Many sleep problems - 18 weeks old! Advice please...

[zambooloo]

My 18 week old dd is not a terrible sleeper but also isn't great. Just wondered if anyone had any ideas on how we could improve things...

She goes down after bath at about 6.30. Sometimes she will sleep for 40mins without waking but usually she wakes after about 10 and then won't go back down. She just cries and works herself up. My dp is up there with her now rocking her but every time he puts her down she wakes up again and cries.

We co-sleep which is fine for now as it means we get some sleep otherwise the above problem goes on all night! She will only settle when I get into bed so I'm having to go to bed really early just so she will settle.

She does have a cough and cold at the moment so she isn't sleeping that well and I'm having to sort of prop her against my arm so her head is raised otherwise she can't sleep at all.

She has always woken for a feed at about 3 and used to settle back down really well afterwards. Now she wakes at 3 and is then wide awake for at least an hour - I have to rock her back to sleep and the rocking goes on and on!

She wakes in the morning between 5.30 - 6ish.
She has 3 naps during the day of about 1 - 1.5 hours each. The first at about 8.30 and the last at about 3.
We are always out walking the dog during her naps so consequently if we are a home for some reason she finds it impossible to sleep anywhere! I have to hold her although occasionally she will sleep in her bouncy chair (but not very well).

So really I guess I'm asking if there is anything we can do to improve the night time situation (I'm not so worried about the naps - I can live with that!) Just finding it a bit wearing - I'd like a little bit of evening back!

First time mum here so I'm making it up as I go along but I was just wondering if being awake from 4 (I'm guessing?) until 6.30 is a little too long for her and so she is overtired by bedtime? DD (15w) has her afternoon nap from 3.45-4.45, then has a power nap of 15-20 mins at around 6, then has her bath at 7.30 and is asleep by 8. I know we can't get through the evening without that 15 minute kip to take the edge off, even though you have to work hard to wake her sleep, either a good walk in the pram where it will take her about 15 mins to fall asleep, or through some furious jiggling.

We're having daytime nap issues and when I've been Googling researching there was quite a lot of talk about babies being overtired and so not being able to transition from one sleep cycle to another.

Hope you get some improvement!

Zam, are you breastfeeding?

I'm not meaning to be patronising here but when babies yawn, that's their signal that they're about ready to drop off so if you see her yawn in the day, quieten everything and settle her down to drift off. Eventually, she'll get used to dropping off on her own.

Are you breast or bottle feeding? Perhaps she could do with some more milk if she's having a bit of a growth spurt - and especially if she's finding it hard to settle in the night. An 18 week baby should still be breastfeeding often, including throughout the night (generally speaking).

Try dream feeding her before you go to sleep around 11/12 and that might help her go longer.

If she's been ill then all bets are off until she's better (a cold can take three weeks to go in a small baby). I agree with the dreamfeed suggestion. Are you breast or bottle feeding?

I'm no expert but I had real trouble when my DD was born... Then realised that my little one was indeed over tired. The getting them to nap in the day is the hardest, especially if you have an alert baby. It took persistency and lots of running up and down the stairs but not picking them up kind of stuff. My DD is a good napper now, I make sure as soon as she yawns I out her down awake. She never stays awake for more than 2 hours from the time she last woke and when it's coming up to 1 hr 40 mins I leave her alone and don't stimulate her. My DD used to have a power nap of 30 mins from 5-530 then I get her in the bath around 620 play with her, sing and as soon as we go back into her room to change her I do not speak to her, black out blinds down, massage and feed- no eye contact. If she wakes from then I do not pick her up but stroke her head and put my hand on her chest. All in all I think The better they nap in the day, the better they sleep at night and it's all about watching the cues.... One sign of a yawn and she's in her cot.

Another thing, what time does she wake in the morning. Another trick is to put them down 13 hours after they typically wake in the morning...if she wakes at 7 try and put her down at 8... With a nap at 6 until 630 and bath at 715... She might be going to bed too early?

Good luck xxx