Help - 5 week old will not sleep at all :(

[meepymeepmeep]

My 5 week (6 on Sat) old DS literally never sleeps - he doesn't nap, wants to feed constantly, is very happy and wants to gurgle and coo one minute and the next is screaming. Is it normal that a baby will not sleep at all through the day - he maybe does a 4 to 5 hour stint at night and will sleep if he goes out in the pram or car but other than that will not settle at all - we were out today in the pram and he slept but as soon as he gets home he is wide awake!

Swaddling worked a week or so ago but now he just cries :(

He was doing ok a week or so ago, by no means sleeping like I read that he should (12 - 18 hours) but a few 2/3 hours naps through the day and a couple of 2/3 hour sleeps at night.

He feeds well, is gaining weight etc but just won't sleep! I had him at the GP who gave me infant Gaviscon for him thinking he may have silent reflux as he grunts a lot when in his crib but the only difference has been that he seems a bit constipated.

I just don't know what to do - he looks so tired and I seem to now spend all day either feeding him (is he maybe hungry - he is EBF and gained 11oz last week).

Any ideas if this is in anyway normal or ideas as to what I am doing wrong?

Help!!

Hi I've no time to read the whole thread but wanted to say that yes, it can be normal. Ds who has just turned 4 NEVER slept. He would be awake from 4 in the morning until midnight no probs, wide eyed and alert I thought I'd go mad with sleep deprivation. Fwiw introducing a bottle didn't help but he did start sleeping a bit more at night at about 4 months. He eventually started sleeping the holy grail of 7-7 at 18m. I hope that doesn't make you want to cry but I'm telling you because I also have dd who is 15 wks - I have treated her the same and despite a good start she will not sleep in the day apart from on me BUT she sleeps all night and has for a good while. Its reassured me that ds not sleeping was not my fault. If it's any consolation he has always been very bright, walked and talked early etc and is an absolute delight!!

OH you are so not alone meepy, I have had two of these babies. Incidentally, both have/ had reflux - one silent, one very un-silent. You honestly have my deepest empathy - I am always totally amazed and completely jealous when i see babies in car seats just...well, dozing off.

Are there any other signs of reflux? Vomiting/reswallowing, horrible acidic breath, back arching, stiffening and contorting during feeds, for example? Poor weight gain is not necessarily an indicator - some refluxy babies just feed, feed, feed as they are using the milk as an antacid. I don't want to pathologise what can be normal baby behaviour but on the other hand what I do know is that reflux can cause hideous sleep issues, and for many babies gaviscon doesn't even touch the sides.

Sounds perfectly normal to me.

Both mine hardly slept during the day from pretty much the day they were born.

Have you thought about getting a baby swing? I got one second hand and it has a white noise function. Also i find when we've been out with DD and she's fallen asleep in the pram that putting her in front of the extractor fan in the kitchen (still in the pram obviously) helps her sleep for a bit longer. I think sometimes it's too quiet in the house, DD sleeps better when theres noise but it's a bit difficult to create a noisy environment when it's just me and her at home.

Thanks Narmada - I have continued to look for further signs of reflux but have stopped giving him the Gaviscon as it just upset his tummy and didn't seem to help is restlessness once put down to sleep (he goes from being asleep in my arms to grunting and being wide awake) - some days there's none of this nothing and other days when feeding he does curl and stiffen up, this seems to now ease when burped for a long time after feeding which in turn, due to him being so alert, has him wide awake again which is frustratung to say the least.

He also is fine when layed flat on the changing table and pram etc so I am lost.

He is due to see the GP again so I will further discuss the possibilites of silent reflux with him then.

Things sleepwise are improving slightly with all the walking and drives - poor boy! If only there were more hours in a day :)

Reading with interest. I have a ds who is 7 weeks, and before the past 2 weeks have been a good sleeper - no probs sleeping in the day, and nighttime of 3-4 hours per session. However he has started not sleeping all day and fussing/ crying instead. Today he was up from 8 am till7 pm with 3 half hour naps and cried all day except from 2-4 pm when I took him for a walk in his buggy. Tried everything to setle but no use. Sounds like a similar situation meepy - hopefully our dc will grow out of it