11 week old baby WILL NOT SLEEP

[Cinnamon84]

My 11 week old ds will not sleep during the day. Normally I'd take him out for a walk mid morning and get back home in time for his next feed- I've been trying to do this for the last couple of days and he's spend the whole time in his pram looking around which then leads to his little barking sounds which I think means he's overtired. This happened after an hour walk yesterday, got him home and put him in the sling which he slept for for about 40 mins before waking when he was due a feed anyway... after that he was awake from about 1 til 6!! I tried walking around shh-ing and patting but he cranes his neck to look at everything, tired swaddling, pushing his pram around the room (used to always work- think he loved going round corners), wearing the swing.. at 6 when my partner came home he (and I) was crying so much- I'd never heard him so upset :(
The frustrating this is on the weekend my dp kind of gave me a break and took over a bit and every time he popped him in the sling or walk around with him on his shoulder he'd drift off.
I'm feeling a bit anxious about today and the rest of the week in case we have a repeat of yesterday.
Has anyone had this? I've noticed he's really looking around whenever I carry him I'm not sure if he's going through a funny stage of just starting to take stuff in so it's hard to switch off.. can anyone offer any advice?
By the way I have tried to put him down before he gets over tired- he starts off sleepy and calm and then it turns into full on agitation and crying!

Have you tried swaddling him?

I do it with my 14 week old and although she fights it/ cries within minutes she's sleeping.

I also swear by the sleepyhead

My baby has been sleeping my through night from 8 weeks - not so much during the day though unless swaddled

Hi yes I mentioned I tried swaddling- I did this and put him in his carrycot during the day, he sounded calm to begin with then it turned into full on meltdown crying.
Forgot to mention he does sleep ok at night (thank god!- for now anyway!) - he still wakes for a feed (I'm breastfeeding, not sure if that makes a difference) but goes back to sleep immediately after.

does sitting with him in a different, quiet, dim room help? My 10 week old struggles to sleep sometimes and one reason can be that she is massively overstimulated, I think sometimes just by being in the living room because at this age, she's suddenly started to take in everything she can see and hear. I think before she couldn't perceive it all so it didn't bother her as much.

Is he getting overtired before you tey to put him down. E.g. You say you take him for a walk mid-morning - if that's his first chance to nap then depending on how long he's been up, he may just be super-tired by then and so really fighting sleep. My 12wo has her first nap about an hour or so after waking - sometimes in the bouncy chair or otherwise sling. The general advice is babies at this age can go 60-90ish minutes before needing another nap. Go much longer and with both of mine I've found it much harder to get them off and for them to stay asleep.

It's really tough - my first was a terrible sleep fighter and the only way I managed was to basically live by 90 minute windows for a few months. But at about 5-6 months it gets a lot easier!

The only way DS will now sleep in the pram is when I peg a muslin over it so he can't see out as he's such a nosy pants even when he's exhausted he wants to see what's going on.
Also second the overtired thing. I find that if I wait til DS looks tired it can be hard to get him to sleep. It's not everyone's cup of tea but I found reading a few of the routine type baby books was good for ideas, though I didn't stick to any religiously.

He sounds overtired and overstimulated. I used to put my little one in I pram and face it at a blank walk (I read this online and it really worked). He liked having no stimulation and would drift off to sleep fairly quickly. He wouldn't sleep if the pram was pushed or rocked.

Also, google precious little sleep and look at the sleep chart. It basically tells you how long your baby should be awake and when to put them down for a nap...I love it!

Arg had just typed out a big response to these responses and have lost it.. will reply at some point but thanks for replying!

Yes it's definitely overtiredness/overstimulation but I can't get him to sleep in the first place- this is what today has looked like so far:
6.45ish: feed
7.15ish: After feed he was put in the sling with dp and then slept on the bed until he woke up at about 8.45
I tried to get him back to sleep and then gave up at 9.30 when he was due another feed
9.30: feed
10ish: nappy change, put in day clothes
10.30: out in pram, started off sleepy and content gradually got increasingly more shouty until meltdown crying unless I picked him up
11.30: home, Managed to get him to sleep for maybe 30/45mins walking around with him in a dark room
12.30ish: wakes up crying, due a feed anyway
1.15ish: manage to get him to sleep in sling
1.45ish: wakes up crying
Sleeps a little bit until he wakes up -tried to get him back to sleep by walking and patting, swaddling, pushing/rocking pram, turns into full on meltdown crying again until 3ish
3ish: managed to get him asleep in sling but he's very fidgety and I'm scared to leave the room/stop swaying in case any change wakes him!

So I know he needs to sleep and I'm trying to get him to sleep before he gets overtired but he'll only sleep for maybe 30/45 mins at a time and then wake up completely inconsolable.

Losing my mind a little bit

Is it possible that he might be hungry? Both of my DC needed to be fully tanked up to even contemplate going to sleep, and your DS might be having a growth spurt and therefore wanting to feed more often.

