Sleep issues with 4-week-old baby

[Russki]

Hi there - it's perhaps too early to expect my baby at 4 weeks to be sleeping long chunks of the night, but at the moment, she is sleeping (reasonably) well during the day, and then waking at roughly 2-hour intervals throughout the night. Last night, it was even less, and she woke every hour... and every time i put her back in her cot, she fussed a great deal and found it very hard to settle, and sometimes she simply didn't, and I succumbed and bf her.

I'm sure this topic has been done to death on mumsnet, but i'm just at a bit of a loss on how to get her to sleep through the night - not all the way through, of course, but for three to four hours at a time. I guess part of the problem is that she is confusing night with day, but we've tried playing with her more during the day, and quietening things down in the evening, but to little avail. But she also seems uncomfortable (arching her back, writhing), although she isn't crying that much, just making noise. I find her quite difficult to burp at nighttime, and sometimes stop trying after five minutes or so, but perhaps i should persevere..

Anyway, if anyone has any pointers or tips on how to extend her nighttime sleep, they would be very much appreciated..

Make sure you wind her really, really well, especially in those last feeds of the day, because that arching of the back and writhing sounds like classic trapped gas and it will make it impossible for her to get back off to sleep. If you feed her at night persevere with winding for longer than five minutes. Signs to look for are 'fluttering' eyelids, a blue/grey colour to the top lip, arching of the back, pulling up of the legs, noisy when laid flat ... If any of that is still going on, keep burping! It's worth it. Good luck

Hi OP, my DS is almost 6 months now and I must say the first 6 weeks are the hardest - mainly due to sleep deprivation!

With my DS, at night time I used to get up, feed him and change his nappy practically in the dark, I used to do it in the living room, and just leave the kitchen light on so I could see what I was doing. I didn't used to talk or smile at him to engage him, and then burping for 10-15 minutes and straight to bed even if his eyes were open he would drop off by himself.

In the daytime I'd make nappy changing fun and chat to him or sing nursery rhymes so there was a clear difference between night and day.

I found swaddling DS helped him to sleep better as he wasn't waking himself up by his arms flying out in reflex mode!

I think also if you can tank them up with as much milk as possible in the daytime so hopefully they sleep a bit longer at night time helps.

It does get easier and the worst of the wind is better at around 12 weeks! I think I bored people to death on the subject of wind :o Definitely try different winding positions, e.g baby sitting up and chin resting on your hand, baby over your shoulder and baby lying on tummy over your legs.

Is she comfortable? Sounds silly but my ds was the same for the first few days, i started putting him on his tummy and he was so much better!

Babies at that age are sometimes more wakeful at night as well and it takes a while for it swap round - also can be growth spurts when they want to feed alot
they way I coped was DH slept in the spare room and I fed lying down and slept while baby fed

Sounds like trapped wind. Have you tried Infacol? Worked a treat for my DD. Box says it takes a week or so to notice a real difference but I found DD burping for England after the first use!!

Hi, congrats on your baby! I know you're knackered, and you want sleep and you're probably worried about making a whole bunch of rods for your back but... don't worry, relax. She is tiny, she will sleep more soon but right now it is quite normal to wake a lot because she wants the milk because she is trying to grow.

As a young baby she is absolutely not capable of being manipulative, either she wants milk or comfort or just you. If it is something like colic you cannot impose a routine really til it passes anyway because discomfort will intervene.

Do everything you can to get the wind up and keep the room quiet and dark, feed her calmly and don't be too exciting/interactive. But she is only 4 weeks old, it will take a while for this to get through to her.

Main thing is you get your sleep whenever you can so you can cope with nights.

It is hell the sleep deprivation but I promise it passes.

Honestly, she sounds like a normal 4 week old baby to me. You say you had to succumbed to bfing her. Your babies tummy is so tiny, it's not succumbing, it's meeting her needs, which at 4 weeks will be milk and lots of it. Have you tried bfing laying down? That way you can doze at the same time. The first few months are so tough and sleep deprivation is just awful so I do sympathsie, but IMO its normal and it will get better. Don't forget about growth spurts as well when they will need feeding literally all the time.

Congratulations on your lovely froggy newborn. Just to echo what others have said really, her sleep pattern will change many, many times as she gets older. It really is easier to just go with the flow, make sure you're following her hunger cues (DD used to feed for 6hrs continuously every evening at that age) and sleep whenever she does, even if that's 3pm! When my DD woke in the night - or anytime - the first thing I did was offer a feed. It's hard to believe they can be hungry after you just fed them but their tummies are tiny and breastmilk is so easy for them to digest. Something I kept in my mind from the breastfeeding workshop I did whilst pregnant was "if in doubt, whip your boobies out". It's exhausting and relentless at that age but it soon passes. If baby is sleeping lots in the day then sleep then, housework really can wait

Sounds normal and it will get better.

