7 week old not sleeping at night

[TMC83]

In desperate need of some help! My 7 week old was starting to sleep for longer stretches at night from 5.5-6.5 hrs. We were starting to feel hopeful! We introduced a bottle in the evening and wondered if this helped. Anyway the last 2 nights we have gone backwards and she’s now really difficult to put down to sleep in her crib. She will have a last feed on the breast around 9 as after the bottle she gets upset and I think it’s because she wants comfort so I nurse her to sleep after the bottle and usually she’d go down after this but lately she’s been waking up after 15 minutes or so crying. Try to soothe her back to sleep in my arms which is usually successful but the same repeats, give it a few minutes and she wakes crying. I then resort to feeding her just to stop her from crying which means no sleep for me as it’s a continuous cycle. I ended up putting her in my bed and feeding her on the side lying position just so I could get some sleep but I really don’t want to keep this up and would rather her sleep in her next to me crib and start to have longer stretches again.

Does anyone have advice about how to get her to sleep longer and in her crib?

Thanks

If she's getting upset after the feed is it not wind?

I would say find a different way of settling her other than feeding, once you're sure she's had enough milk. I play music quietly and rock my son whilst walking around the room and then once he settles on me, I give it five minutes before putting him in his cot.

It's also worth remembering though that she's only 7 weeks old and I'm afraid it's perfectly normal to not get any sleep when they're that age! Everything is a phase and she might start sleeping for longer periods again within a few days. Whenever you think you've nailed something, it all changes again.

She's 7 weeks old, doesn't know night from day and wants her mum. Mine were still feeding every 2-3 hours at that age.
It's likely going to take a while to get want you want.

They do cluster feeding in the evenings for the first few months. They feed every 20 mins or so for a 3 hour period, sometimes longer. They do this to increase your milk supply going forward. It is a good sign. You should respond to the crying and feed them. A baby sleeping through the night is not the physiological norm at 7 weeks. Maybe at 7 months.

Ok this is good to know. It could be wind but I do burp her after the feed as I’m settling her to sleep in my arms. I think I’m just expecting a lot and I’m desperate for sleep myself. I am still responding to her feeding by putting her in my bed whilst I lay down on my side and she is sucking for hours!

Also what are peoples thoughts on the bottle around 8ish and then her crying about an hour later? Is that because she wants the boob and some comfort that she isn’t getting with the bottle?

I agree with the other posters, it sounds like she is uncomfortable after each feed which is waking her up. I went through a similar thing with my daughter - it was a vicious cycle. Some rocking and the guns and roses lullaby playlist did the trick.

Another thing to consider - what does her sleep schedule look like? At about 8 weeks, mine started having her big feed earlier at 5:30 - 6pm after a bath, and then going down before 7pm. I found that an overtired baby is much harder to settle, she'd fall asleep and wake up crying and grouchy because she was still tired. I let her fall asleep on me in the evening essentially moving bedtime earlier, and it helped. (it also gave me a couple of hours to do stuff for myself whilst she was sleeping on me. 10pm was a top-up feed when we went to bed, but she didn't always ask for it.

They tend to wake up a bit around this age. Personally I just bed shared with both of mine following the lullaby trust safe sleep seven advice. That way we both got sleep as I fed lying down and then baby rolled away onto their back to sleep.

It's so hard when you just want to sleep, but also so normal. They still see themselves as part of you and want to be close. Google 4th trimester. It does get easier, but you will look back at that magic time and know it was tough but priceless.

It perfectly normal behaviour at 7 weeks. I'd just keep her downstairs with you and take her up when you're ready to go to bed

Sounds like cluster feeding. She needs to do this to increase your supply.

Agree cluster feeding. It's full on and hard but 'everything's a phase'. Sending solidarity x

It’s normal for them to cluster feed. I’d not waste time giving her a bottle and just let her feed from you and if you are tired lie down on your side and make the bed safe.
A lot of newborns will cluster feed all evening then finally go down for a couple of hours at maybe 10/11pm. Evening milk contains sleep hormones.
I just used to sit downstairs watching tv while mine fed. Then we’d go up about 10ish. Then id feed off both sides and offer the first one again and then see if they’d go down after a few minutes to check they were asleep!