Sleep at 2months

[catwoman101]

Sorry for long post

My 2 month old is great at night, she sleeps from 11 and wakes for 1 feed on the middle of the night then goes back down quickly and sleeps until the morning.

The problem is the evenings. For the last 4 weeks we have done wind down, bath, feed, read and bed at 7. She then spends the next 4 hours crying in her cot unless I stay with her, holding in her dummy (which she doesn't have during the day), singing, or cuddling. She did have a few days of obviously colicky upset but it is not that now, just bored/lonely crying, but she is obviously tired, as she often settles to sleep......but only for a a very very short time. The rest of the time she is awake.

She doesn't have a day routine, she sleeps when she wants, and eats when she wants. Consistently has a midmorning nap but the length is inconsistent.

Am I trying to get her settled too early (in her life). I am considering carrying on trying (hard) or bringing her downstairs and having her sleep on me for the evening so she learns that she supposed to be asleep at that time, or....I dont know. Any advice???

mmmm tough one really. My DS is 7weeks and we bath him and change him at around 7 but then he stays with us until about 8:30 then I feed him, read or sing and put him in his crib and like your DS he then sleeps through bar one feed. The reason we keep him up later is because we play in the bath and he is still very awake and alert as a result so he needs the wind down time. Im a 1st time mum and Im finding my feet by trial and error so maybe keep her up for a bit after the bath. It seems a shame for you both to sit in the dark not being happy when she might not be ready. There's plenty of time to establish a set bedtime routine when she's older and understands. Hope this helps, keep us posted on how you get on

Routines are great but don't stress too much about getting it sorted yet when your baby is so young. We started a bedtime routine with my DD (now 13 months) when she was 8 weeks old, bath, massage, bed etc but it took a few months until it was 'fixed' and she would often be very unsettled in the evening. If you do decide to keep her up, I would suggest you do so in a quietened dimmed room, keep the lights low & if you have the tv on, keep it down quiet too - she needs to learn that night is for sleeping - which she's obviously doing if she's sleeping so well from 11. But lights & tv / noise will be a stimulant and will make her think evenings are for playtime!
Also worth making a note on how much sleep she's having during the day and leading up to bedtime - you say she's sleeping as and when she wants during the day - is she sleeping close to when you are then putting her to bed as maybe she isn't quite tired enough at that time so maybe try putting the bedtime back an hour or so?
My DDs nighttime routine started to fall into place when I introduced a daytime routine at around 4 months but the groundwork we'd laid from 2 months, doing exactly what you're doing, paid off as from 4 months she was a 7pm to 7am sleeper so well done!

I would put bedtime back as it sounds as though she isn't ready for this routine yet. I think trying to get her into bed at 7pm with the expectation that she be in bed for 12 hours, with just one feed at seven weeks might be a bit too soon.

At that age my DD would cluster feed all evening (every hour) and then sleep from 11pm to 7/8am.

Many babies who sleep a lot at night from an early age do cluster feed in the evenings. Til I worked this out my DD was inconsolable in the evenings. The theory is that to go for a long period without feeding they fill up throughout the evening.

Try offering feeds if she won't settle.

Seven weeks is young for a set routine as their needs change so often. Not having a "down at seven" routine now doesn't mean you are setting things for the future.

At seven weeks my DD went to bed at 11pm (when we did) after a feed. As she got older she brought the time back herself due to being more active and napping less in the day. She is now 14 months and sleeps 12 - 13 hours solid every night.

Thank you for quick advice ladies, very useful.

Just one thing, I realise from reading back my post that I sound sooooo whiny. I do know that I am really lucky that she sleeps so well at night, I thought at this stage I would be up several times and be rocking/pacing etc for hours. I think that because she is so good then I was hoping to get her to sleep earlier with an 11pm AND a middle of the night feed, but perhaps not yet. We shall see what happens.

(and tonight the 11pm switch off button was activated slightly earlier at 10.40, maybe she wants to do it in baby steps!