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3 week old not napping

8 replies

hrp2020 · 16/11/2021 11:36

Our 3 week old is so hard to get down for naps. Nothing works...white noise, swaddling, dark room, cuddling, rocking, bouncing, feeding. It can take 45 mins (sometimes more) and even if she falls asleep doesn't stay asleep for long. Especially if put down in her Moses basket. Even if she falls asleep in the pushchair she wakes as soon as we are back home or stop. I have tried letting her be awake longer which seems to make it worse as gets overtired and we have tried nice and early before over-tiredness and nothing works. She is formula fed and clearly is tired as crying a lot when awake. Any tips welcomed. She is feeding every 3 hours approx 4floz sometimes a bit less as she stops when she is full. She has put weight on well so not being underfed. Midwife snd HV both think she is eating the right amount for her age. At a loss of why it's so challenging getting her to sleep. Most newborns fall asleep so easily! She is fine at night time going down.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
HaroldSteptoesHorse · 16/11/2021 20:54

Congrats on baby. I found that I had to have a blanket wrapped exactly as they did in hospital fir the first few weeks otherwise mine wouldn’t sleep.

mynameiscalypso · 16/11/2021 20:57

DS would only nap on me for the first 6 weeks or so. I don't think that's unusual at all. I certainly wasn't about to put him down for naps for several months. Otherwise naps were in the sling/carrier or pram.

magicstars · 16/11/2021 20:58

My firstborn didn't fall asleep easily at all. At around 9m she learnt to sleep in the pram & that made life easier in many ways. We had lots of long walks & it meant she could nap while out & about.
I think she liked background noise, so if we were chatting with friends that helped rather than trying too hard to get her to sleep at set times.
Try watching the happiest baby on the block, some good tips there.

orangechairs · 16/11/2021 20:58

Congratulations on your baby!

Babies are bloody Hard work and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!

The most important lesson I learnt as a parent.... sleep breeds sleep. so look out for the very first signs of tiredness and get baby to sleep. So the very first yawn.... get her to sleep. Any way you can at this age. Cuddles, swaddle, white noise, a walk in the pram etc.

Be kind to yourself and get comfy on the sofa (if that works for you!).

orangechairs · 16/11/2021 20:59

Oh and a sling if that works for you - I found it amazing for one of mine, not good for the other.

Stretch slings / wraps are fab.

hrp2020 · 20/11/2021 08:09

Thanks all. The problem I have is I don't have the time to enjoy the naps and sit on the sofa as I have a very demanding 21 month old boy too. He just cries and screams if left to his own devices for too long so I need to figure out a way of getting the baby to fit in with us and not the other way around. An impossible task probably.

OP posts:
orangechairs · 20/11/2021 09:50

Hey OP, I have a similar age gap. It's not easy!! Have you tried a sling? That way the baby will
Hopefully settle on you and you can still play with your older one. I found baby groups a lifesaver at this stage, I'm not sure if you have any local ones? Church groups are usually quite good and cheap x

FATEdestiny · 20/11/2021 17:10

@hrp2020

Thanks all. The problem I have is I don't have the time to enjoy the naps and sit on the sofa as I have a very demanding 21 month old boy too. He just cries and screams if left to his own devices for too long so I need to figure out a way of getting the baby to fit in with us and not the other way around. An impossible task probably.
Maps in the bouncy chair may be your saviour.

You on sofa and bounce with your foot. Leaves you totally free to interact with toddler. Or if toddler wants you on the floor playing, sit next to bouncer and bounce baby to sleep with one arm, rest of attention on toddler.

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