Hi there,
I’m really hoping someone can offer some advice or words of encouragement...I’m a first time mum to my DS who is now 8 weeks old.
Things haven’t been the easiest since he was born with one thing or another, and he just seems really unhappy. He cries and seems unsettled a lot, and resists sleep. Napping during the day is literally for 40 minutes then he wakes up and cries, full on red face, dinner plate lip, tears and all. I’m convinced he’s over tired but he seems to fight sleep so much. I’ve tried taking him out for walks, in the car etc and the second we are home his eyes ping open and he cries. He’s not wet, hungry, and I can’t think what else to do. I thought he had reflux and we were started on gaviscon by the gp which only contipated him and seemed to suppress his appetite but he did seem to sleep better at night. However due to the side effects we have stopped it. His reflux wasn’t bad in comparison to some but he constantly was clearing his throat, not settling after feeds, lots of spit up/sick and being really fussy during feeds (we are formula feeding). I’m not sure if it’s just him going through a phase or if it is in fact reflux or if he’s over tired or what’s going on. Also when he sleeps he fidgets a lot and flails his arms about, often hitting himself in the face which again, wakes him up. Do they become less fidgety as they get older? I’ve read that they still have this startle reflex just now but not sure if this will settle as I think he wakes himself up half the time. He hates to be swaddled so we don’t do that, he does take a dummy which seems to soothe him (untill he spits it out and cries until it’s out back in). He also makes a whole host of noises, grunting, dinosaur (raptor like) noises which make for a long and unsettled night for me and my DH aswell. We have a Ewan the dream sheep which he seems to like but again this doesn’t keep him in a deep enough sleep before he wakes about 40 mins after settling.
I’m really worried that he’s just not a happy baby which makes me so sad!
Anyone else experienced this? Does it get better? What else can I do to help my DS sleep?
We have a bedtime routine which he seems to like but again, it’s hit or miss how settled he is in this first part of his sleep at night. He goes down at maybe 8-830 after his bath and feed, then us awake by 11/1130, 2-3, 5,7. Taking 6oz feeds. He doesn’t seem very settled when he’s sleeping in between feeds at all despite being winded. We keep him upright for maybe 20 mins after feeds and have propped his mattress up slightly incase he does have reflux but still he just doesn’t seem to sleep soundly.
Maybe this is all normal but I just feel at a loss of what to do and what’s normal etc. Being a first time mum is so daunting, I’m questioning everything....Any advice welcome!