3 week old has started fighting sleep for hours

[newmum1212]

I'm not too sure what to do. She was great at falling asleep but over the last few days it takes hours to get her back to sleep after a feed. She constantly grunts, wriggles and I spend hours trying to settle her, especially at night which is making me exhausted. This morning the only way I got her back to sleep is by holding her but even that took ages as she kept falling off to sleep and then starts wriggling and crying, waking herself back up again.

Any idea what could be wrong?

Hiya.

My little one is three weeks old aswell!

Maybe your little one doesn't like being flat after feeding, have you tried inclining her crib slightly we found that helped slightly? We also have a baby bean bag and she prefers that as she's slightly more upright.

Also white noise. There is a Spotify playlist which is a god send. They love it.

Our little one is having prescribed formula because she wouldn't settle after feeds and would cry, wriggle and looked like she wasn't comfortable. They think it may be a lactose intolerance.

If it persists I would ring your HV and see what they can do.

I was going to suggest reflux or intolerance also, only because my second baby was exactly like this and she had reflux and CMPA.

New born sleep is all about recreatinv womb like comforting conditions. These are universal:

• full tummy (if in doubt, feed again)
• no wind pain (wind well and frequently)
• swaddle (tight, closed, protected feeling)
• sucking (dummy)
• swaying motion (pref while swaddled and with a dummy)
• little awake time
• low stimulation levels for all senses.

Mine had silent reflux and this is when it kicked in, in this exact way. By five weeks we had her on meds, which helped. Maybe tilt the cot, and use lots of white noise. Motion helps too (I used to jiggle the crib with my foot while reading a book!)

Thanks everyone. I spoke to my HV who's said the same, it's reflux.

I did try tilting the cot but it didn't do much. This evening I tried feeding her less and kept her upright for a while and she fell asleep quite peacefully. Will keep this up and hope it helps her.