Please don't put your baby to sleep on her front, it significantly increases risk of cot death.

I agree with whats been said. DS was like that first 6weeks, hardly got 1-2 hrs at night but after 6-7weeks he started slowly going longer and now at 11 weeks he only wakes 1-2 times from 8pm-7am... So it does get better! I just used to nap in the day time with him. Good luck!

thejoyfulpuddlejumper (great name BTW) some older babies don't sleep through the night either..
OP - about 10% -in my experience - babies sleep though night pretty early - the rest not so much - and really what the parents do doesn't make that much difference in my veiw

what Hothead said,

also - don't put te baby on her tmmy as suggested by one poster.

Lower your expectations and accept the situation as it is for all the reasons mentioned above. If you fight it (as I did initially) then having a new baby is torture - pure and simple. Roll with it - Breastfeed on demand. Every hour if necessary. Swaddle in between. Co sleep. Have patience. It will pass. Good luck.

Do not put your baby on her tummy.

I think everything you have described sounds very normal for 4 weeks.

In terms of the feeding, don't think of it as 'succumbing'. At this point your supply isn't fully established, and the regular feeding is to send the signals to your body to produce more milk - don't fight it else you might create a problem that doesn't need to exist.

Hang in there, it does get easier. :)

One of the reasons she may be waking is a need to be close to you. If you would like a better nights sleep you could cosleep.. Then try cuddling her close to you if she wakes or feed if that doesn't work! To try and train a baby to sleep more at such a young age would not be in her interests.

It really is wind...

Normal normal normal. Definitely sounds like wind. Try doing bicycle legs, then sit DC on your lap, bend them over to the left and rotate clockwise slowly. Spend time winding last thing at night and use infacol.

You're in the zone of pain now but it will get so much better.
Congratulations!

Just re-reading the thread and I don't think anyone has suggested putting the baby to sleep on their tummy although I may have missed it?

My HV told me to put DS on his tummy for a couple of minutes a couple of times a day when she did a home visit at two weeks old and this did help him push the wind out, and it may or may not be a coincidence but he's very happy on his tummy now and very strong and active. I think she was telling me so we could try to avoid him getting a flat head.

Hi OP, I have no advice really just wanted to offer support as my DS is the same age as your DD and they sound very similar! I got a bit stressed about DS sleeping a lot during the day and not at night and he also suffers with trapped wind/colic. I also know what you mean about not wanting to feed too often, I didn't want to 'create' a needy child that had to be on the breast 24/7! After some great advice from here and from speaking to MW/HV/friends I chilled out and realised DS is still tiny and to expect some sort of routine this early was ridiculous!
I think you just put too much pressure on yourself to be a good mum which coupled with raging hormones and tiredness is a recipe for a meltdown! How is your DD doing now? I tried Infacol, didn't work for us so we're on Dentinox now, not convinced that works either but like to feel like I'm doing something! Have had a couple of decent nights with chunks of 3-4 hours sleep but also some bad days and nights with incessant wind induced screaming! I guess that's just how it is, the way I see it is that my baby is fed, clean, comfortable and loved, he's putting on weight and the HV is happy with him, so I can't be doing that much wrong, I'm sure you're the same!
< looks back through post and wonders if most of it was to reassure self and not OP >

< looks back through post and realises needs to put paragraphs in when rambling >

I have a 9 week old and he has naturally moved from the pattern you describe to doing 3 and 4 hour stretches within the last week - as have all the other babies in my NCT group - if that helps you feel better!

but...although I sympathise, you do need to be more patient - she is a tiny baby and it will take time and nothing else for her to sync to your pattern - you say sleep 'issues' - but two hour chunks is normal.

I disagree with the wind diagnosis - I think what you are describing is a baby who was warm in your arms, hen you place her in the cot she is angry/ disturbed! Let her fall into a deep sleep in your arms/ on your chest/ in your bed - then slowly move her - or, if you can , put her in the cot, swaddle (swaddle was life saver for us) then keep an arm on her. Even if it's tiring, its not forever she will gradually start to settle more quickly.

I know its tiring but the pattern you are describing is normal and completely appropriate for her age. Don't change her sleep in he day - my baby sleeps for 3 hours in the day and is still lengthening his sleep at night - they need lots of sleep at this age.

personally I would suggest you accept she may not do 3/4 hours at night for another month or so and do a bit of co=sleeping and just sleep in he day when you can...