angel baby by day - screaming devil by night, help desperately needed

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

DS was born on friday so still very new and i feel like we're learning mountains every day to make his life easier, but our nights are getting ridiculous and was just hoping for some advice/reassurance from other mums

he's an angel during daylight hours, cries a bit but i manage to work out what he needs quite quickly and already he's spending a fair amount of time just being awake and alert. we're trying to make sure he naps in his moses basket but invariably he sleeps on people due to constant stream of visitors - which we've now put a hold on til the weekend.

at night though he is just inconsolable DH and I are taking shifts of between 2 and 4 hours to make sure we're getting something resembling sleep. We try putting DS in his moses basket but he wakes very quickly and starts crying - we wind him, feed him, check his temperature, cuddle him, change him but he gets himself worked up into a howling frenzy which is just heart breaking and i'm often at a complete loss of what to do.

i know it's still early days, but if anyone has any sugestions on how i help prevent my baby from being so upset i'd be so grateful!

[compo]

congratulations!

Have you tried co - sleeping?

At this age we used to do it in shifts in the night too. Both of mine woukd fall asleep feeding nd then we'd gingerly put them in the moses basket and sometimes they would stay alseep and sometimes would wake up and we'd hae to start again. I used a dummy in the first few weeks just to give my nipples a bit of a breather.

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

we're seriously considering it because even when he does sleep we're too worried to sleep properly ourselves. thought about the dummy too because often the only way to settle him is to pop a nipple or finger in his mouth and i'm feeling the pain this mornig - is it safe this early and should we be able to wean him off it easily?

[MrsHappy]

Have you tried swaddling?
Worked a treat when my DD was this age.

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

yeah and to no avail - though i think we need bigger blankets and to be shown how to do it tightly enough!

could it be the dreaded colic?

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Maybe he has his days and nights mixed up? It's qite common and tends to rectify itself after a few weeks.

Make sure he has some awake time during the day and keep the room as dark as possible during the night time feeds.

It will get better I promise you. IMO the early newborn weeks (especially with your first baby) are so tiring, frustrating and wonderful!

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

thank you - in desperate need of reassurance!!