6/7 week struggles

[Scottishbump85]

My LO is 7 weeks today and for the past few days she has been so fussy, in the evenings especially. Last night she cried for a feed (formula fed) and continued to cry during and after her feed.

It’s currently 4.20am and I’m up feeding her for the third time since putting her down at 10.30! Before tonight she was sleeping for 4/5 hour stretches and even up to 7 hours some nights!

Why are we going backwards? :(

Is this a growth spurt / leap?

You will go backwards, forwards and sideways over the next few months unfortunately. Their development isn't linear and sleep patterns don't properly settle for most babies for at least 12 months if not longer! It's perfectly normal, albeit exhausting and at times frustrating. They do have growth spurts from time to time which can explain increased feeding/fussiness. 7 weeks is still tiny, try to just be responsive to her needs and over time she will start to settle into a more predictable pattern/routine. I found things started to get a bit easier in general after 12 weeks but the sleep situation is still very variable!

Thanks! I guess it was too good to be true when she was sleeping so well :(

I remember one of the things that surprised me most was sleep. I expected it to start off bad and slowly improve until she slept well.

The reality was sleep is a roller coaster with phases of sleeping better and phases of sleeping worse often with no rhyme or reason I could work out!

7 weeks is still really small and there will be lots of ups and downs with sleep. Just remember the bad phases do end and you will survive them!

Thanks! I keep telling myself “it’s a phase, it’ll pass”. Nobody tells you how hard newborns are 😵‍💫

Ahh it’s nearly 2 years ago, but I distinctly remember 5-9 ish weeks being the absolute peak of fussiness. It felt like DS cried solidly for a month. There was a little blip at 11-12ish weeks, but generally the fussiness, crying and unsettled behaviour settled after. As PP said, the first few months are just littered with developmental changes and growth spurts and behaviour (and sadly sleep) won’t be linear. I can’t remember the exact ins and outs, but once he engaged more and we had a bit of a routine it got easier. Hang on in there x

It is so hard, especially when you're doing it for the first time and have no idea what to expect! They do become a bit less demanding in terms of feeding and from 12/16 weeks you can start to get a bit of a routine going which helps some people (it helped me). Take any offer of help and don't feel guilty for needing your own space and time. You don't need to do it all!

6-9 weeks was bad for us too. I remember crying to my mum saying 'but I'm such a happy person and she's such a sad baby! I thought she'd be happy!'. It'll settle, at 10 weeks we went on a little mini-break and she had one last night of insane screaming and then just...calmed down?

Sleep-wise. You need realistic expectations, like other people have said, it's unlikely to be a linear progression to 12 hours sleep. Mine has had phases where she went through the night and I thought we were done and then back to being up a few times a night and then back down to once. She's very little, it does all get easier.

Hang in there!

Thank you all for the understanding and advice! It’s massively appreciated and helps to know it’s not just me!

Sorry OP but I think it's something you just have to wait out. If I remember correctly 6-8 weeks is the time where they just cry a lot... 'the witching hour' it will get easier

Thank you. Just knowing it should steadily improve over the coming weeks makes me feel a tonne better!

She’s actually been much happier tonight!