New to parenting - Can i stop my 5 week old baby staying up too long?

[1Catherine1]

First time mum here and struggling to cope with my DD's sleeping, or lack of it. I think she is colicky but I also think some of her night-time screaming is due to being over tired. Last night I tried to get her to sleep by putting her in her bed, rocking her and after both of them failed I put her in her bouncer and bounced her. After an hour of doing this I could see in her face she was exhausted but she still refused to sleep. We were in a dark room (not pitch black, lit by a TV on pause) and it was silent. She then began to scream and then cried very loudly for over 30 minutes when she finally fell asleep across my chest.

I feel like I've tried everything. She seems to hate sleeping between 11:30pm and 4am. Last night I tried to sooth her by bathing her later at 10pm (after she woke from her usual 7pm till 10 nap) and giving her a feed straight after and settling her into bed at 11pm. She slept well until midnight but then woke and wouldn't sleep again.

any ideas on how I might be able to settle her before screaming point would be much appreciated. TIA

It sounds like she might be hungry - newborns do eat a lot more than you might think! Are you breastfeeding? How many feeds does she take overnight? There will be days when you can be feeding every 40 minutes while your milk gets up. Have you tried feeding her to sleep? It sounds from what you say as though cuddling her was the last thing you tried - she may just want to be cuddled, rather than bounced!

Don't make the room too quiet - wombs are noisy places and babies are better at sleeping with some white noise. Do also bear in mind that newborns take a while to sort out night from day - don't confuse her by putting her down for daytime naps in a dark room.

Colic doesn't usually happen overnight (though she may have wind) - it's more of an evening thing and there are some views that it's linked to hunger.

I read that and wondered if she needs to feed more often in the night too - lots of babies often have a period of cluster feeding when they are on-off the constantly for several hours at a time. My ds needed to be on or near the breast to sleep at night too, so I had him lying down in bed with me so he could feed and we could both doze.

Hi I had a similar problem with my baby but in the early evening, she would cry for 2/3 hours sometimes on and off if she hadnt had enough sleep during the day. I try to put her down for a nap regularly throughout the day now and she is a lot better. If you notice that she has been awake for over an hour or two try putting her down for a nap it really helped me.

Give her food, cuddle her and don't keep changing what your doing (overstimulating). She's very diddy, some take 6-8 weeks to sort out night-time so don't worry too much, just go with the flow and sleep during the day when she does.

thanks for your replies - I really do appriciate it.

I am bf and always offer her the breast to see if it is hunger but she was refusing. She pulled away every time it was offered. In the day she is quite predictable with feeding and I seem to feed every 3 hours like clockwork. At night time she is on and off as it suits her but has taken to staying up each night between those times (last night was not a one off) and usually has a cry which ends in her finally falling to sleep at around 4am - it is strangely predictable but it really upsets me to see her so upset when the only thing I can work out what is wrong is she's tired.

In the day get her to take naps in light rooms, in a sling for a walk etc. Make sure she doesn't stay awake for two long - aroun 45 mins or some babies can last 2 hours, especially in the afternoons. The awake time starts as soon as they wake so can go quickly. Tired signs start with glazed eyes, not maintaining eye contact then move to what seems like hyperactiveness then crying.

I remember DS used to do the screaming thing - in the end I had to sort out his day naps as he was so nosy and difficult to nap after 6 weeks. He used to pass out at 3-4am. Sometimes DH could get him to sleep by swaddling, holding him upright and rocking him to music or white noise.

He also had silent reflux so not sure if that had an effect. Anyway, by 3 months he got the hang of nights vs day although still woke a lot at night.

I have had 3 and they have all been terrible settlers for the first 10 weeks or so. As long as you know they are not hungry, not cold, have a clean nappy, have had lots of cuddles, then you have covered the basics and the rest, IMO is just getting by until they grow out of it.

I used/use a dummy (have you tried this?), and swaddling. For my third I discovered the wonders of the vibrating rocker chair which worked wonders.

I remember my first and the wondering what the hell was wrong with my baby when others seemed to settle so easily. It is more common than you think. Try to stay calm and know that it will improve; babies just need to learn to settle themselves to sleep.

Good luck!

Have you tried swaddling &/or white noise?

This exact thing happened my friend. If it is at the same time every evening it is still possible it could be something colic-like. Did you speak to your GP/ HV? Infacol worked for my son, but my friend's baby was prescribed baby gaviscon. Regardless, it all seemed to settle around 10 weeks or so. I know that sounds like an age away now! I also found swaddling helped.