8 week old is always unsettled

[McStip]

Can anyone give me some advice please?
My 8 week old has always been unsettled. He doesn't sleep much during the day, just catnaps and is up every 3 hours at night. I don't mind getting up, however he is unsettled all day, from flaying his arms and legs to actually whimpering for ages.

I have tried everything and the doctor and there is nothing wrong with him, they say some babies are just like this... I don't believe that he has reflux, but is quite gassy. Doing a poo doesn't seem to ease his mood either. When I go out with NCT friends but their babies seem to doze or feed, or even sit in their carry-cots awake, but not crying. Mine always cries as he wakes up, even when his eyes are still closed!

Does anyone have any advice please, is it just his personality? I believe he will be a content baby if I can just make him more comfortable.

Eight week olds are like that! I found a tummy tub helped with DD when she was like that and DS liked to be cuddled constantly. I got a sling and he was much better.

Try not to fret. He will grow out of this. :)

Hello, it is frustrating when you are the only one in the group whose baby doesnt seem to have read the manual I felt the same about my baby who is now at 12 weeks. I found that he will not settle unless he has a full tummy so he would often seem to have fed ok but actually by giving him a bit extra it made all the difference. I know id done enough because it would seem to knock him out. in the early days I found that by upping his feeds he was a lot more settled and happy. I also found that swaddling worked well and although i vowed never to use one, a dummy My baby now sleeps well in the morning, noon and reliably goes to bed up 7. He does still get up oncein the night but I don't think that's unusual as he is breastfed. Good luck

My DD was like this until she was 6 months and we started weaning (now 9m) - cried most of the day, was a nightmare when out and never napped. We explored everything - Colic, reflux, constipation, but in the end it just got better and it seems that's her personality! She is still a rubbish sleeper at night and naps are random in the day, but she is generally happy and loves playing and being interacted with. HV thought she might be bored and frustrated leading to the crying so we've always worked hard at keeping her occupied. It's hard when everyone else's babies do the text book thing, but have confidence in yourself. We carried her around loads in the sling and she did really like that and would often settle in there www.kari-me.com/ or in the pram. I found the Dr Sears website on fussy babies good too - www.askdrsears.com/topics/parenting/fussy-baby.

Thank you all very much for posting. It's great to hear of other people having similar experiences and to know that it is textbook behaviour - just out of a different textbook - hehe . He loves a sling, so I use that often and he will sleep as long as I keep walking. It's a good way to get fit and lose the baby bump. I found the web link very interesting too - thank you!

Getting daytime sleeps sorted often helps - if you're comfy doing co-sleeping I'd recommend taking self and baby to bed for at least one decent (1 - 2 hrs ) nap every day. And soon you'll start finding things that he enjoys, which is a huge help.
I always told myself my babies' grumpiness was due to their intelligent frustration with babyhood...