Think baby is overtired - help please

[NLW91]

Hi,

In a FTM so getting the hang of everything and my boy is 5 weeks old. This week in particular I’ve noticed his lack of daytime naps, I read that this is a wonder week for them for brain development etc. The past few weeks he would nap for nearly 2 hours and then feed and so on and so forth. This week he only seems to be cat napping, he then wakes up and seems most unhappy after a while to the point where I’ve tried everything and in the end have to breastfeed him again to soothe. This is causing me to be glued to the sofa feeding for a lot more than usual. Any suggestions as to what is happening? Is this normal? I’m worried about trying to venture out if he is going to be like this but then maybe a walk in the pram may keep him settled for longer?

I always found the sling pretty good for long naps, but walks in the pram is a good bet too.

I often found a change of environment helpful to get an overtired baby to nap. We also used the sling and walking a lot too.

5 weeks is such a difficult age, but keep going, you got this!!!

Sling or pram. We're still struggling with day time naps at 4 months old. I've just started logging everything into the huckleberry app as I've heard good reviews, apparently it can work out the optimum time to get your baby to nap. Hope it works!

Personally I found those difficult times less stressful when I just accepted I needed to sit and cuddle my baby so she got a really good sleep. Get all your things you need near by and enjoy the rest! Of course if he still won’t sleep even laying on you then definitely try a sling or walk with the pram. A dummy may also help especially as a quick fix if you are out and he gets upset

Cuddles for sleep
Sling
Use the Huckleberry app to guide you for sleep/wake times.

At 5 weeks I think my babe was only awake a few hours a day, but still wanted to be near us always x

It sounds quite normal to me, and I would say just be led by what seems to be working best on any given day. It’s difficult to get into a predictable pattern with naps at that age, and they go through so many leaps and growth spurts that it’s hard to keep up. I found there would be a spell of ‘sleepy days’ with lovely long naps often then followed by a couple of irritable, cluster feeding days with almost no daytime naps at all, no matter what I tried!

When my baby was 5 weeks old her pattern changed. Before she was very sleepy and would wake, eat, sleep basically. Then 5 weeks and she was only cat napping about 10-15 mins then awake again. I thought she was overtired, but actually, I think she was undertired because i didnt realise she had developed into a stage where she wanted to be awake for a little bit and play, so essentially she was too awake to sleep. So then the routine became wake, feed, change if she needed and then play for a little bit if she was content enough to, once she cries offer breast then swaddle and rock to sleep. Things improved after that. Also agree with the above poster - i just caved in and let her sleep on me because she sleeps much better! Just forgot about the housework a bit and chucked on some Netflix cuddling all day. I hope you find what works for you! Congrats on the baby, if only they came with a personalised manual honestly!!