5 week old not settling at night

[boo64]

Posting on behalf of my sis in law to save her time! My nephew is almost 5 weeks old.

Last night, he woke every hour, fed for 10 mins vigorously, then fell asleep on the breast and couldn't be woken to finish the feed, then whenever SIL tried to put him down in his crib he woke and screamed.

She'd get maybe 20 mins sleep and then he'd wake again for another feed, and the same thing happened again.

Her HV has suggested she try to settle him with water in a bottle. I've suggested swaddling at night (they have already swaddled him in the day sometimes for naps) and someone else said maybe try a dummy but understandably they want to try and get by without doing that.
Any thoughts on this or any other strategies to help settle him?

Has this only just started? Could be a growth spurt, my DS had one around 5-6 weeks where he fed constantly day and night. It should settle down in a few days.

Surely he is too young to have water??

no need for water, a breast fed baby gets everything they need in terms of thirst quenching and food from the breast

5 weeks old need feeding in the night, and need to be fed with milk

often a growth spurt around this time

his tummy is tiny, feeding little and often and unpredictably is what babies do

just keep offering the breast , tiring as it is, it is more than likely that is what he needs and it won;t last forever !

My DS suddenly became super hungry and unsettled at 5/6 weeks old. He would feed constantly for hours every morning and evening, scream and be generally out of sorts. He's now 8 weeks, feeding every 3-4 hours and waking just once at night. It was just a phase and a very exhusting one! Tell your SIL to go with it and it will get better in a week or so!

Babies have growth spurts at that age and do feed more than usual she just has to carry on as he will get calmer again.

Thanks guys -

Lulumama - she has been very sensible and she fully understands that he should be feeding at night and doesn't have a problem with that - it's more the frequency and fact he wasn't taking proper full feeds so woke up sooner wanting another.

I think there've been a few nights where he has done this sort of thing - feeding very often but this was the worst.

I have to say I was rather surprised at the suggestion of water too at this age - seems too young.

Water in a bottle for a 5 week old??
She is fucking mad.

This is what they do.

Just a thought but is it wind? My DD would get terrible wind and would wake frequently screaming and the only thing that seemed to sort it was to keep feeding until she eventually grew out of it which isn't helpful when you're in the thick of it but it's always a comfort to know that others are having the same issues.

My ds was hell to settle in his crib at that age and would only sleep on my stomach. I think he was being woken by his hands flailing out when he was on his back and he also liked being close to me or dh. Would your sis be happy sleeping like this? You don't get an awful lot of sleep but it's better than the alternative!

We didn't perservere with swaddling which would also probably have worked so if he likes that during the day it would definitely be worth a shot.