Soothing my 7 week old DD

[niamh29]

DD3 is 7 weeks and is very pleasant, doesn't cry a lot and is happy to be put down for short periods, which is pretty normal but she won't take a soother and isn't interested in her thumb (DD1 took a soother and DD2 took her thumb from day 1) she is only settled by cuddling or her bottle and doesn't self soothe yet. I'm wondering for techniques to soothe her or help her self soothe, with 3 under 5 i don't have a lot of time to cuddle her for long periods and I am wasting a lot of bottles as she often needs a touch of a bottle to get her to sleep.

Do you know about the 5 S's? Swaddle Shush Suck Sway and I can't remember the last one. Look up "Happiest Baby on the Block." It really helped withDs just to get him calmed sow initially. Then I would put him in a swing all swaddled up. He did take a Soothie though so that helped. But for us swaddlind really tightly in a muslin wrap really helped. HTH

Hi niamh I was on the ante-natal thread with you, (I think we had the same or similar due date) DD is just over 6 weeks old and sort of the opposite, isn't that keen on being cuddled to sleep, prefers to settle in the moses basket. If she's over-tired then I have to pin her hands down to stop them flailing around, and put her on her side and pat her back, shushing her.

Otherwise, sometimes if I think she's due for a sleep, I can put her down before she gets too tired (ie just starting the "long blink") and she drops off after a little while no fuss. Have you tried that? It came as a shock to me last week when she did actually go to sleep that way!

Otherwise, I appreciate the many children problem (I only have 2 and that's hard enough!!) so during the day I'm using the sling a lot - if yours likes closeness then she might like that and settle in the sling?

Yes, I'd use a sling - not many 7 week olds will be able to self-soothe (lots of 7 month olds can't for that matter).

Swaddling helped us too.

Thanks Lozario, think I might borrow a sling and try that, it's definitely the closeness she craves, she is happy as a clam when being cuddled and held, a lot of the time she shouts not cries and when you go over she smiles up at you, the little attention seeker : ))