6 week old - is this normal??

[Bonnieb168]

Hi,
Just looking for some reassurance really - my gorgeous 6 week old seems very unsettled when awake. If I put her down anywhere awake (bouncer, play mat, pram etc) she cries within a few minutes. It’s like she is in pain, thrashing and kicking her legs about. She mostly settles when I pick her up and walk around with her but after about 5 minutes then starts to look to feed. When I bf her she then falls asleep within 20 mins.
This is what she does all day so she is only really awake for 30 minutes at a time!!! The only exception is in the eve when she gets fussy feeding and cries for few hours so we have to walk around with her until she settles to sleep eventually.

But mainly she just seems to want to feed, sleep, feed, sleep... with very little happy awake time. Is this normal? I can’t figure out if the crying is colic related or just her wanting to be close to me all the time...

Thanks very much for any advice! Xx

Totally normal. Try googling the 4th trimester and remember she was inside you only a short time ago and it's a hugggggggggggge change.

Absolutely normal! And yes, that 4th trimester can seem like a long time, but try and enjoy getting to know each other. You are doing a fab job x

30 minute awake time is normal for a newborn. Your day us basically repeats of

• baby wakes
• feed
• wind
• nappy check
• cuddle
• back to sleep

Repeat over and over again.

Hi there, is baby gaining weight okay? It sounds pretty similar to my little one who is now 10 weeks. People kept telling me it was normal but she never seemed happy and I totally dreaded the evenings where she would cry for hours and not feed properly. She wasn't gaining weight and once I started giving her a little formula top up she was the happiest baby I'd ever met, the evening crying stopped, and she settled during the day. I know its not for everyone but once she had the formula I really started to enjoy being a mum to her and wish I'd given in earlier. But obv she wasn't gaining weight and it could be a totally different issue with your little girl. 30 mins awake time sounds about right tho and its normal to be all feed and sleep. I hope things start to get easier for you soon x x

Hi, thanks for all your replies, is nice to know other babies are similar. I just had her weighed today and she is gaining weight ok so that’s good. We had tried giving her formula top up in the eve @Memenew but she didn’t seem to want it, would only take maybe 10-20mls at a push! I did however try some gripe water yesterday for first time and that seems to have really helped, she was much more settled and did seem actually quite content for the first time which was lovely so I think she’s maybe just gassy / colicy and has been getting very uncomfortable and exhausted by it! She even went on her play mat today for 20 minutes without screaming blue murder so this is a breakthrough!! Fingers crossed we have another good eve tonight! X

I hope you're having another settled evening. All too often we are told to accept something as normal new born behaviour but actually we can usually find a solution and you're the one having to cope with it! Colic can be very hard to cope with so speak with your GP if the grip water doesn't continue to improve things. Good luck and congratulations x x