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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Help! 7 week old doesn't sleep!

11 replies

SteelSofa · 23/07/2023 11:16

My DS barely sleeps. He probably clocks up about 8 hours per 24 hours with 30 minute naps here and there. If we do get him to go down in his crib, it's max 1 hour before he's up crying and squirming.

We've tried white noise, swaddling, dummies.

He's EBF. He used to be sick all the time. Sometimes 3-4 times after every feed. We now hold him upright for 30 minutes and his sickness has reduced massively. He'll be sick 3-4 times a day at most now. We vigorously burp him to get any trapped wind out too. We used to suspect reflux because of all the sicking up, but now that's cleared up I'm not so sure and don't want to medicate him unnecessarily. He does grunt and squirm a lot in his sleep. We've tried to give him gripe water just in case it's wind but he will not take it.

He used to sleep for 2 hour chunks, I don't know what's happened. This isn't sustainable for any of us. I worry he's not going to develop properly because he's not sleeping! I've read lots of threads on here about babies who sleep 5+ hours by 7 weeks! It's just getting worse for us 😭 please help!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
ConnieTucker · 23/07/2023 11:24

Has anyone looked at your diet? A baby in my nct class was sick a lot. The mother had her diet looked at. She cut out food that was known to cause issues and it all but stopped.

ConnieTucker · 23/07/2023 11:25

I think it turned out it to be orange .

Badgersonthedoorstep · 23/07/2023 11:35

Reflux will improve with age but may not go away completely so he could have silent reflux.

But reflux is just symptomatic. I strongly suspect its something in your diet. Consider dairy, eggs, chocolate, anything too acidic like citrus. The list goes on sadly.

For mine it's tomato and refined cooking oil.

ConnieTucker · 23/07/2023 11:37
  • Dairy. Dairy is the most likely culprit behind fussiness. ...
  • Soy. Soy is another common allergen that babies react to. ...
  • Wheat and Corn. ...
  • Caffeine. ...
  • Spicy Foods. ...
  • High-fiber Foods. ...
  • Chocolate. ...
  • Citrus Fruits.
tryingtorelaxandgivebirth · 23/07/2023 11:38

It does sound like an allergy.

Did you have him checked for tongue tie already?

The baby reflux lady on Instagram has lots of resources and a free symptom tracker that you could try to start with.

tryingtorelaxandgivebirth · 23/07/2023 11:39

Onion and garlic are also regular culprits x

Youthinkyoureuniqueyourejustastatistic · 23/07/2023 11:44

Does he sleep on you?
Will he sleep if in motion?
Will he sleep if you lie next to him?

giggly · 23/07/2023 11:50

How vigorously are you burping him? I’d suggest to speak with your HV rather than on here. My answer would be they are only 7 weeks old and still settling into their new wee life. Nonsense to think they won’t develop, I would also say my two did not sleep well until they were well over one year old but that’s not what you will want to hear.
sleep deprivation is horrendous and will make your head go all over the place.
Speak to your HV

Thankyouthankyoujellybean · 23/07/2023 16:00

Echoing PP - try cutting out everything that might be causing issues. For DS2 it was dairy and alliums (onion, garlic etc) that made the biggest difference. I used Biogaia drops as well (drop them straight onto your nipple for easiest delivery) and they made a huge difference.

snoopy18 · 23/07/2023 16:11

Also worth trying a cranial osteopath. Helped my son a lot ❤️

Cakeandslippers · 23/07/2023 16:26

Definitely consider all of the above but also keep in mind that you might not find an answer. Some babies just don't sleep. Even with all the advice in the world you may be unlucky and have one of those children. I have two. One improved a lot when we cut out cows milk but still didn't sleep for a very long time. The other didn't respond to anything and had very bad reflux till he was about 12 months, though it slowly improved within that time. His sleep has always been appalling though and a long time on from then it's still hard.

I hope you find a solution that helps you sooner but if not then know you're not alone.

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