8 week old baby constantly wakes after half hour but getting chronically tired. Only sleeps longer if rocked.

[pevie]

My 8 week old dd2 has got into a habit of always waking after a half hour unless in my arms. Sometimes shorter if put her down for nap in day, ie.10 mins. Sometimes can be rocked back to sleep quite quickly, other times not. If keep her in my arms will continue sleeping but this is not proving feasible with 3 year old who needs to get out and about. When in pram is very hit or miss, used to sleep longer if in motion but now this isn't working well either. When we put her down at night in her baby nest she will sleep for half hour then wake up and need rocked back to sleep which takes much longer second time round. If I dont rock her and just get her up during day will be okay at first then get really tired and cranky. wondered if any tips, also has anyone done CC this early or tried to let them cry when wake up. This is putting terrible strain on my relationship with dd1 as I feel I spend whole day trying to get dd2 to sleep.

sorry i can't add anything, but wanted to keep this bumped for you.

it must be tough.

blimey, you must be knackered. You have my sympathy.

Any chance she's having a bit of a growth spurt? Needing more milk?

a good sling?

have you tried swaddling/having something that smells of you close to her when she's not with you? (I really do feel for you btw - DS was like this for what seemed like ages - swaddling or carrying him in a sling were the only things that worked apart from the constant rocking - then we introduced a teddy I'd slept with to make it smell of me & that helped loads too) Good Luck

We have one of these dreammover thingys - sometimes works at settling the LO but not if she wants to feed unfortunately

ah yes, swaddling was excellent for ds and dd2.

try a ring sling or pouch so you can be hands free during the day while she snoozes on and off. it's working brilliantly for dd, I get loads done during the day, she is happy, other kids are happy, she still goes to sleep beautifully at night time so happy all round really

Swaddle tightly?

thanks for sympathy/support. feel i'm going demented, totally different experience from my first. forgot to say shes also very sicky, unsettled generally. things seem to be getting worse rather than better. sling didnt really help. anyone give any idea of timescale when theirs settled?

She sounds exactly like my son was until he was about 8-9 weeks old. I hate to confess this, and am not recommending it as such, but things changed dramatically when we started putting him on his tummy to sleep. We bought a breathing/movement monitor. He's a different boy now - goes down easily for naps (though night-time was never a real problem for us, he is sleeping longer now and is easier to put down).

A friend has an 8 week old boy who is again similar, and her solution was to cut out dairy from her diet. He's much more settled now and his skin has improved.

I don't know what the answer is for your LO, and these might seem like drastic solutions...

Am intrigued wheeldog, what made you think to put baby on front, did someone recommend it? Have wondered before about trying to put her on her side to see if this makes a difference. At moment she is in an ambi baby nest thing which does seem to help a bit at night as she is settling herself back to sleep more with rocking motion. However, will not be put in it at all for naps yet. Wonder if should try her in her carrycot or something in day and change the routine.

Does she wake up every every half hour at night too? I wasn't sure from your op

Couldn't you try one of those battery-operated swinging chairs? My DS was like this, napping for just 20 mins, and the swing did work, for a while at least.

my kids were like this - really tiring for you. The only thing that worked for me was co-sleeping - they slept and so did I! Check the unicef baby friendly leaflet on co-sleeping for info on this.

Just about your amby nest thing, we had one of those for ds, we were advised to put him to sleep on his side for medical reasons, amby do a little material thing that holds them in position so they can't fall forward or back, it's on their website. Though tbh, a couple of small rolled up blankets/towels would have done the same job. Hth

No, not all night. Will do it a few times in evening but getting better. Then sleeps till about 3 or 4 in morning, is fed and when goes back down will keep waking up, sometimes settles, sometimes not until about 7.

my older child rarely slept more than 30 mins at a time for the first 6 months. my second looks like going the same way. I am clinging ontot the fact that at 6 momths it all changed started having 2 hour naps and sleeping though too. Sorry thats isn't much help at 8 wks!

