As my user name suggests, I am a confused first time mum looking for some advice.
My DD is three and a half weeks old. We love her to bits, but she is not an easy baby. Any time during the day when she isn't feeding or having her nappy changed, she seems to be unhappy and angry with the world. She often cries for long periods without us being able to settle her and, although she sleeps well at night, refuses to nap during the day. The record yesterday was 12 minutes in her cot before she started crying.
My mother says that I was very similar as a baby, and only started to calm down when I was able to interact with the world more. Her theory is that DD is a naturally 'people person' type baby who wants attention and to be stimulated, but obviously is too young for that to really work and so gets herself frustrated and over tired.
The only time DD seems content is when I put her in the sling. She always settles within about 10 minutes and falls asleep. She sleeps so solidly that I've never had her wake again whilst in the sling - it's always that I need to take her out for some reason and she then wakes up.
My question is whether anyone else has had a baby like this and what they did? I am not cut out for full on attachment parenting, but am happy to 'wear' DD for a few weeks if it helps her settle into the world. I'd like to know whether other people have found that their child naturally demanded the sling less as they got older, or whether I might be making a 'rod for my own back' (quite literally. She's heavy after 4 hours!)and have to wean her off the sling later. If your child did settle down naturally, at what age? No one I know in real life seems to have had this issue, so I'm hoping that someone on here can help.
TIA.