Anyone else's newborn fighting sleep?

[Packergator]

DS1 is a week old.

I've been BF him from day 1 and he's always got on perfectly fine with it. During the day he sleeps like an angel, has a lovely temperament and feeds/settles really well.

Then we get to around 9/10pm and everything goes FUBAR.

He suddenly stops settling in his crib/basket. Will drowse whilst feeding, but within 10 mins of being put down will be screaming bloody murder; working himself into a bright red, fearsome, boiling rage. We double check nappy, etc. try to make him comfy temperature-wise and try and settle again. No joy. I'm reluctant to feed him again so soon, but we try that...by this stage he's so apoplectic that his little balled fists punch and pull my nipple away as he's desperately rooting, which makes him even more furious...we've tried everything: bouncing, shushing, baby massage, swaddling, leaving him to cry...nothing calms him down. He's like this from late evening until 4-5am the following morning (no wonder he sleeps so well during the day ) I don't think it's wind as we always wind him after a feed, plus he has NO issues with passing gas...he's a very farty little man!

He just looks so bloody furious. When he shows the slightest hint of drifting off, he then forcibly throws himself awake again. He's unusually strong for a newborn- can support his head and almost roll himself over- I'm wondering if this may be part of the problem? He's suddenly been born with all these crazy strong appendages and just can't figure out what to do with them when he gets tired?

Any suggestions gratefully received!

At only a week old, he may want what often seems like, continuous feeding during the night. It won't last forever but putting him down will be tricky if all he wants to do is feed. You didn't say when your milk came in but I'm assuming between 3-5 days....in which case, he will be wanting to feed a lot to begin with.

The size of a newborn's tummy is tiny and cannot sustain more than a coup,e of hours between feeds. At only a week old, they will be feeding very regularly (Al out constantly at times) but it won't last forever.

Your doing really well. Just let your partner help you be as comfortable as possible and just think this nighttime feeding/wind/not sleeping frenzy is only for a short time. .

You probably know this but your milk smells stronger at night. Try getting your partner to take the baby from you after a feed and settling him so he doesn't smell you....although from experience, at that age, they only want their mummy and will settle better at the breast.

Hi Packers!
It sounds like cluster feeding which is really common at this age. Have a look at the Kellymom website on cluster feeding
kellymom.com/parenting/parenting-faq/fussy-evening/
My DD is doing it too - first few nights it was between 1am-5am but is gradually moving earlier in the evening so she is actually sleeping at night (she's 9 days today).
There is not much you can do other than go with it at this stage - but don't be reluctant to feed feed feed - it's what he wants and it should (eventually) help him tank up to sleep better at night.
I didn't know about it with my first and also got frustrated as to why she was so unsettled in the evening - thinking 'she can't possibly want feeding again' but they do! Get stocked up with snacks and DVDs and rude it out. It won't last.

As an aside, but related, does anyone know if it's possible for men to get post-natal depression? I'm worried about my husband. He's been great helping out with baby- in fact, a couple of the real breakthroughs have been thanks to him- and I was really surprised at how chuffed he was when baby was born. But when things get rough, as they invariably will with a newborn, he gets really withdrawn and vacant and just not his usual self. It may just be tiredness, but sometimes I see him look at the baby and there's no love. Whereas, even if the little bugger has kept us up all night, I still can't help but smile at him and think he's adorable. Has anyone else experienced this with their DH, etc.? Neither of us are naturally particularly maternal/paternal but he is definitely on a bit of a roller coaster of emotions at the moment.

I'm sure the shock of a newborn and all that comes with the tiredness, nappies, emotions etc are showing but yes, men can and do get postnatal depression. My DH and I believe he had it......I had it for two years as well.

It was hard. He saw me with the baby the whole time. Breastfeeding on demand meant I did the majority of caring for her and he fitted around us. He found it hard to adjust to life with a baby I think and whilst he was a really big help, I think he felt left out at times. He bathed and changed her and had cuddles when he got back from work etc but I think he felt like a visitor some of the time.

It's important to keep talking to each other though, about how you're both feeling. No matter how prepared you think you are before having the baby, nobody really knows what it's like and actually how much of a life change having that level of responsibility for a tiny newborn can be!