Some much needed help on sleep

[Quinn]

Hi!
Our DD Eden is almost 10 weeks old. we have been trying to set her into a routine the best we can. we feed, bathe & feed & then set her down to bed at 7pm. After almost falling asleep in our arms whilst feeding, as soon as we set her down in her cot, she wakes. She will lie awake for a while & then start crying. a dummy will placate her for no longer than 5 minutes before she's crying again. We've tried leaving her to cry for 10-12 minutes, but there's no stopping her. She will not settle for daytime naps either. the only way she will fall asleep at a decent time is in our arms. As much as we love cuddling her, we do not want her to get into the habit of being cuddled to sleep. Should we be leaving her to cry? If it goes past the 10-12 minutes, what then?
Due to her poor sleep paterns, she is now extremly overtired. How do we overcome this?Should we let her sleep more in the day?
Any suggestions?

i would not leave her to cry as she is still so young. However, my ds is the same and he is 17 weeks! Do the naps take place in her cot? If she doesn't settle there could you take her out in buggy for naps? I have to do this He does sometimes nap for longer than 30 mins but still rather random. Sorry i'm not much help but you are not alone! btw she defo should sleep around 4 - 6 hours daily in naps. Do you bf? AND I love the name Eden - gorgeous

dont know if this will help but my cousin had this problem and found it was because the cot was cold when she put her ds down so it woke him. She used to put a hot water bottle in just for 5 minutes before he went down to warm the cot so he didnt feel the cold when he was put down

good point fifi, or you could put your lo in a grobag. that way she shouldn't notice the matress temperature. hth

look for the book, 'the social baby' on amazon. it is really excellent on loads of things like including tiredness and sleep in babies. in an easy to read format.

kiskidee - not heard of that book. what is the main thrust of it?

Thanks for the advice people. Her daytime naps don't take place in her cot as she always wakes and crys, I tend to pop her on my leg and give her a cuddle and once she sleeps I pop her on a cushion and even if she wakes she tends to be contented and goes back to sleep! Will try your sugestions over the next couple of days.

it has lots of very good colour pictures taken by videoing babies in their homes over periods of months and it shows how a tiny baby - from birth - actually commmunicates their needs and feelings. it is about teaching adults how to read these cues.

each individual chapter is helpful but also looking at the book holistically, shows how, once we recognise the cues a baby gives when they want to engage in play and then when they have had enough for example, how we can quickly take advantage of these cues to get them to bed when 'they' need it. or how to recognise tirednes cues and not to confuse them with hunger cues.

it really only takes few hrs to read the whole book as it is so picture oriented but it is priceless.
here is the website for the children's project which is connected to the book.