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Behaviour/development

Colic?

6 replies

kirinm · 27/09/2018 19:55

My baby is 4 weeks old and for the last week or so has stopped sleeping in the day. I've started going for mammoth walks as the pram always manages to get her to sleep. And to ensure she is getting a decent amount of sleep in the day, I stay out for a couple of hours. She has a few alert times in the day where she's coo-ing and happy but if she's not feeding and she's been up for a while, she cries a lot. She can be soothed to an extent but the pram really is the only way she will sleep (in the day).

Tonight she was awake for a good 3-4 hours after her last pram induced sleep. She was clearly knackered but was in hysterics. I'm starting to wonder if what I think is overtiredness is actually colic. She is now asleep as DP took her out in the pram - she was asleep before he'd got out of the gate. So, does the fact that she calms down once she's slept suggest she's over tired or do I need to face facts and accept she might have colic? I don't think she looks like she's in pain but I've noticed that when I try and wind her after a feed, it's getting harder to bend her as she stiffens up especially when she's upset.

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Kokapetl · 28/09/2018 08:25

Sounds like overtiredness to me. At that age she shouldn't be awake for more than an hour in one go. I know it is hard getting them to sleep. Neither of mine would sleep without motion. You might find it better to focus on gaps between naps rather than length of them. I used to walk round the block until mine were asleep then park them in the hall. Their naps were only about 30 mins but it was enough. A sling helped because I could bounce them to sleep indoors.

My Dad thought it was colic when my youngest was over tired but I focussed on naps and not being awake longer than an hour and it stopped at 5 weeks.

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beccii161016 · 28/09/2018 09:45

I agree, that sounds like overtiredness. My DS had colic. He slept great in the day but would have episodes of screaming for 5 hours and would be pulling his legs up etc.

As PP said, 3-4 hours is a really long time for a newborn to be awake so she's bound to be knackered.

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kirinm · 28/09/2018 11:07

Thanks both. She had a terrible nights sleep. Only went down for an hour or so in between feeds and was then awake from 4 until 7am. I assume this is all her being overtired and struggling to settle. She's currently napping so I'll work on ensuring she's only awake for an hour at a time today even if that means going out every hour! We have a sling but not sure how to use it yet but will try and get her in that too.

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Diamond1703 · 28/09/2018 20:42

Does she settle ok after a feed?
If not, could be wind... my dd, now 16 weeks needed winding for AGES after feeds and is ebf... maybe try infacol which has a cumulative effect so use it for at least a day before expecting results. Just remember.. everything is so temporary when they're this little...

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kirinm · 28/09/2018 23:32

She settles okay after her feeds at night and early morning but again today she fought sleep although I enforced sleep via the pram at around 4pm but then she was wide awake. She screamed for hours tonight and has only stopped after me trying her with a dummy. A pram wall at 9pm did nothing and she wasn't very impressed with the sling but I think she was too grumpy by the time we tried that so will give it another go tomorrow.

I was worried about wind so I've been winding her mid way through her feeds until I get a burp. My instinct is she's just totally shattered after days of not sleeping and if i can get her sleeping more regularly, she'll start to sleep without me forcing her to.

At my wits end, I tried giving her a dummy about half an hour ago and she stopped crying and although she isn't asleep, she visibly relaxed, closed her eyes and went into her crib quietly. She just hasn't dozed off but going to feed her now and hopefully that'll be what she needs to finally get her off.

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Diamond1703 · 30/09/2018 10:09

My little one is still like this from 5 till bedtime (8). She doesn't sleep enough in day and is getting progressively worse as she realises there's a big wide world out there! She sleeps for 20 mins max in the pram... but she does sleep at night so suppose it's swings and roundabouts ..... x

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