Newborn not sleeping

[ebbyniko1108]

Hello everyone, my little 4 week old is nearly not sleeping at all during the day. She maybe has 2-3hours or not even that much sleep during the day. She just wants to be on my breast all day and wont sleep. Sometimes she falls asleep on my breast but wakes up after a couple of minutes or if i put her down. I am not sure if this is normal but the health visitor says its fine. I understand it can be cluster feeding but my baby has been like this since about 2 weeks even though it wasnt this bad. Now she has bearly any sleep. During the night sometimes she sleeps better sometimes not. Yesterday she woke up at about 4 and didnt sleep until 1 in the night. Then woke up at 4 in the morning snd didnt sleep until 8 in the morning. She woke up at 10:30 and since then she is awake on my breast. Is this normal? I dont know😞😞😞😞

Her latch is fine as we had her tongue tie cut when she was a week old. I have milk too but because she is feeding all the time sometimes they dont get full straight away.

What happens if you didn’t put her down when she is alseep? What have you yried to get her to sleep? Pram? Sling?

I found a sling/baby carrier great at that age as they tend to drop off easily and stay asleep due to the movement. Or a pram/bouncy chair?
You could also try holding her for 20 mins before trying to put her down so that she is in a deeper sleep.

Hey! The thing is she wont sleep she wants to be on my breast. For example she just was on my breast and stopped and she is on me now but wont sleep snd started crying because she wants to carry on breastfeeding even though she has been since hours. I mean I am fine she can do but I am just concerned because she is not sleeping well. If she falls asleep on me I always leave her for more then 30 minutes but she still wakes up.

This sounds quite normal for a newborn and it will calm down a bit soon.

You can try a dummy if you want. It will help her with the comfort sucking and might give you a bit of a break.

Does she sleep if she's pushed in the pram? I used to do lots of walking with my two and they'd stay asleep for ages in the pram.

Your breasts will start to feel a bit less full as your supply settles over the next week or so.

I think your baby sounds hungry. How is her weight?

Her weight gain was a bit slow but not anything concerning but it has improved. Like I said I have got milk, how can she still be hungry I dont understand?

I’d try a dummy. If she is hungry it won’t placate her but if it’s just about comfort sucking then it can work wonders.

Normally a baby who is satisfied will go to sleep at least for a while after a full feed. If they keep rooting around for more then either
a) they are still hungry at which point I would offer a top-up
b) they need to suck in which case I would offer a dummy
c) they have reflux and want more milk to calm the burning sensation. Are there any reflux symptoms?
but either way your baby is not sleeping enough at all and this is going to start causing problems. So rule out hunger and/or offer a dummy. You can also try swaddling, white noise etc. but they will only work if the baby is not hungry.

I did try with a top up, still the same she did not want to sleep.
I do offer a dummy, she sucks a couple times and then spits it out.
I am not sure with the reflux we did go to A&E a couple days ago because my baby was crying sometimes when on the breast in the evenings which I think was due to air in her tummy. The hospital said its its colic so I am using colief and infacol and she seems a bit better with the air. She is not vomitting so I am not sure if it could be reflux. How can I understand?

Colic just means unexplained crying. it is not a medical diagnosis and doesn’t mean gas or reflux. It’s literally just prolonged crying.
Normally babies cry A LOT from around 6-10pm from 1 to 3 months old. It’s called the witching hour. The best way to combat it is to avoid over tiredness, this is what I meant when I said you needed to get more sleep into the baby or it would begin to cause problems.

What size was the top up you offered? And what happens if you go out for a walk in the buggy after a feed?

As soon as she has some gas out she feels better thats why I think she cries due to the gas. I know what colic means I did a lot of research.
I am trying to make her sleep I sometimes dont put her down because I know she will wake up so I just make her sleep on me.

I tried putting her into her buggy after a feed but she cries because she wants to feed more.

She is not getting full feeds then. I am sorry but I really think your baby is hungry. I would offer a large top up and see what happens.

I did do, she did drink it and left the bottle herself as she was full. She still did not sleep. She is putting on weight and I have milk so I dont think she is hungry.

You say she's on you but not sleeping - are you actually doing anything to get her to sleep? I recommend putting her in a sling and going for a brisk walk, patting her firmly on the bum, or putting her up against your shoulder, standing up and jiggling/swaying/bouncing, again with firm bum pats, until she falls asleep.

Babies don't really just fall asleep by themselves once they're more than a few weeks old - you have to work at it. If you're expecting her to just drift off, you're on a hiding to nothing. You need to help her to fall asleep if she's not nodding off on the breast.

Also, and I mean this in the kindest possible way, you've started a lot of threads in the past few weeks and you sound pretty anxious - do you think it might be worth checking in with your HV on the possibility of PND?

Yes dont worry I do little pads on her bum and sing lullabies for her to sleep. I do everything I can and it does work sometimes. I walk around with her and stand for a long time. I do everything for her.

If there is something making me think then I post it on here so I can know what others think. I am also always asking my HV at the same time. Excuse me but what is PND?

PND = post natal depression

Babies can absolutely have reflux without vomiting- it’s called silent reflux. Not sure if this applies to you, maybe look it up and discuss with the HV if you think it sounds familiar. Baby is definitely over tired though and it may be nothing more than that. Sleep begets sleep with newborns and the more tired they become often the harder it is to get them to sleep. Obviously easier said than done to actually get her to sleep though…

Oh no I dont think I am in Depression I just like this forum and if theres something which makes me think then I ask on here but I always ask my HV first. But if people are going to think I am in depression then I just wont post here anymore.

Maybe its silent reflux I will ask my HV. Thank you

We had a battery swing chair for during the day it was a lifesaver

My baby was exactly the same OP. I had to laugh (cry) when people said 'sleep when your baby sleeps' and 'newborns sleep all the time' - how does that help those of us whose babies don't sleep! No amazing advice from me I'm afraid, just wanted to offer solidarity (I had no idea babies like ours existed til i had mine).

I found by 8 weeks things were much better, breast feeding better established, longer sleeps. (I realise that seems forever away to you at the moment).

My baby hated pram and hated being put down until he was 6mths (would only nap on me). But he did like being in baby carrier so that was a life saver.

Hi OP, have you tried some more ‘hands on’ settling? Tight swaddle, baby on the side and bounce her in the cot with some white noise/womb sounds going. It will feel crazy and like it’s not working but persist for at least 10 mins - it’s worth a try? Video here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii637ngV_2Q

(obviously once baby is asleep, roll her onto her back)

With the constant breastfeeding, is she feeding actively? Big sucks, jaw moving, audible swallows, wet/dirty nappies as you’d expect? If she’s just sitting on the end of your nipple nibbling then she could well be hungry as a PP suggests. I wouldn’t top up but you could look at breast compressions and switch feeding to get her feeding nutritively: www.laleche.org.uk/my-baby-needs-more-milk/

Hey! Thank you I will watch the video and try! Yes she is feeding actively and has lots of wet and dirty nappies so I dont think I need to top up! I always do breast compressions as my HV suggested them! Thank you!

Thank you for your response it does give me a relief to know that I am not the only one and that this can be normal! I hope my baby will like her cot after a while and have nice longer sleeps!

My DS was exactly the same. Hang on in there, it will get easier. Eventually.