Sleeping issues with a 2 month old! All advice gratefully welcomed!

[sixbananas]

Hello! I need some advice with my two month old's sleep routine. Well, lack of really. And also how on earth to encourage her to sleep on her own, not on top of mummy! Sorry this is REALLY long, I just feel a bit stuck, and have no idea what I'm doing any more. OK, so here's what happens.

6/7ish: Wakes up and has lovely smiley time.
9ish: Sleeps - often until about 12, with brief wake-up, but will only sleep in the sling.
After about 12: She has a feed and a 'play' for about an hour. But after that, basically if she's awake, she's unhappy. The evening's are worst, she cries quite a lot (but not the really constant colicky crying I don't think), and this gets worse and worse till about 10, when I normally take her to bed and feed her to sleep.

So, I have two questions:

1. In the afternoon, I think she's still tired, so my main strategy is to try and help her sleep. The thing is, she'll only sleep in the afternoon if we go out in the buggy or sling. Otherwise she'll maybe drop off for max ten minutes. But am I wrong in thinking she's tired? Perhaps there's something else wrong that I'm missing - I feel bad if I'm always trying to get the poor thing back to sleep when in fact that's not the problem at all!

2. How do I help her to sleep on her own? In the day she will only sleep for longer periods in the sling or in a moving buggy, or perhaps car. In the night, she sleeps on top of me. I don't want to move her out of my bed necessarily, just to a position beside me! But I don't want to do controlled crying either, if I can avoid it.

Help! I feel like I'm getting it all wrong?! Sorry this is so long.

My DD is almost 11 wks. I just feed him when he cries if nothing else seems to be upsetting him (wet nappy, bored etc).

Yes - I always try feeding and check the other things such as nappy etc. But she's usually not interested in feeding. Do you think boredom could be an issue? I'm not sure how much stimulation I should be giving her right now. I talk to her a lot (maybe she finds the conversation dull!) when she's awake and try and entertain her (playmat etc), but that doesn't seem to help. Hmmmm.

My DS2 is 8 weeks and doesnt like to sleep much during the day either. He kind of cat naps for about 10 mins at a time and always wakes up if i put him down.
I find that he does get a bit bored. He is happier when i move him around to do different things soon as he starts to moan. He goes in the swing, on the play mat, in his cot with th musical mobile on (likes that best!) and with me carrying him, showing him out the window etc.
He gets moany of an evening too, but is getting much better as he gets bigger. A bath helps him calm down.

During the day if you have tried everything else and think she is overtired, then can you put her in the sling? or go for a walk round the block with the pram?

Have you tried a dummy at night?
My DS sleeps in a moses basket and i put him down awake after night feeds with his dummy and he goes straight back to sleep (wouldnt without the dummy!)

I'd second the dummy idea, some babies get a great deal of comfort from sucking alone although there are lots of conflicting views about combining dummies with bfding

Also perhaps try swaddling if she sleeps well in the sling, she may find that more secure and comforting, try using a nightdress or t-shirt you've worn to begin with

try some more stimulation while she's awake as it might be partly frustration if you're spending all afternoon trying to get her to sleep and she simply isn't up for it. watch her carefully for signs she's tired and don't try settling her til you see them (our dss got grizzly and we noticed a 'tired' cry, eyes went red and they would rub their heads from side to side)

8 weeks is way too young for controlled crying imo, they need a certain level of cognitive development to 'learn' and that doesn't emerge until 5-6 months, although i know some mnetters have used cc in very young babies with good results (i couldn't as it jsut seemed too cruel)