Struggling again!

[Chosenbyyou]

Hi

I have a six week old and am struggling again with sleep! Last child (now 2.7) had a real problem with dropping off to sleep - would take hours of rocking and pacing. I ended up doing this almost constantly for 15 months until started to sleep through the nights - for naps we always timed car journeys and still do!

This baby I am/was hoping to start off on the right foot! So far am still struggling - haven't worked out how to get him to sleep or keep him asleep. I don't co-sleep as I'm not comfortable but he has been sleeping on me and I have just not been sleeping.

I know he is tiny but I wanted to try to start off better - any tips appreciated?! So far his longest sleep has been 2.5hrs but he normally wakes every 1- 1.5hrs and isn't really hungry in the night.

HV said he might be too hot so not to swaddle and try a dummy. Tried both and he is worse but i am happy to keep trying,
Thank you in advance xx

[FATEdestiny]

More babies are soothed by a swaddle than are not, so worth keeping going. The swaddle recreates the tight, secure feeling of being in the womb.

If yoy think baby is too hot, just put in fewer clothes. Swaddle with a sheet, not a blanket. I found that a cot sheet cut in half along the short edge made two great swaddles.

One of my (four) children didn't take to a swaddle. But that was because he just went to sleep easily without it so didn't ned a swaddle. With my other children who were all swaddled, any screaming and upset while being swaddled was more about wanting/needing to be asleep than it being anything to with the swaddle itself.

The swaddle also helps to put baby down. Likewise a dummy makes it much easier for baby to settle independantly (ie on own, away from you).

Have you got a co sleeper cot? You can take one side off most normal cots and then wedge it up to your bed to make a sidecar cot.

Then at night time I would swaddle (or reswaddke if at a night wake), feed baby while swaddled, lift swaddled and fed baby to your shoulder to give a gentle wind cuddle. Then dummy at the ready, lower baby into sidecar cot, insert dummy and cuddle around baby, holding dummy if needed. Extract yourself when asleep.

For daytime naps I favour relentless bouncing in the bouncy chair, and dummy.

It sometimes does take a baby a while to accept the dummy. It's to do with needing to learn to bypass the tongue-thrust reflex. This is a reflex babies are born with but overcome by 6 months ish. Some find it easier to take a dummy than others. But definately worth lerserverring so baby can learn, if you want baby sleeping independantly.

[Chosenbyyou]

Thank you very much for your advice it is much appreciated.

Could I just ask when would you swap over from the swaddle to the sleeping bag? I remember my last one used to fight the swaddle but this one seems more compliant!!

Thank you again xx

[FATEdestiny]

It was a transition for us, not a straight swap from swaddle and no sleeping bag to sleeping bag and no swaddle. Started maybe around 2-3 months and finished by 5-6 months.

We had a transition period of baby in sleeping bag with a (light weight) swaddle sheet over the top. Then if baby seemed quite settled and docile after the feed, I'd put down without the swaddle, but it was there when needed. The Times a swaddle wasn't needed just naturally got less until it was not at all.