Baby just doesn't sleep!

[user1486491594]

Hi everyone first post here as I am going out of my mind!

My baby is 9 weeks old, he was born 5 weeks prem.

He just doesn't seem to sleep! During the day time he will perhaps have a few cat naps but whenever I try to put him down for a proper nap he will wake and strain and then cry within 5 minutes and be wide awake and not settle at all.

I'm mixed feeding him due to him being prem a tough labour so anti biotics and having jaundice. Trying to get ebf but not sure if it will happen now!

A lot of the time he won't even take a full feed at once, is this normal? So he will have 2oz then 1iz then another with half hour gaps. And he doesn't fall asleep after his feeds either so I can't feed him to sleep!

the problem comes at night when he wakes for his 2/3am feed and then that's it, he is wide awake and will not settle. He strains brings his legs up moans grunts and ends up crying and no matter what I do he won't settle ever! This results in a long 3 hours trying to get him to sleep and eventually giving up and me only getting A few hours sleep every night.

Sorry a very mixed post but if anyone has any suggestions at all that would be so so helpful as I feel like I'm doing something wrong

Thanks!

He's only tiny, he won't be napping "properly" yet. Both of mine were in a very intensive feed/nap/feed/nap cycle for the first few months. DD1 was feeding 20 times a day at that age, which I was told was quite normal.

Does he nap on you? That's what I did during the day in the first few months; it's the fourth trimester so they don't really understand that they're separate from you yet. Night is harder as newborns don't really know night from day. I co-slept, but I know it doesn't work for everyone.

I'm not sure what you are expecting as being defined as "proper" naps?

If you want to pit baby down to sleep, there are ways to encourage independant (ie not on mum) sleep. Primarily that will involve a dummy and swaddle.

If you mean nap length, that varies according to baby's needs at this age. They should mostly be sleeping though. Waking when a need isn't met (usually hunger), then a short awake time of maybe 45 minutes, up to an hour or so max, then back to sleep. So your day becomes repeating cycles of:

• wake
• feed
• floor time play
• settling to sleep - starts about 45-60m from waking
• asleep - anything from 30m to 2h is normal.
• wake and repeat

A well fed, well winded, swaddled baby given a dummy for comfort sucking should sleep easily.

So if you are swaddling and have given baby a dummy for comfort, check you are adequately winding.

Google winding techniques and try several. It need not be vigorous, just a back rub while lying on your shoulder for 10 mins is often enough. Ensure you wind after every feed and every period of crying (crying makes baby gulp in air). Check that head is above stomach at all times when feeding. When bottle feeding, ensure the teat remains full and free of air at all times.

If you are einding adequately, swaddling with a dummy for comfort and baby is still upset - feed more. That might mean feeding more frequently. Or it might mean spacing feeds out (pacifying with a dummy more often, instead of a feed) and making the feeds bigger.

In a baby under 6 months old, I would never deny a feed. However it is possible that you are misinterpreting her signals and assuming hunger when in fact she just wants dummy, swaddle and sleep.

If you are swaddling, offering dummy, winding adequately and feeding well, try reducing awake time because the more tired baby is, the harder it will be to get to sleep. If this isn't helping, speak to your doctor.