Baby won't sleep.

[Kieryysmithyy]

My baby is 5 weeks tomorrow. And he won't sleep. He only seems to be falling asleep on me, and as soon as I put him down he refuses to sleep. I can tell he is tired but he's constantly got one eye the slightest bit open. He's also being fussy when he eats (BF) keeps pulling and tugging. And when I put him down he wriggles and grunts. I don't understand why he doesn't want to sleep. Up until yesterday he was doing quite well. His nappies are constantly wet and he poops every 2-4 days, and even they look normal. I'm so tired and exhausted I just don't know what to do.

Sat here with 5 week old in same boat so following for advice! LO will sleep for hours on me but only for 30-45 mins in moses basket / crib...

I feel your pain, the exhaustion is real :(

He poops every 2-4days??? You need to get that checked

I remember this with my two it is hard. I would recommend looking up the 'fourth trimester.' This is so common in newborn babies. It basically explains the first few months of a babies life they are getting use to life outside the womb. The womb is dark, warm, only muffled noises, always held, never hungry. To suddenly in the outside world where the temperature changes, the light changes, they get hungry, they are put down a lot, it can be very noisy/unexpected noise. I know it's not easy but in your arms is where they feel safe.
I'm always abit hesitant advising this, however, have you considered safe cosleeping? Before I had my first I would have been horrified at the thought. Sleep deprivation and my husband once accidentally falling to sleep with her in his arms changed my mind. There are the next to me cribs that I have heard many people recommend. I couldn't use one of them because of the style of my bed. If you look up cosleeping safety guidelines they do give advise on how to in as safe as possible way. Both my babies coslept with me in the end.
Other recommendations have you tried white noise? I downloaded an app on my phone and found it helped.
You don't mention your partner. But if you do have one could you take turns holding the baby? And the other one sleep. Even when my DH went back to work he held DC in the evening and just woke me when they needed a feed. He often stayed up until about midnight/1am then I took over. This meant I had at least slept between 8pm to midnight. He would at least had 6 hours sleep before work. Then at the weekends he took over abit more.
With regard to the bf I do find they can get very fussy at that age. My second was a big grunter. After a feed I had to hold him up right for a good 15 minutes.

You have probably heard this a lot already but it will pass/improve and get easier with time. Sleep deprivation is awful. They do eventually sleep better.

I co-slept with both of mine. It was the only way to get sleep 😴

Pooing every few days is normal at this stage if your baby is BF, there's not a lot of waste.

It is very stressful, I think he also may have a little bit of reflux, he is constantly spitting up (curdled aswell) even hours after feeding. My partner isn't all that good with handling him, and it doesn't take him long to hand him back over, you add in postnatal depression to the mix, has made this so hard to handle.

He poops every 2-4days??? You need to get that checked

This is totally normal for a newborn, nothing to be concerned about. Doctor’s don’t even consider treatment until they’ve gone a week or more without pooing.

OP I’m so sorry - that sounds very exhausting. Have you tried the usual tricks (swaddle, white noise, dummy etc?). I know it doesn’t always help but remember that this will pass - eventually your baby will sleep

It sounds as if it could be abit of reflux. Maybe call your HV or GP see if there is anything they can give your DC.
Have you heard of PANDAs? They are a perinatal mental health charity they are on Instagram. They have a number you can ring for free 0808 1961 776. They could offer advise/just someone to talk to. Having a new baby is a lot harder than people realise.

It is normal but as a lovely midwife said to me, normal doesn’t mean easy!

We have a next to me crib and my baby still isn’t keen. I know the recommendation is a firm surface but I think a lot of babies prefer something they can snuggle into a bit - like mum!

Have you tried wrapping him?

Would you consider offering a dummy?

Google the fourth trimester. Its normal.