7 week baby won't sleep!!

[N12345625]

Hi, my daughter is 7 weeks old and I am a first time mum. I am really really struggling at the moment with her. I am bathing her every night at around 8, she then takes about 2 hours to settle and will be asleep for 10. She then wakes up at midnight and then about 3. When she wakes up at 3 she is so unsettled and it can take her four hours to get to sleep again. This means that on some days my day is starting at 3am. During the day she hardly sleeps, probably around 3 or 4 hours in total. When she does sleep I find it really difficult to sleep as I feel so anxious that she is going to wake up. She always wants to be held, and when I put her down for a nap or at night she often wakes up. I am exclusively breastfeeding her so I know she needs feeding often. What am I doing wrong? Will it get any easier? I am finding this so difficult and the lack of sleep is really affecting me. Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you, from a tired mum!

Currently up feeding my 5 wo (DC2) and very similar pattern. Once she wakes for 3am feed it takes hours to get her back down. Don’t worry, this is normal, yes it does get better and settle down, and you will sleep again!!

You’re not doing anything wrong. The baby is still adjusting to day/night schedules, breastfeeding is still being established, and they are still very dependent on you and just want to be close to you all the time.

It’s tough on you, I get it, been there!! But you are also adjusting to this new world and the tiredness will even out once your body adjusts too.

I know it’s a horrible cliche and unrealistic but try and make a point of sleeping when the baby does sleep during the day. I didn’t with DC1 as I always felt I had things to get on with once she slept.

With this baby though I’ve made a point of taking a nap at least a couple of times a week when she is sleeping. That way there are a couple of days where I get a catch up and it takes the edge off the sleep deprivation.

Also if you want (need) a break try expressing so that someone else can do a feed for you and again that will be an opportunity to take some rest/sleep.

In a few weeks the baby’s sleep pattern will improve and you will feel it’s more predictable and you can relax once they’re asleep knowing they will sleep until a certain time.

It’s rubbish being up at this ungodly hour though, I agree!!

Have you thought about co-sleeping and lying down to breastfeed? This is the only method that saved me

Ahh your post brings back memories! It gets better, I promise. You’re doing a great job.

Things that helped us for night sleeps:
Completely black room
White noise machine
‘Love to dream’ swaddles - total game changer

During the day for naps was a bit trickier for us, but I found putting my DS down in the same place he would sleep at night helped and tried to recreate the ‘night sleep’ feel with the swaddling, dark room and white noise. I would also put him in a sling/baby carrier and kind of just potter about the house and he would sleep ok in there, as well as in the pram for a long walk or in the car for a bit of a drive.

When he got a bit older, around 3 months I downloaded a sleep program online called ‘little ones’ which helped immensely. It really helped us nail down a really good routine and he sleeps really well now. It’s absolutely not a ‘cry it out’ program because I never would have done that.

It’s so hard isn’t it, I remember it so well but it all seems a distant memory now. My DS is 9 months now and it gets so much better and it will for you too.

Oh op I completely feel you. My son is the same age and I introduced 2 bottle feeds at 5 weeks to help.
I pump between 1 and 2 ozs after every feed and when my dp gets home from work he takes our son over for about 5 hours so I can nap and cook dinner, would this be an option for you? Even if its not your partner or in the evening but a friend or family member just come in for a few hours to take baby while you have a nap?

Sounds normal but it's hard work! I'd give up trying to settle her for the night - we just used to go to bed and watch Netflix and my LO would eventually nod off but at least we could watch something and be comfy. I used to watch like a hawk for sleep cues during the day and try to get out for a walk once a day as my DS used to love a nap in the pram.