleep than that & he sounds very overtired.

If he is fighting you on everything, I would forget sleep training for now. He could also have colic (Jasmine did) & she was horrible between 5-midnight. She screamed & kicked her legs up. Gas was a big issue with us. Do you burp him throught the day? HAve you tried bicycling his legs throughout the day? Do you have a sling? When Jasmine (or Isabella) were fighting me on naps in the early days, I would put her on the sling & go for a walk. Forget about EASY for now. Let him catch up on sleep, let him pass the fussy stage & in a few weeks once he is better rested, start again. Does he have a dummy?

[momofclaire]

Michelle, you must be wrecked!  I am sorry you are having a tough time.  It sounds like your little one is really struggling. 
Besides all the questions asked by PP...
Are you nursing? If so, have you thought about the possibility of him having an intolerance to something you eat?  If not have you considered trying a different formula?  I agree with Layla, don't worry about sleep and routines just yet, let's work on getting you and him rested first.
Hugs
Myia

[benandmichelle]

Thanks for replying ladies.

I TRY to make our day to look like a 3 hour EASY schedule but it never works. Normally:
E 7am ish or earlier
A
S Put him down at 8 but like I said he rarely sleeps and if so it would take between an hour or 3 to get him there so there you can see that the schedule is out already.
 
I try to go on with the day feeding followed by a small time of diaper changing and chatting then trying to get him to sleep. If he won't sleep he just misses the 'S' and by 3 hours needs to be fed again.

In the evening we bath him and start trying to get him in bed by 7.30 or 8pm but then it takes 2 hours or so before he sleeps so that is 9 or 9.30pm THEN normally he does sleep. Usually till 1am. Then I feed him. He is asleep again by 2.30ish then awake at 4. After this he doesn't go back to sleep he just lies there pushing and passing wind and moving his little legs.
As you can see if we are lucky it is a 6 hour sleep for him at night and during the day like I said...it is a good day when he sleeps for 2 or 3 hours in total.
I tried the dreafeed last night but it didn't work. I tried to wake him for his feed at 11pm but he was dead to the world and after no sleep at all in the day I left him and he woke up of his own accord at 12.

Yes I am nursing. I avoid garlic, onion and hot foods as well as gassy drinks and all the obvious things. I am a very healthy eater and have read into what foods are dodgy while breastfeeding so i am not in the dark. I really don't know what more I can do. I don't even know how much of it all is attributed to me or if the gastric problems he has are just normal and not influenced by me.
I have tried a baby Bjorn a few times and was met with crying. It could have been for other reasons though. I should try it again. He does react positively to the pram and walks SOMETIMES.

I will now just write a few things about HOW i try to get him to sleep and issues realated to the gas.

I do bycycle his legs but only when he is in pain and pushing and he is moving them anyway so it doesn't really help. Should I do it also when he is calm throughout the day?

Burping him is a nightmare. Nothing happens then suddenly on the change table it all comes out. Often it is a lot of milk that hasN#t been digested which makes me think he is drinking too much and using the breast as a pacifier at the end of a feed. Other times absolutely nothing.
Should I burp him even at times when he has not fed?

He does use a dummy to go to sleep. There seems to be no other way for us at the moment.

His 'colic' or gas pains (whatever it is) does not disturb him in one big block of time but rather on and off throughout the day but it is fair to say barely half an hour goes by where I don't see him red in the face and pushing and passing wind. This is why he is never settled to sleep.

I swaddle him before trying to get him to sleep and hold him for a minute until he is calm than put him in his crib. Then I put a hand firmly on his back and front (he reacts more positively to this that sh/pat) and the dummy goes in too.
Then he normally pushes and pushes and then might beclalm for a few minutes but I do stay with him but then he is in pain again and he wakes himself up by pushing. When we are lucky he does sleep and he can go back to sleep in between but usually he just squirms and squirms endlessly until it is time to get up again or he is crying so much it is pointless.
I actaually thing our main problem is the gas. I think hims potential to sleep is there even though he is spirited, but is always in discomfort.
It is hard to know what the reasons are: if it is gas or he is just spirited and doesn't want to sleep. My gut says (excuse the pun) gastric problems.

Sorry this is so long but I wanted it to be detailed to give you enough info to make some deductions.
Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks
Michelle

[Layla]

Michelle - his digestive system is still very immature so its not always what you eat that can disturb him. When he is crying, he is also taking air in, which contributes even more to gas. Yes, I do think that you need to bicycle his legs & try to burb him throughout the day, not just when he seems to be in pain. Have you heard about Mylicon? Something that helps alot with gas in newborns.

You said he reacts well to walking (rocking?) and the pram.. so for now to let him catch up on sleep, I would walk with him to help him out.

[benandmichelle]

Thank you for your advice. Will try all these things. 
Michelle

[Layla]

Let me know how things go. The early days are very tough....hang in there... he will settle in time.