6 week old won't settle in the evenings

[fireflyz]

Our 6 week old baby is becoming fretful in the evenings and not settling easily from around 6pm.

Is it really possible to train a 6 week old to settle to sleep? Read about the 'crying up' and 'crying down' in Gina Ford's book - does it work when baby is so young?

Also read about sleep associations - can a baby at 6 weeks really get so used to falling asleep on mum and dad during the day that won't go to sleep in the evening?

I wonder if we are feeding him enough during the day. He sleeps quite a lot during the day, but gets a feed at around 7am, then anther at about 9am, then another at around 11.30 / 12, then one at 3/4, then one at 6/7. Then another at about 11, then again at 2/3am - although sometimes that one moves to about 4/5am if he doesn't wake up - which if it gets too late, knocks the 7am one on a bit - which might mean we miss a feed...

Do people set alarms so they feed their babies during the night or do they just let the baby wake them for the middle of the night feeds? We've got the baby in our room so can hear if he starts wanting a feed etc.

We're feeding him Aptamil 1 - using Philips Avent bottles with a size 1 teat - wondering if the teat size is too small and whether we should go up to size 2 teats.

I fed baby 160ml formula from 6.45 to 7.30 (pauses for burps etc), then one nappy change with lots of poo at about 8pm, and baby not really settled properly all that time and is not settling now and it's 9pm.

All advice much appreciated.

6 week is a classic growth spurt time which can make babies very unsettled during the evenings.

My ds2 was exactly the same at 6weeks, lasted about 1 1/2 weeks I think. Now we are tackling the 4month growth spurt/sleep regression. (breast fed)

Is he draining his bottles? If he is up the amount he's drinking. He should always leave a little amount in the bottle so you know when he's had enough and when to up the bottle again.

I always let the baby wake me for feeds, never wake the baby unless he isn't getting any wet/dirty nappies which could be a sign of not getting enough milk.

Hi - join the club ! My 6 week old has had the past few nights like this. As I remember there is a bit of a growth spurt around this age, also it isn't unusual to find babies a bit fussy sometimes in the evenings. I would go with it for a few days and see how it plays out. I currently have mine in a sling and it seems to have calmed him down a lot. It sounds like he is feeding a fair amount and I think size 1 teats for this age are still fine. If you haven't already then you could take a look at the Dr Sears website, he has some good bits about fussy babies. Also on Kellymom there is something about evening fussiness.
In my personal opinion 6 wk too young for sleep training, but you have to do what you feel is right for your baby and you. With my first DC, I followed Baby Whisperer from when she was about 3 months and waited until she was 6 months before I got a bit more serious about sleep training. With this one I am still feeding on demand - ie not waking him to feed and am planning to stick with that for the time being until he can realistically take on more food. It can seem like a lifetime when you have a whingy baby and you are tired, but as I remember this stage doesn't last long - as least that is what I'm telling myself.

I think 6 weeks is the right age for a growth spurt which would make him restless. I also think 6 weeks is far to young for any routine, and they usually get into one themselves after time anyway.
My other advice is to throw the Gina Ford book in the bin! I think she would be better suited to training dogs.
I never woke my DC up for a feed, they always woke when they were hungry.
Relax, it wont last too long and you will soon both be settled.

6 weeks is a classic time for evening fretfulness to start, it's perfectly normal. If you had a difficult birth (forceps/ventouse) consider seeing a cranial osteopath as it may be headaches.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things with feeding, but if he needs more, give him more. Don't worry about the teat size, it's fine.

Don't sleep train him he's far too young, accept this is what babies do... Read the Baby Whisperer though for sound advice on this, she's brilliant.

i moved up a teat size (philips avent do 2month size) at this age and moved to hungry baby milk on hv advise cus he was having 12 ounces (which was nightmare cus wuldnt all fit in 1 bottle) at 5 weeks i decided to put him in his own room in his cot - started a sleep routine consisting of bath, hair dried with drier, bottle in dark in bedroom with no communication then mummey kiss and down in cot with mobile on. then just fed when wakes but without communicating, to keep him as calm and unstimulated as possible so it would be easier for him to get back off. if he cried i would go in put dummey in mobile on and stroke his head to soothe him but never ever pick him up unless he needed changing/feeding. did take 1hour 20mins to settle first night (me returning to room every 10 mins to head stroke) was heartbraking and i was downstairs crying my self, 2nd night only took 20 mins to settle but ever since (hes now 15 weeks) he goes to bed at 6pm every night, settles nearly always straight away wakes up sumwhere between 1 and 4 then gets up at 7.30 am - i think its the best thing ive ever done for him and for me, but noticed no one else on this thred agrees with me!! you have to make your own decision and stick to it!