How much sleep for a 5 week old?

[maskingtherealme]

Just that really! My 5 week old will absolutely NOT sleep anywhere during the day except in her swing, people's arms, on my chest, the carseat or the pram when on outings.
Today she has managed only 2 hours between 2pm and 4pm in her swing! Everytime we 'get her off' and put her down in her moses basket she wakes within 10-15 minutes. In fact it is 9:10pm and she is STILL struggling to sleep!
She sleeps soundly at night in her moses basket after 10pm til 7am.
Am out of ideas.
Is it normal for 5 week old babies to sleep like this?? I have a DS aged 3 who NEVER gave us these issues. Pardon the pun, but he was a dream sleeper - slept anywhere and self soothed!

Hiya :) couldn't read an run! So I've for a few suggestions! Babies that young should really never be awake for longer then 2 hours at a time- any longer and they get over tired & over stimulated whic means they are much harder to settle.. The best thing to do is to try to settle your baby before he/she is showing lots of signs of tiredness.. I always put my son down 8 weeks today..) 1hour50mins after he last woke swaddled (can't reccomend swaddling enough! Although my son has one arm out!) and he'll a always settle immediately! My other suggestion is (not sure if you do it already!?) roll up a towel on either side of the Moses basket - tuck a blanket in over the too of them so there's no loose towel ends! And tuck baby in really snug with a thin sheet.. Many babies hate Moses baskets as they feel so 'open' and they're used to being squished up in the womb, they find being restricted and cramped very comforting! Lots
Of other little things too, you could put something in the basket that smells of you and your partner- my friend tucks her baby in with a big tshirt her hubby wears the day bedfore! Keep up with the perseverance and you will get there! And even if your baby doesn't- enjoy the cuddles! They don't last long! Xx

My DS was exactly like that! I couldn't believe he slept so little for such a young baby. He also slept well overnight and people just said "you can't have it both ways" He's 6 months now and still only sleeps for 1.5 hours each day, spread over 3 naps. I've just come to the conclusion that he doesn't need a lot of sleep during the day!

Sorry not much help, but I could have written your post 4/5 months ago!

If my 5 week old was sleeping 10-7 I wouldn't change a thing but it is nearly 3 years since I've had a newborn.

I'd suggest that she's hiding her tired signs until she's overtired and then fights it. So I'd start rocking/shh patting at 55 minutes - whatever your preferred method is. The awake time should be around an hour maximum and a lot of this time will be feeding.

I used to hold ds for 20 minutes once he'd fallen asleep so that any startle reflex would happen I'm my arms then put him down. I'd settle him in a blanket so it'd be warm when I put him down

Sounds totally normal to me aside from the 10-7 which I'm a bit

6 weeks is still tiny could you try a sling?

Well the 10-7 bit is with 3 feeds between but she goes off straight after after a cuddle on my chest.

She won't entertain the Moby Wrap anymore and I seem to have buggered up using it properly. I need to go to a Sling library but cannot get there for a number of weeks.
Will try the swaddle - she sleeps in a sleeping bag so could give that a go and also moses basket downstairs during the day whereas she sleeps better upstairs in the dark in her own room.
I literally cannot move during the day. I can just about manage the loo and snacking on junk food because a sandwich is too long to make until she screams. Showering is impossible - I sometimes have to let her scream just to wash my hair. She is fine when I go out to meet friends etc because we're on the move - car or walk in the pram. but I cannot be doing that at 9:30pm!!
She sleeps on a reflux wedge as bought it for my DS and car seats only work when we have been in the car.
She is crying as I type. She was bathed, fed and soothed two hours ago!!

Completely normal. My DS never did one single nap in his Moses basket and I gave up on it completely after a few weeks and accepted that naps only happened either on me or in the pushchair. Nights we co-slept.

He's 13 months now and sleeps through the night perfectly fine in his cot and naps like a champion in his cot or pushchair.

Just go with the flow :)

What about a dummy? Many babies find it soothing to suck to sleep.

I found doing anything almost impossible with a newborn. I brushed my teeth in the shower for months to save time, while singing and talking to DS in his bouncer. It tough but normal and honestly does get better.

I think you were really lucky your DS, at 5 weeks most babies need cuddles or movement to nap, especially for any length of time.

I really recommend the ergo, it's a great and pretty much all the babies I know have been able to sleep in it.

I always think the best advice at this stage of the game is to lower your expectations of both you and the baby. It is somehow easier if you can relax into it. I was never very good at that and it didn't make much difference. I got naps by doing what I posted above but drove myself a bit mad watching the clock and obsessing over why he wasn't sttn.

Hi, I'm sorry that your LO is going through a clingy period. Have you thought about trying a Poddle Pod ? We borrowed one for our LO when he was ill and it gives them the feeling of being cuddled close. It certainly helped us to get a few hours sleep.

Well today was better. 2 x 2 hour naps only because we went to tesco and left her to continue her sleep in her carseat and then after lunch she slept in the car and pram when we went for a walk. Arrived back and had 4 hours of hell! Nothing pacified her. Moses, arms in different positions, swing, playmat, MIL, DH, ME! Nobody could do anything for this child. She eventually went to 'sleep' at 8pm but has woken God knows how many times but we did three things differently:

1. Turned out the kitchen light. She sleeps by the french doors between the kitchen and sitting room.
2. She actually had daytime naps which meant she wasn't overtired by bedtime.
3. Removed the saggy reflux wedge from her basket.

I am going to look up the Poodle Pod and the ergo. She already has a dummy. I was able to spot her tiredness this morning but a cuddle to sleep and then moved to basket, cot, my bed etc made her wake! I hoestly think my child really prefers the dark and quiet and hates being moved when asleep!

You could try a bouncy chair (minus the play arch) for daytime naps. Movement by foot bouncing is great to settle baby to sleep and keep baby asleep for longer.

That's good she's having more sleep in the day. She still sounds overtired, four hours is a long awake time for a five week old. This sleep info sheets is invaluable IMO.

If she likes the dark and quiet, is there a dark room you can push the stroller in? After an hours awake time, swaddle and dummy and into the stroller and push her in the dark. I used to count to 100 pushes and then stop and if they stirred id go straight in with another 100.

Frequent short naps at that age is fine, though nice long ones are nice!

Sounds normal, neither of mine slept in a cot or moses basket for at least 3 months.

You need to start getting them back to sleep after a max of 45 minutes awake time at that age ime. If the swing works use it.

One of the best things about only having one baby is you can feed them to sleep in front of the TV and then stay there!