Help for 8 week old sleeping

[EmmaOt]

My almost 8 week old baby sleeps 6-8 hours without waking at night, this seems really good and I feel really lucky. She'll then wake (usually around 5am) I'll feed her and she'll go straight back to sleep (most of the time) but I'm struggling with day time sleeping.

She sleeps very little in the day, she is clearly tired, rubbing her eyes, grizzling, yawning etc but will fight sleep. She won't sleep in her Moses basket either upstairs or downstairs, she won't sleep in her bouncy chair for more than 10 mins, she'll sleep on me occasionally but not for long, she'll sleep in her pram and car seat no problem but she's never in them for very long. Am I expecting too much, how long should an almost 8 week old be sleeping for in a block in the day?

Also when I try to get her to sleep in the evening, it can take up to 2 hours, I go upstairs to the quiet, dark room and when she seems ready for sleep eg yawning, grizzling, etc but as soon as I put her down she'll start screaming, I pick her up, cuddle her, try and put her down again and she'll cry again. In the end I hold her until she falls into a really deep sleep and this can take up to 2 hours.

Has anyone got any advice am I expecting too much, will she eventually learn to fall asleep? Should I just go with it and count my blessings that she sleeps so well at night?

They should be napping during the day, at least three naps of 45mins - 1hr.
Do you have a sling? I got a NCT Cabboo Carrier when ds was 5weeks and it was a godsend.
He's now 15weeks and is in it right new while i get some peace and quiet!
When they don't nap they become overtired which makes it harder for them to fall asleep for their main sleep.
Slinging him up, walking around with a bit of a bounce sends him off every time! Then if u are clever you can slide the baby out and into the cot without waking up but this doesn't always work...

Give it another week and her sleep pattern will probably have changed entirely. I don't think there is any point trying to put such a young baby into a routine because their needs are primitive, they just want to feed and be held.

It'll be less stressful for you if you just follow her lead for now, there will be plenty of time for routines, timed naps and feeds in a few weeks when she's older.

My DS used to drift asleep after feeds without any extra effort on my part, and I never paid much attention to 'routine'. Then at some point he stopped doing it. As a result he was getting really over tired as I simply hadn't realised I needed to help him get to sleep. The only thing that really worked for us was rocking/bouncing or walking round with him in the sling. Following the EASY pattern (eat-activity-sleep) and recognising that he needed to sleep every few hours helped us get into a rhythm and ensure he got the naps he needed. A consistent bedtime routine really helped him fall asleep more easily at night.

I was a massive sceptic about routine at first, but I now concede there was something in it after all!

My 9 week old sleeps similarly at night 6-8 hours then 3-4 usually. I struggled with her naps for ages and she'd be a grumpy moo all day. But now I've changed my habits with her. I lay her down to nap as soon as i recognise sleepy signs, usually just staring blankly, rubbing eyes, if i get a yawn then it's almost too late. Since doing this shes getting 4-5 good naps in the day of 30-45 mins.

Bedtime on the other hand still takes me a good hour. She feeds and then goes in her crib but if she's not asleep when i put her down then i have to start allover again :-(

In the day i use the patting technique, at night is very often a bit of a cock up!

Another vote for routine though. The bedtime routine really does help.

Thank you for your replies, it's good to hear what you do.

It's not that I want to get her into a routine particularly it's just that she gets really overtired and then like Kate says is grumpy all day. I just can't get her to sleep in the day, i wait for all the sleepy signs like you suggest then I try rocking, sshhing, walking around as soon as I put her down to sleep she wakes and cries.
I have tried a sling but didn't get on too well with it, maybe it should try again. Maybe I need to just keep trying to put or down, but what do I do when she cries?

At that age with both of mine they managed 45min naps, and id swaddle them abd into their bouncer chair or rocking cradle an hour after they last woke. Usually a bit of boubcing or swinging and theyd go over within about 5mins. As soon as they woke I noted what an hour away would be and did the same (or planned a walk out in the pram/car journey).

When you say she wakes and cries - has she actually gone to sleep in the first place? (I'm not clear from your post). In my experience - if she's gone to sleep in the pram, on you, in the sling, whatever - don't try and put her down, newborn sleep is very light and very many newborns will just wake up when put down! So keep pushing the pram, rocking her on you, keeping her in the sling... whatever it takes to help her to stay asleep.

I didn't master naps anywhere other than on my chest for six months! Really caught up on some box sets though!

Artica- sometimes her eyes are shut but you're right I think her sleep is so light she just wakes as soon as she's put down, other times I become hopeful and just plonk her down and hope for the best.

So I think what you are all saying then is that this is normal for a baby and I should just keep going with the very short, light naps in the day and just keep pushing that pram (and stock up on box sets crumbs!)

At this age during the day DD mostly slept on me. Sometimes she would be put down but others she wasn't having it! It is important for them to try amd get some sleep during the day if you can (I think they're still meant to be getting 17hrs or something?), and hopefully that will help her not be overtired later.

When i put my 9 week old down in the day she often cries but unless she's really hitting the high notes i just persevere with patting, sometimes it takes 30 mins but if she gets a 30-45 minute nap then it makes the next hour of our lives bearable!

Our nap 'routine' is close curtains, switch off light, play white noise app, pat and rock.

I find counting helps e.g. If she doesn't show signs of claming down by the time i count to 300 I'll pick her up. It helps me persevere.

Just about to put her down to bed. I dread this. Wish me luck!

Good luck Kate I'm currently doing the exact same thing!

Thanks everyone for your advice, it's made things a bit clearer for me.