Have you checked his gums, could he be teething already?

Yes I do always offer him another feed when he's crying- sometimes he's crying too much to care though :(
I try to feed him throughout the day just in case he's coming up to a growth spurt but sometimes it seems to agitate him even more.
still sleeping in the sling thank god but I'm still swaying!

You poor thing - it's a really tough phase. And everyone else's baby always seem to sleep for hours - at least that's how it feels!

Catnapping is really common at this age. My first never, ever slept more than 30 minutes in the day between about 2 and 4/5 months. I tried more and less awake time, tiring her out, tanking her up, whatever. Nothing worked. One day she just randomly napped for longer and did from then on. So don't worry about it too much - if after 10 minutes trying to get him bank off, I'd suggest you give up.

Have you tried white noise? Can help. You can download various free apps.

and It's tough having a nap resister and a catnapper. Feels like your whole life is spent getting the little bugger to sleep and stay there! They do grow out of it though - promise.

Do you think he sleeps better in the sling because of the contact/movement or could it be because he's upright a bit? Could you try raising the head of his mattress/cot a bit and see if that helps?

It might not work, but DD3 had silent reflux and raising the end of the cot (a throwaway comment at a weight clinic) was like the miracle cure for her sleep.

Oh my god you must be physically and emotionally exhausted.
Here are my comments:
6.45ish: feed - do you feed to sleep?
7.15ish: i would have done 8 to 10 at his age
9.30: feed that seems quite soon after the last feed, was he asking for it?
10ish: nappy change, put in day clothes
10.30: I would have fed around now

And then I would have done next nap 12-2 and then 4-5

It seems like the naps are too short and also the gaps between feeds are too short. Is he feeding to sleep?

How about popping him in his Moses basket/cot in a dim room with one of those ceiling projectors on? It may get him to concentrate on the celiling instead of trying to see what everyone else is doing.

Please don't get upset by the over tired cries(I know it's hard not to), I think you just have a very curious baby who doesn't want to miss anything! Its nothing that your doing.

Hope the napping gets better soon.

My DS2 has always slept the best if I kept him on my lap. Not for everyone I know but I love watching him sleep. He's definitely my last baby so I got set up on the sofa, water and snacks ready, fed him and left him there. With DS1 I was always trying to do something while he slept but I'm definitely more relaxed this time round. He's 14 months now and I'm back at work but he still has a lap nap at the weekend.

Same as coconutoil, lo sleeps best on me. He goes through phases of falling asleep in the push chair or car, some days/weeks it's easy, others he screams until we get home and I rock him. I hold him for 10 min then put him down fin the cot for the rest if his nap. He's a catnapper so it usually means 3/4 x 20 min pockets of time to go and do some chores

Your baby sounds like mine. She's 18 weeks now and is really really hard to get to sleep. I've posted about it here before.

It's almost as though she doesn't know how to drift off.

I've had some success with swaddling and giving a dummy, but I have to hold the dummy in for her because she often spits it out.

It's really hard work, she's never once just drifted off to sleep!

Hello. No advice to add but just wanted to say that my dd was like this for a few weeks and has just started to have proper naps again (touch wood it lasts!). This phase definitely coincided with her looking around at everything and getting overstimulated. All I would say is that it'll pass...

Thanks everyone. The sling seems to be the only way these days, even though he screams the house down when I initially put him in. I think it's the only way he can block everything out by putting his head under the hood or in my chest (which I hate and have to listen out for him breathing).

Hopefully he'll go back to his pram at some point as I feel he has his deepest and longest sleeps there

Fakehungarian, glad to hear it was a phase! How old was your dd when that happened?

Hi,
I also had the same problem for weeks and I know how you feel. Exhausted and distraught! ! I started to really question myself and my husband struggled too. My daughter used to cry between 8 and 1am every night and I had no idea why. Everyone said colic but after reading a bit I realised she was overtired and stimulated. I had stupidly been trying to put her into a 4 hour routine even though breastfeeding, too much reading of routine books, some of which advocate having a baby awake up to 2 hours between feeds. I went back to 3 hours and I completely focused on her sleep. Even if I had to hold her for 2 hours, I made sure she slept for set times or as much as possible during the day. I even nursed her to sleep even though a bad habit! She is now 12 weeks and much better and I realised that she actually couldn't stay awake that long after a feed. I still have to be careful as B is so alert and curious and I dread visitors but if B starts going down that road again, I take her upstairs into a dark room, play lullabies and sooth or feed her to sleep. She is now starting to self settle and I am weaning off the comfort boob dummy! There is no way I would have thought she would be so much easier a few weeks ago! Also, I made sure I had formula ready just in case.
Although I am not following everything in the book, I found the Baby Whisperer useful to learn how to sooth. Especially shooshing! !

I also second muslin over pram, blank dark walls and the cry sensor whisbear. No consolation but this is a phase so just do whatever works. Unfortunately we have spirited babies!!