6 week old constant grunting

[Virushell]

My 6 week old sleeps fine for the first stretch of the night but after the first feed (around midnight/1am, so most of the night) she's so unsettled and constantly grunting I'm exhausted. If I pick her up she's instantly fast asleep. Is it wind or just her wanting to be held? I'm so confused.

For additional background, we used to cuddle her to sleep, wait 20 minutes, then put her down in her crib but a couple of weeks ago it stopped working as she'd wake as soon as she hit the crib. She stopped sleeping in there altogether and would only sleep on my chest.

Health visitor suggested putting her down awake which seems to work better. She'll grunt for a bit but self settle to sleep and sleep quietly for 3 or 4 hours. After the first feed she'll self settle again by grunting (can take up to 20 minutes here) but then is only peacefully asleep for about an hour before more grunting which escalates to crying. She doesn't seem hungry at this point.

I'm so tired of listening to grunting it is quite distressing and I dont know how to help it. It is waking me constantly and I only sleep in 5 or 10 minute stretches after 2am.

Any ideas?
Thanks!

That’s really normal I think, they do start to get quieter. I get used to the noisy bits and sleep better now (mine is 8 weeks) and sometimes use white noise, for me as well as the baby.
Have you tried swaddling? Mine wasn’t keen but sleeps better since we started using a sleeping bag, he feels more secure I guess.

I hate to tell you this but it's totally normal and it's something they just grow out of. My first did exactly what you're describing, I think by about 3/4 months it eventually stopped. We were getting so angry with it at first, but I think the more you just can accept theres not a lot you can do about it, the easier it gets to sleep through it.

Oh l remember this and it keeps you alert as waiting for her to wake all the time but it is normal. I think as mothers we are so tuned in to baby sounds it's very hard not to be totally caught up with it. . Could you leave her in room with your dp and move into another room to get some decent sleep. He can call you if she actually wakes up.
By the way it's brilliant she is self settling as that doesn't always happen so early.

DC2 is currently asleep on my chest as was unsettled and grunting. Totally normal and they grow out of it at some point. Can't remember when though!

Thank you, love hearing that they grow out of it. I was confused as just a couple of nights ago she did three 3 hour stretches with no grunting at all so thought there might be a reason and something I could do. She did let out a few loud farts early morning while grunting, do you think it would be worth trying something like gripe water anyway?

I don't mind the grunting as such it's the fact that lately it seems to lead to waking so as @junebirthdaygirl mentions I'm on high alert the whole time.

It also seems after that first stretch of sleep that she never gets into a deep sleep, wouldn't that eventually make her very tired? She seems to be napping more and more to catch up on the bad nights (I mostly contact nap so she is really settled for naps and would nap all day if I let her).

We do have white noise and I must have put it on 100 times during the night! It does seem to quieten the grunting for a bit

It is great that she self settles for sure. Her brother was the same, back then it took me weeks to figure out that by cuddling/rocking/patting I was just keeping him awake and he just wanted to be left alone to sleep! She seems to be the same. It's good but also stressful as when she doesn't self settle I dont have any tools to help her.

If you are feeding her yourself you could try drinking fennel tea as that helps babies reduce wind. Doesn't taste too nice but does the trick.

Play one of those 10-hour white noise videos on YouTube, much less faff than putting it on constantly. It should let you sleep a bit better.

@junebirthdaygirl ooo yes I do remember doing this with my first. I don't even mind the taste, I'll get some!

@mrscolon yes I was thinking this last night. Wish I'd gone for the Deluxe version of this Ewan the sheep that turns itself on automatically when baby stirs. Sigh!

I think it’s normal that they sleep more deeply in the first half of the night, my baby was just like this too. Never figured out if it was wind or reflux or what but it did eventually stop. Can’t remember when, sorry. I ended up using earplugs to sleep through it, and white noise running to drown out a bit. I still woke when she made any proper noise