Please help my little cheeky 14 week old girl!

[YoungMum1984]

Please help, My 14 week old daughter wakes at 6am for feed, won't go back to sleep but happy to lay in cot for a little while (mind you that's depending on what day it is), has a little play on floor and kicks with no nappy till 10am feed. Struggles to stay awake to finish the bottle, so I put her to bed.... Maximum time of an hour she's awake again, not happy to be in cot or held or play on floor. Will have another light nap of 1/2 hr before 2pm feed. Has up time of 1 to 1 &1/2 hrs then sleep for only 1/2 hr to 45mins max. She's so tired every day, Don't know what I can do!! Please help!? She's showing some signs of teething, could this be why???

[gingernut]

At that age they can usually only stay awake for about 2 hour stretches, so she may be getting overtired. They don't sleep as well if they are overtired as they can't relax.

A better pattern might be: 2 hours after waking allow her a shortish nap (up to 45 mins). Then 2 hours later (after next feed) allow a long nap (up to 2 hours), then she might need another short nap late afternoon (but not too late and not too long or she won't settle in the evening).

Do you put her down for naps in her cot in the dark?

[babybloos]

Hi, I would have to agree. My dd was so deceptive and would fool us all at times that she was a very wakeful baby and it was always too late when we realised she was overtired. In the morning I would definetely have her to bed within 2 hours of waking and keep her napping roughly every 2 hours. This should help and don't let her fool you You sound like you are doing an ace job.

[YoungMum1984]

Gingernut,
Thankyou for your tips, I'll have a go at what you've suggested. I've tried everything possible I know but she still wakes 1 hour on the dot after I put her down.
Yes, It's pretty dark in her room when i put her down during the day. Could this be why?

[YoungMum1984]

Babybloos,
thankyou for your response. It's hard to tell when she just starts in the overtired stage cause she'll be happy as larry one minute then within half a second things will change and before I know it she's creaming the roof off again.
Trying my best, I'm by myself so I'm pretty stressed at this stage.

[gingernut]

No, I was going to suggest putting her in the dark so that's good.

TBH, I think it's hard to establish a routine when they're so young. My ds1 didn't settle down till he was about 5 months. ds2 (now 6 months) doesn't have a strict daytime routine at all cos he has to fit in with ds1's activities. But I make sure his bedtime routine is good, and he just fits in otherwise. I just try and remember how long it is since his last nap and put him down if I think he needs one (sometimes it's not obvious when he needs one either so if he's been up quite a while I just put him to bed even if he's not showing signs. He always goes to sleep)

I would try putting her down for a nap earlier and just see what happens. If you are really concerned about teething pain see if some Calpol helps.

How is she sleeping at night? I'd say if she is sleeping well at night then it's not teething.

HTH.

[YoungMum1984]

Gingernut,
She sleeps really good during the night. She goes from 6pm till 5 or 6am. I know I shouldn't complain about her not sleeping much during the day but she just gets too tired. I don't know whether she means to sleep all night or whether she does it because she's so tired from not much sleep in the day. I keep a diary of when she has what and what she does when, and I try putting her down when I think it's time but she won't have a bar of it, another screaming match.
I went to our Early Childhood Clinic to see what they could advise but she couldn't pick out any thing that I was doing wrong, she said I've just gotta put up with it.
I had a thought today though... While little Miss was having her 10am feed she didn't really seem that interested, so I took the bottle out of her mouth & she started chewing on her fist straight away, Could she be hungry for FOOD do you think???
Thank you for your responses, It's a BIG help

[babybloos]

Hi, this sounds so like my dd and by 6 months she seemed to calm and settle into some sort of routine. I really struggled and I did have some help so I really feel for you. I too got the "if she sleeps at night you should be grateful" comments and to be honest it just made me feel like I was a worse mother for not coping. IT is so hard and nobody knows it unless they have had a bad daytime napper. I just kept trying to keep consistent with dd - sleep cues that worked at night like sleeping bag and dark room helped. I have also started making sure she has been fed less than an hour before naps rather than what I was doing which was feeding when waking. It seemed to help my dd start to settle quicker and sleep longer. All the advice seems to be to make sure they don't associate feeding with sleep but as long as there is a wee gap...change nappy etc then I haven't found any problems. Let us know how you are doing

[gingernut]

No, I know exactly why you're concerned - an overtired baby is not fun to deal with! But you're doing well, keeping note of her routines, what works etc, and honestly it will get better as she gets older.

I think her lack of interest in the 10 am feed is most likely tiredness if she has been up since 6am. She needs a nap before that feed. She may be chewing her fist because she wants to comfort suck. Have you tried a dummy?

I don't think it's likely that she needs solids just yet. She would be waking in the night if she was that hungry for food.

Have you seen the Contented Little Baby Book by Gina Ford? It doesn't suit everyone because the routines are very rigid, but you might find some of her tips useful. She structures the day so that the baby is never too tired to take a feed which is really important.