6 week old baby does not sleep!! Is this normal?

[maria199]

My baby is 6 weeks old tomorrow and I am worried about whether she is sleeping enough. Everywhere I read says newborn wake windows are very small (an hour or two) before they sleep again, but my baby does not sleep for hours on end besides a couple of cat naps here and there.

Since the 3 week growth spurt it doesn’t even feel like I have a newborn, she is so alert and nosy and unless she is feeding, in the car / pram or being sang to/danced/bounced she is crying all of the time. She will be exhausted (red eyes) but refuses to sleep, and when she does eventually sleep it is for minutes. I think the maximum I can get is around 20 minutes.

I am also struggling massively with the fact that I cannot seem to soothe her no matter what I try, unless I feed her. She does not settle on me at all and just seems like she is trying to smell me all of the time.

I will say that once it hits around 3/4pm she does mostly sleep in the evening and then her sleeping is ok at night. However until this point she usually has about 1 hour of on and off sleep from around 7/8am.

I have mentioned to midwives / health visitor and I have repeatedly been told that “some babies are just like that” but it really doesn’t seem normal to me? I have asked family / friends who haven’t seemed to have this issue with their babies?

I know I will get the comments but I have tried putting her down in Moses basket and rocking, I have tried swaddling, I have tried cuddling in arms, I have tried rocking in arms, I have tried walking around, I have tried singing songs, I have tried a sling, I have tried white noise I feel like I have tried absolutely everything.

https://iconcope.org/

Yes it is normal.
It's hard and will not last forever.

It sounds like you've tried a lot of things, but my best options were always to feed to sleep, or put baby in a high quality carrier and go for a FAST walk. A dawdle doesn't cut it. Usually asleep within twenty mins of the walk. But yeah, some babies are just awake.

I truly sympathise.
Long ago, I gave birth to my son, and he was exactly he same. He was healthy, just didn't need to require sleep other than catnaps. Doctors told me the same as you have been told.
One prescribed Phenergan, and he slept so deeply I stayed by his cot all night I was so worried. It didn't last. I was told to up the dose, but I wasn't happy, so I stopped giving it....and went back to no sleep.

Eventually he did start to sleep more, but he was diagnosed with hyperactivity when around two. He was always happy and healthy, which was the main thing.
I hope you get it sorted before I did....things have moved on in the last few decades.

Are you BFing @maria199? If so, i would say this is pretty normal for 6 weeks.

There is a big growth spurt at 6 weeks and the usual advice is to feed, feed and then feed some more. She is just sending your body the signal that it needs to make more milk.

Things should calm down within a few days but in the meantime you can read or watch some tv and there is always MN of course

She might settle long enough on a sling if you want to get snacks or lunch.

Breast Compressions might also help.

I would also have a read up on Tongue Tie, just to rule that out.

Forgot to say - yes I am breastfeeding. Mostly always from the breast but occasionally husband will give a bottle of pumped milk but this is quite rare.

@maria199

Hi, yes this is normal. My daughter did not sleep AT ALL during the day, it was horrible for me and her as she was overtired and frustrated. Thankfully as she approached 3 months she suddenly started sleeping.

Nothing to add that’s massively helpful I’m afraid. I had one that didn’t sleep much either and howled from 10pm until 5am every night for weeks. It was colic I think. She eventually slept better but still had to be ‘danced’ in my arms to sleep for months!

Sympathies - my heart goes out to you. It will get better.

Totally normal them and I promise you she will get better

If she's crying all day too it's worth talking to a gp about potentially silent reflux. Classic for it to get worse when laid down too so baby wants to be held even more. Omeprazole was a game changer for my baby who was like this. It does get better!

Yep I had one like this, he still sleeps less than most babies at 16 months.

This is where textbooks about what is ‘normal’ are unhelpful because your baby hasn’t read them and does what they want.

My son was the same. Except he didn't sleep much at night either, only in 2 hour stints.

I barely, just barely, survived the newborn period.

When people talk about lovely sleepy newborns, I actually start to hate them a bit inside.

I stopped talking to the friends who had easy newborns because I just couldn't relate. At all.

A pet hate of mine was when other parents said things like 'They are all the same' or 'I was up in the night too', I used to feel like saying..Lucky you, I was up ALL night.
Babies are NOT all the same, it's bloody unlucky when you are gifted one that doesn't seem to need much sleep.

Yes this sounds very normal - I don't necessarily mean common as some babies won't do this at all, but it sounds like normal behaviour. Both mine slept for 20-30 mins at a time as soon as they turned 4 weeks old. If you haven't already, start being strict with wake windows - it might not work for her, but try and engineer a feed just as she's been awake for 2 hours and make A point of rocking and ssshing her etc rather than just hoping she'll nod off. also, and you might think this is on the late side, maybe she's a bit tongue tied and therefore never feels completely full , so could be worth getting checked.

either way, normal behaviour and it will get better

I had to take mine for pram walks to force many naps. Otherwise we got stuck in a feed - change - scream cycle. I couldn't put mine in the carrier, they just screamed for milk (even when just fed!). My partner had much more success. As soon as he came in the door from work I would thrust the baby at him for a carrier walk. In the summer I also had success in putting the baby in the pram, walking to sleep and then parking the pram in a shady bit of the garden while I had a cup of tea. I see Scandinavian babies wrapped up well and asleep outside in their prams so perhaps winter isn't a barrier.

Still got a FOMO toddler now at 18 months, but the upside to less day sleep seems to be better night sleep 🥲

Does she have reflux or something maybe ?

Sounds quite normal, my DD would sleep for longer if in her carrier, especially if outdoors. She basically lived in her carrier for the first 3 months as only thing that kept her settled. Average x 4 30 minute naps between 8am-7pm

I couldn’t agree more they’re not all the same, one of my others would happily sleep for hours day and night, at that age, she was an absolute dream. She happily napped until 4 years of age whereas my last 2 stopped napping at one 😩