6 week old who fights sleep

[Ciara24]

I have a 6 week old son who completely fights his sleep during the day and as he goes off to bed at night. He can have dropped off in my arms but the minute I move him he is wide awake and alert. He constantly fights it's and will sometimes not sleep all morning and then do a longer one in the afternoon. Sometimes I only get 20m catnaps out of him. I have no pattern or tried and tested method and not sure what is normal for this stage!! Any tips?

My daughter was the same at that age, the only times she would give in to sleep was in a sling while I was moving or co-sleeping.

It did get better eventually, we just had to ride it out in the end.

Although these didn't help much for me, have you tried warming the moses basket/crib, transferring baby with a muslin that has been in your bra or a worn bra/t-shirt? Others I know have had success with those.

Hope you all get some sleep soon.

Catnaps are very normal - unfortunately you may be stuck with those for a few months (I never got a nap longer than 40 minutes until 6 months).

Fighting sleep is another issue - newborns get overtired and overstimulated very easily. Make sure you try to get him off to sleep after hour to an hour an a half awake time, maximum. Do whatever it takes - rocking, feeing, pushchair, white noise etc...

if he's sleeping ok at night then I wouldn't worry too much through the day as he's still so young. Is he feeding ok?

Agree with the others, it's pretty common for this age and like mrsmugoo DS was a catnapper until about 6months. He napped best in a sling or the car. It took him til about 9/10 months to really 'get' naps and settle into a routine, and go to bed without a fight at night. Some babies are just resistant to sleep, unfortunately! He is generally a very good napper now and goes down easily at night, so do't despair.

I don't think there's much that will guarantee results when they're so little, just do whatever keeps you sane, even if it means having your DS sleep on you for naps (I promise it will not become a 'bad habit' that you can't break).

One thing that helped me a little (and was advice from mn) was to think in terms of how long a baby can stay awake for, rather than set times for naps. So at that age they need to nap after 1-1.5 hours of wakefulness (as mrs mugoo suggests). That gradually extends. There's a useful 'windows of wakefulness' list here: sleeplady.com/napping/everything-you-need-to-know-about-baby-and-toddler-naps/
So when your baby has been awake for 1 - 1.5 hours, just try putting them down or popping them in the sling/buggy/car, even if they're not displaying tired signs. DS never showed signs of being tired but became overtired very quickly!