Is this normal 4 week old behaviour?

[avwy1996]

Hi, just looking for some advice. We have a nearly 4 week old who is suddenly fighting sleep multiple times a day. Usually around 4am and then again around lunchtime. He's now keeping himself up for over two hours and getting really over tired and fussy.

We used to be able to settle him anywhere for a sleep/nap for 3 hours at a time but now we have to give him some extra help to fall asleep and it must be on us and as soon as we wait for him to be in a deep sleep to transfer, he's up within 20 mins. Averaging about 2/3 hours of a slew a night so I'm a total zombie.

I'm trying to preserver with him by putting him down but I think that's just making him over tired as well as he's constantly getting disturbed.

Is this just totally normal behaviour for his age? Is there an age I should try to limit the contact naps and just continue to keep trying to put him down in his next to me? I'm just quite nervous about getting into bad sleep habits and making the next stage harder.

Any advice would be amazing, thanks!

Well sleeping for 3 hour stints is good already!

I think it's totally normal your very young baby wants to sleep on his mummy.
It's called the fourth trimester and honestly if I were you, I'd just go with it.
I ended up buying a v shaped pillow and I'd have baby asleep on my chest and I'd be sandwiches between the v shape so I couldn't roll.

Another thing to consider is your baby may have reflux which could be why they are waking any time you put them down.
It could be that or just knowing they are going down and away from mummy. Just listen for reflux sounds

I think this is normal. We’ve only just moved our 7 month old to the cot at night (still in our room) as before we were cosleeping and he just wanted all the cuddles. Still have contact naps in the day - I’d say enjoy it! Get those baby snuggles in!
4 weeks is still so so small, he just wants his mummy, you’re his safe space to sleep and that’s perfectly normal. And as pp said, 3 hours at a time is fab for that age!

Personally I'd follow your baby's lead and do what makes them comfortable. Most things are stages which they grow through and things can change from one day to the next. For daytime you could try wearing them in a sling/carrier, or rocking in the pram. Babies often wake up if you change the environment- so like if they go to sleep on you but then you put them down. If you watch they will quite often open their eyes to check after a few minutes of sleep. If you can get them to go to sleep in a place you can leave them you may be able to get around this. They want to feel safe and close to you. Keep trying different things until you find what works. There are no rules (despite what people may tell you!!!). Good luck x

Is he waking up because you put him down? My DS slept well for the first 3/4 weeks and then we started to find we couldn't put him down without him waking up. We ended up having to hold him a lot for naps, now about 10 weeks he's napping better again.

We are starting to think it's a bit of reflux now! He's starting being a bit sick after feeds, not projectile but more noticeable now and sometimes he does pull away from his bottles but then others he guzzles 5oz and is totally fine. We are very confused by it all! He slept perfectly fine on his back next to me last night as well so I'm just really unsure of what's going on!

I still contact nap my 8 month old 🤷🏼‍♀️many many babies need more support for naps than they do at nighttime because the circadian rhythm isn’t helping them in the daytime.