please help- im at my wits end

[kbaby]

DS IS ONLY 6 WEEKS OLD AND IS A GRUMPY BABY WHO CRIES CONSTANTLY AND IS ONLY SETTLED WHILE BEING HELD. THIS WAS OK AT FIRST BECAUSE IT ONLY EFFECTED THE DAY AND COME THE NIGHT HE WOULD SLEEP ON HIS OWN, HOWEVER THE PAST 2 NIGHTS HE HAS REFUSED TO BE LAID DOWN AND CRIES EITHER WITHIN 15 MINS OR STRAIGHT AWAY. THE ONLY WAY TO GET HIM TO STAY ASLEEP IS TO HOLD HIM.
LAST NIGHT DH HAD TO STAY UP WITH HIM AND JUST HOLD HIM AND THEN I DID THE 3-6AM SHIFT, HOWEVER IT MEANS WERE ONLY GETTING 3HRS SLEEP A NIGHT PLUS WE RUN THE RISK OF FALLING ASLEEP OURSELVES WHILE HOLDING HIM. IVE TRIED CO SLEEPING BUT HE CREID UNTIL HE WAS PICKED UP AGAIN. EACH TIME WE TRY AND PUT HIM DOWN WE THEN HAVE TO SPEND 20 MINS RESETTLING HIM.
I GUESS IM JUST AT A LOSS AS TO WHAT WE CAN DO, I FEEL AS IF THERES NOTHING WE CAN TRY. WE CANT CARRY ON SLEEPING 3HRS A NIGHT BUT IF HE WONT LAY DOWN WHAT OTHER OPTION DO WE HAVE. DH SAYS TO LEAVE HIM CRY BUT I CANT DO THAT.
PLEASE HELP US

oh kbaby my dd was just the same! she refused to lie down on her own for ages.
some theories are that their little heads and necks hurt as the fontanelles shrink, but I think they are really scared of the world for a long time after birth.

lack of sleep is so horrible! but it soon gets better, dd is 12 wks now, excl. breast fed and sleeps consistently from 7pm till 3/4 or 5am. I go to bed at about 10.30 and feel like I get enuff sleep.

can u nap in the day? I did that for ages wen she was younger.
I tended to feed her to sleep, and gently put her down, but more often than not she ended up inour bed..i shoved in a boobie and everyone slept. we did cc at 8 weeks, and it is not really so bad...you make a choice, disturbed nights or put up with a bit of crying! tho it seems cruel your husband is right, mine said the same and it broke my heart at first, but men are more sensible about these things! also your health needs to come first or the baby could end up dropped!!!

have you tried co-sleeping?

Does he like being swaddled?

A tip I read somewhere was to warm the cot/Moses basket with a warm hot water bottle first and then remove it just before you put baby in. That way they don't notice the sudden change in temp (from your body heat to cold bedding) so much.

Also if you transfer your "scent" to their bedding or a muslin cloth or something that they sleep with?

Its tough when they're like this isn't it? DD was a bit like this and I tried numerous things -if I remember any more I'll let you know.Good luck.

co-sleeping and swaddling?

kbaby, are you swaddling the baby? As others are asking too I imagine they found it as great as I did for ds....

It will, will, will get better; you're right in the thick of it at the moment but the thing with tiny babies is they are changing every day; things can change before you've even realised it....and you MUST sleep in the day, whenever baby does, at the moment - just so you get some more hours of kip. Let the house/cleaning/washing go to pot...sleep has to be your priority for the moment.

Oh yes, do swaddle, both mine settled when swaddled

hi kbaby, ds 5weeks and have just posted own sleep problem.just wanted to express solidarity and will be watching to see how you guys get on.hope last night better for you.mine was poo.

Have you thought about cranial osteopathy? We used it for our son when he had colic from 6 weeks and it was fab. We use it for everything in this family and it's fab (I was a real cynic before actually trying it).

Good luck

Crayon

Hi. Our DD now 7.5 wks old. As a newborn had trouble getting to sleep in moses basket until we laid towels either side so she didn't feel as if she was in a big empty space. Seemed to work. Then had awful colic (4wks of age). Inconsolable crying 3hrs at a time. Been to cranial osteopath for 3 appointments and used colief drops. Now like a different baby. Sleeps well day and night, can already put her down awake and she gets to sleep. I didn't believe it would get better but it really does. Can't recommend osteopath highly enough. Hang in there, good luck x