Four week old sleeps all day and is awake all night HELP!!!!

[squinny101]

My four week old dd has from birth slept all day and is awake most of the night. She has been diagnosed with reflux and I first thought that she was awake due to being in pain. She is having successful treatment but is still literally awake all night. The longest night yet has been a pleasant 9.30pm - 4am stretch with her crying, me crying and I've just about had enough.

I've tried keeping her awake in the day but this isn't working. She is not my first child but my third and I have not experienced anything like this before. I am absolutely exhausted and at the end of my tether. Can anyone give me any advice on what to do. I am getting no sleep and still have a hyperactive two year old and a four year old to run after all day. THanks

Well as she's your 3rd you've probably tried the following:

*feed, bath, bed in a darkened room at bedtime
*waking up in she sleeps longer than 3 hours in the day
*waking her up when you get up in the morning

However I have to say I just went with the flow with mine except for the bedtime routine. I never woke them up when they were asleep and evenutally at around 12 weeks they found their way to sleeping longer at night and just getting up say 3 times....

If you don't want to wake her in the day (I have done this, but only after 2.5-3hours' sleep), what about trying to make sure her daytime naps are in a brightly-lit, noisy, busy place eg moses basket in the sitting room? Worked for me to some extent in terms of correcting DD's day and night.

DS liked to be awake for long periods of time in the night, so I always made sure I only had a really dim torch on when I picked him up to feed him. The theory being I was teaching him that dark means night time/sleep time, not waking up and looking around time. This seemed to work within a week or two.

Hope this helps. I know I was pulling my hair out when he was awake for three solid hours in the middle of the night - and I don't have any other children to look after.

At the moment we are both sleeping in my 4 year old's bedroom which is very dark (he sleeps through anything) with a light on outside so I can see what I'm doing. Its not working though. In the day she sleeps downstairs while the kids are running about etc. so that's not the problem. The health visitor seemed to think that because she was born in the afternoon her body clock might be a bit mixed up but can't see how this can still be the case a month on. I can feel myself beginning to get really a bit down about it all. I am taking the lack of sleep out on the kids and don't and hate going to bed as I know I will be up constantly. My other half has gone out this evening to 'wet the baby's head' and I'm beginning to get very anxious about being in the house by myself all night. Sorry am prattling on a bit now.

Do you think she is missing the noise at night, and that this is what is settling her during the day? My DS2 slept beautifully during the day, but come nightime was a disaster. It was my DS1's childminder who put this idea into my head. She said she had a child who would only go to sleep with the window open (we live on a main road so there is a constant sound of traffic) I then realised that DS2 went to sleep outside(where he could hear the traffic) better than inside. I started leaving his window open at night, which was fine when he went to bed, but in the middle of the night, when there was no traffic, it was a nightmare. I bought a 'slumber bear' which is sound and movement activated and makes womb noises. It saved our lives!!
Don't know if this helps or not.
Good luck!

Oh she's only little. She doesnt really understand the difference between day and night yet.

White noise may help, but keeping her awake wont really do anything im afraid.

It may just take time.