My first son was terrible at night; wouldn't sleep in his carry cot or cot. We ended up bringing him in bed with us it was the only way he would settle. The doctor put it all down to colic. It didn't go on for long and he started sleeping through at about twelve weeks. Hope this helps!!!

also just carried little ones around or used a baby sling

Pevie- we noticed he would almost always settle if carried in the 'tiger in the tree' position (face down cradled in arm ), or if lying face down on our chests. One day after a couple of hours of crying/not being able to sleep despite being obviously tired (him, not me, though I was in a similar state!), I turned him over onto his tummy. He immedietly relaxed and fell asleep. He was 8 weeks then, with decent head control (and had already managed to roll over once, though it was a fluke!). I don't know if I would have tried it any sooner. That said, the risk of SIDS is apparently highest between 2-4 months.

We used to put ds to sleep in his carseat and rock him in that - either with foot or arm - just used to lean out of bed in the night to give him a little rock. Eventually he learned to do it himself (obviously sometime after 8 weeks!!) and it was how he got himself off to sleep. I will probably get absolutely slated for saying this - my sil used to go on and on about how it was bad for his posture to always be in his chair, but he's now four and has no problems at all. The only side effect was that up until the age of about 2 he used to "rock" himself in his cot - banging against the bars - again attracting advice and comment from all sides. He grew out of it and, more crucially for me, he has always been a good a sleeper.

thanks thats interesting about how your baby would settle on tummy. Also about rocking thing, we have a hammock (Amby Baby Nest) and recently during night have not had to go to her too often as she does seem to rock herself in that, although thats probably because it rocks when they move. she's still really noisy in it and makes it difficult for me to sleep as I think she's awake some of the time. Do they grow out of this manic jumping about in the night and become more settled at about 12 weeks or older? I only ask as DD 1 settled before this and wasnt as bad in first place but everyone else seems to mention 12 week mark as kind of watershed. That said, DD2 went down to sleep tonight was unsettled after about 5 mins went back in settled her quite quickly and she's slept since!!! Maybe a breakthrough.

Hi Pevie

It sounds like your dd has a sleep association with you/being rocked, and the only real way you're going to get her to sleep for longer is to break that association. We all have sleep cycles of 35-45 minutes, and when she stirs after that time, she's expecting the same surroundings/sensation as when she went to sleep, and when she doesn't get it she wakes up.

I wouldn't try CC - she is too young anyway, and will just feel abandoned. If you can find the time, then have a look through the Baby Whisperer book or website, and see if what Tracy Hogg suggests would work for you. Briefly you train her to go to sleep on her own, in her cot/moses basket. To do this, you ensure she is laid down awake (but drowsy). She will cry as she wants to be held, but try putting her on her side and rubbing her back and shushing her to calm her down. If she cries a lot (rather than in a tired way) then pick her up, soothe her and as soon as she stops put her back down, and continue with the back rubbing and shushing.

Expect to spend some time getting her to go to sleep - longer than if you rock or cuddle her, but eventually she will go to sleep on her own or with minimal assistance, and should then sleep for longer too and better at night. You might need some help with dd1 while you're doing this.

All children are different, but I followed this method, and ds was sleeping through from 11pm to 7am at 12 weeks, and has now been sleeping through from 7.30pm to 6.30am/7am for a few months (is now 10months). Get the odd night waking of course. I didn't use this method with dd1 or dd2, and I used to have to cuddle or lie down with them to get them to sleep. In desperation I used CC at about 18mths, it worked but I hated it, and think this method is easier and as effective.

Good luck...

We did contolled comforting which is basically what surr3ymummy describes and also swaddled ds. It took a few weeks as I wasn't rigourous about it and used to go out and let him fall asleep on me/in sling, but it did work in the end...

thanks. Have baby whisperer book and used a lot of the ideas with DD1 so had thought of doing this but is good to get experience of someone who used it. I know about whole association thing but we have tried on many occasions to put her down to sleep awuaake, occasionally works, esp.in pram or car but more often than not just involves lots of very sore screaming. But there have been lots of encouraging signs recently, eg. husband put her down awake after she woke the other night and she went back to sleep. Tonight we heard her stir after usual half hour or so but didnt scream so we didnt go in. She took a little while to settle herself but didnt cry so we didnt have to go in at all!!!!!! Maybe a breakthrough. We live in hope.