Help with 8 week old sleep

[graysor]

I'm struggling to get my 8 week old dd to sleep during the day. Up until a week or so ago she would either fall asleep after a feed, or drop off easily in the sling. Now however, even when I can tell she's overtired and has been awake for over 1.5 hours, I just can't get her to sleep. She won't go down in the crib/ moses basket. Putting her down either asleep or drowsy just results in her springing wide awake. Holding, walking, swaying (either in our out of the sling) etc also don't work. She just gets increasingly agitated and awake. And she just wails all the time in her pushchair. I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do. At the moment I'm ending up spending so long trying to get her to sleep that in the end I just have to give up and feed her again (she's ebf and feeds approx every 2 hours). So I'm sure she's not getting enough sleep in the day. Any advice on how to get her to sleep gratefully received!

www.babysleepsite.com/baby-growth-spurts-2/6-week-old-baby-growth-spurt-sleep-regression/

The above might be interesting for you. She did really well in the morning not getting up till 10! Hope you got some sleep then too.

Thanks juxtaposition. She is usually better in the morning (this morning was particularly good!) which I guess definitely points towards her being over tired in the afternoons. We haven't tried a dummy, but that might be worth a go. She's just had a mega long feed so I'm straight off trying to get her down again. Wish me luck!

Mornings are always easiest, something to do with it being an extension of night sleep. As the day goes on naps tend to get harder anyway. Hope you got her off ok I would really try a dummy if you are ok with it

Another failure this afternoon . Tried to hold her and sway gently in a dark quiet room ready to put her in her crib. She just cried and writhed around. Tried putting her in the sling, but she wouldn't tolerate that this afternoon either. She was hungry again by then so fed her and she eventually dropped off. She slept on me for about 20 mins when I made the mistake of moving her into her crib. During the night this works OK (usually ) but she just sprang wide awake instantly and started crying. And then I couldn't do anything to sooth her for another 40 mins. . So now she's been awake for nearly 4 hours (except a short 20 min interlude).

It's frustrating, isn't it? My 10 week old DD2 also won't be put down for naps during the day, neither crib nor Moses basket works, she has to be held. If she's in my arms she'll happily sleep for 2-3 hours, if I put her down even when she's fast asleep her eyes will spring open within minutes! I've just resigned myself to the fact that for now this is what it's going to be like; I'll try again next week...

Oh graysor sorry yesterday wasn't good. I would really consider dummy + white noise. The tommee toppee ones are good. Dummies also help when resettling. Or you may just find she settles down on her own once she gets over this period of being more awake to the world. It's very tough - I don't know what purpose being overtired and not sleeping serves!

It's also very very common for young babies to be awake late afternoon/early evening. It's called the witching hour because they just will not give in and sleep. So try not to feel disheartened when that happens

Thanks so much for the ongoing support. It's good to know this is a common phenomenon, and I'm not just doing it all wrong! After a bit of a miserable evening she actually slept really well over night! Hurrah. I've got some dummies, so will see if that helps to settle her this afternoon.
Sympathies metal head, it's sooo frustrating isn't it!

Sounds like you are doing all the right things tbh, it is a really tricky age I think 8 weeks is a well known 'stormy period' due to a huge leap in brain development.

I know she is not to everyones taste but Gina Fords contented baby book seriously transformed my dd from a fractious baby who cried constantly to a much happier soul. Some babies like a routine, my dd being one of them!