Hyper 7 week old won't nap!

[themothership]

Hi, I desperately need some advice... my 7 week old dd has always been a difficult napper during the day and often fights settling for a nap and gets herself very worked up and overtired. These last few days have got much worse - she's always been very 'alert' but she's gone into some kind of super active mode and anything and everything seems to distract her. I've always settled her for her naps in a darkened room with white noise playing (she seems to like it) and also swaddle her, since she has a tendency to only wake herself more by thrashing around.

She's only little, just 8.07 lbs, so she nees sleep, but at the moment she's barely getting 3 hours during the day, and is getting increasingly fraught as the day goes on since she's exhausted. My HV says that I should just let her stay awake if that's what she wants, but that's ridiculous, since it's really not doing her any good. When she does settle for a nap, she wakes up after one sleep cycle and then won't go back to sleep after that.

Please help!

[beansprout]

Ds was the same, just never wanted to nap. He would stay awake for hours and hours, people would comment on it and I didn't know what to do. I just gave him lots of opportunities to nap and the only things that ever really worked were a) feeding him to sleep and b) a white noise tape that would distract him enough to let him settle. I would really recommend the tape as it kept all of us sane in the first few months.

[spidermama]

My ds2 was like this. Could you carry her around? I found he slept in the Wilkinet and I was able to get on with things.

[themothership]

Yep, have been trying her in a sling too, and taking her out in a pram... She used to be able to sleep in a sling but she's suddenly become so interested in everything that she won't switch off, just lifts her head up and stares at everything, and then after a while starts crying because she's tired. At the moment I don't feel like I can leave the house, because she just refuses to drift off to sleep on her own and then starts crying because she's overtired.

The white noise does help calm her, but at the moment nothing seems to be working to actually make her nap. Have also tried feeding her, but she then just ends up puking because she takes too much... Am at my wits end!

[spidermama]

OMG! Nightmare TMS. My DS2 was like this and, I don't want to worry you, but it didn't get much better. He gave up his daytime sleep for good at 18 months and I was exhausted. Now he's 3.5 and still full of beans. He sleeps well though.

[themothership]

Eek!!! Did he get overtired and worked up about it? My friend's ds won't sleep during the day but is one of the most docile and content babies around! I would be fine about dd not sleeping if it didn't upset her so much. The books I've read have all said that poor daytime sleep = bad night time sleep. She's not terrible, but has slept more fitfully at night since she's been more hyper.

[starlover]

have you tried anything like baby massage to calm her down?

also, do you try to settle her before she gets really tired? ie... leave her 2 hrs MAX after a feed and then try and put her down for a nap.

[spidermama]

How was the birth? My sister's ds has been a bit clingy as he had a tough time on the way out.

Cranial osteopathy is great for this age whether or not they've had a tough birth.

[starlover]

oh yese... ditto spidermama on the cranial osteopathy! i am always harping on about it on colic threads and stuff! lol

it is incredible! and definitely worth a try

[themothership]

Yep, have been trying to follow E.A.S.Y on a 3 hour routine, so making sure that she has a feed every 3 hours, nap ever 3 hours etc. She starts to show tired signs after being up for about 1 hour (including feed), so I start trying to wind things down and then take her into the bedroom, swaddle her, put white noise on and sit with her, but she'll alternate between getting really drowsy and crying and fighting me...

We've been seeing a cranial osteopath, and it has been helping. We've got another appointment tomorrow am, so will definitely talk to osteopath about it then. She has been a bit colicky, and had a ventouse delivery, so it is all probably connected.

Haven't tried baby massage though. Are there any particular techniques to use?

[starlover]

well... i used to just use a little tiny bit of fractionated coconut oil (you can use olive or sunflower) and rub gently up and down ds's legs, then his arms. do little circles on his tummy, and up and down his trunk. put him on his back and do the same.

never went to actual baby massage classes so probably doing it completely wrong! but did read a bit about it and you aren't supposed to do it straight after a feed or if they're crying and unhappy as they will associate that with the massage