Overtired 9 week old - help!

[Catlady90]

First time mum here, any help much appreciated!

My little boy is 9 weeks old today (but was 11 days early if that makes any difference).

He sleeps quite well at night, waking up every 2-3 hours and going back to sleep after a feed (he is FF due to problems with BF).

However during the day he fights sleep and gets overtired so quickly. He's yawning easily 15 minutes into his awake time and by 30 mins is hysterical. At this point he needs swaddling, dark room, white noise and dummy as well as sometimes me lying next to him. If I try to get him to sleep before this point he usually fights it like mad.

He has reflux which is probably relevant, and is on Neocate for potential cows milk intolerance/allergy as well as omeprazole for reflux. He has been a little better since starting omeprazole but I'm aware this is probably still impacting his sleep.

I feel as though I spend the day trying to get him to sleep, often lying in a dark room with him. He does not fall asleep in his sling - he seems to think it is great for having a good look around and gets really alert! The pram is hit and miss, but again if he's fighting sleep he continues to do so.

The only thing that works 100% of the time is taking him in the car. But I can't do this every half hour!

Are these awake periods normal? I see other mums doing all sorts with their babies and I feel like all I'm doing is getting him to nap. If we get out the house before an overtired breakdown (him not me!) It's a miracle.

Hi! My DD is also 9 weeks, and her awake period vary massively. She rarely goes over 1.5 hours without a nap but sometimes after 10 mins she is yawning her head off. Luckily she will sleep in bouncer, sling or on me with the tele on so it doesn’t affect my day too much. She’s also on day 7 of omeprazole which has improved her overnight sleep massively.
I really feel for you

Have you got the huckleberry app? I found this helpful to ensure she wasn’t awake too long and becoming overtired.

Have long between waking on a morning and his first nap? I find that if I left dd become overtired first thing in the morning, she’s hell ALL day

I haven't heard of that app, thanks! I've noticed the same with the mornings, if he's awake too long it just means he will be overtired the while day. I try to watch for his cues rather than timing it but perhaps I should be timing roughly?

Hey OP,

My DS is almost 1 now and was a sleep fighter from the very beginning. I tried looking for his cues and didn't want to have a proper 'routine' at the start. Big mistake.
Huckleberry app is great for telling you their wake windows, you don't end up with an overtired baby who is impossible to get to sleep. My DS also slept really well in his Mamaroo rocking chair as it mimics a car ride which was the only other way to get him to sleep sometimes. Try and follow the play feed sleep routine too within his windows. Its a bit of a ballache in the beginning and you seem to live in 3 hour increments but it's worth it to have a content baby who isn't an overtired nightmare!
Good luck