Newborn barely sleeping both day/night

[Mum2be0523]

Hi i have a 6 week old and since hes been 2/3 weeks old Hes struggling to sleep both during day and night. Hes having ongoing issues with reflux and colic which certainly aren’t helping. For example he can be awake during the day for a solid 6-7 hours; during this time can be pleasant for a good few hours or totally unsettled. For example today from 9am to 6pm hes had approximately 2 hours in total. Hes even awake by the time the next feed is due 3/4 hours later. Between 9-12 for example he was wide awake not crying amd generally pleasant and this can vary like this throughout the day but I know its not right for him to be awake for all these hours. Nights are getting better with him going 5/6 hours between feed but this is now only because and don’t judge hes propped upright next to me on a pillow in my bed because his reflux is so severe he grunts and rolls around on his back as soon as be lays down and is just cruel to see (currently under review by GP and tried medication/milks) . Also im putting him down where he is solid sleeping and then he wakes up instantly as soon as I put him down or cat naps for 5-10 mins and then wide awake again for another hour or two.
im after some advice if anyone can help please.

• yes im trying to establish a routine wake windows are non existent as he is way out with these
• yes im ensuring awake times are fun
• I understand he may be overtired or overstimulated but have no idea what to do as Im ensuring environment is calm, peaceful, dark room for nights etc but nothing is working
• he has witching hour every evening from 7pm-11pm without fail and screams constantly and fights sleep
• tried baby massage
• yes we go walking
• yes we have an evening routine
• iv tried infacol gripe water etc and currently prescribed lanzoprazol (tried omeprazol)
• white noise is useless

im really struggling as Im not able to do much in the day as he’s constantly awake. Reflux obviously doesnt help with having to sit him upright etc but this is just relentless

Will he stay asleep for naps if you hold him or have him in the pram/a carrier? My son could never stay asleep if put down at that age either so to get the sleep into him we would just accept doing one of the above.

Nope it’s impossible to get him to sleep and then when I do its a cap nap or the second I move wakes him up. Hes better in the pram but obviously that only when out walking

Are you breast or bottle feeding?

A sling/carrier would help with the naps for the day. They usually stay asleep while you're moving as they are held pretty close/secure to you.
Instead of propping him up on a pillow at night could you look into chest sleeping? You basically prop yourself up and they lay on your chest, you can then both get some sleep at night. Alternatively if you have a next to me cot then you could put that on an incline, I would then place a rolled up towel into a semi circle at the bottom where you then place his bum when you lay him down at night. It might help but he might be like my DD was and my DS is now where they refuse to be apart from you so co-sleeping/chest sleeping is the only answer.

He definitely sounds overtired/stimulated in the day.
They do struggle with their digestion at that age and often have signs of reflux before 4 months when a lot of them seem to manage much better.
My DD had infacol until 4 months and it helped her, my DS, 11 weeks old,struggles with his digestion (he was a preemie) and infacol does nothing, gripe water occasionally helps. He is getting much better as his digestion is maturing every week. I just wear him in the sling most of the day and chest or co-sleep with him at night.

You could try a dummy to help with some of the reflux as it can help soothe them with the sucking.

Ours was like this with a bit more screaming, it turned out to be milk and soya allergies but we didn't find that out for ages.
The only thinks I can think of that you've not mentioned that helped to some extent were baths with warm flannel on tummy, a dummy, soothing music (mostly for my own sanity), and from a few months old I used to get her in the pram or do a contact nap after every wake window, that took the edge off her overtiredness though not mine of course! Hope things get easier soon

Try Dentinox. My daughter didn't sleep in the day at all and it was horrendous.

This might be the last thing you want to hear but it is completely normal and l saw a real positive change after 12 weeks.

Sounds like colic

The only way I could get mine to sleep was to hold them - so I spent the first three months basically sitting on the sofa watching TV and he would also sleep in his pram, I'd d have to walk fast to get him to sleep and if I went over uneven ground or bumps he'd fall asleep quicker.

We also co-slept because he refused to sleep in a Moses basket, baby box or cot, it was Mummy or nothing.

Have you looked into baby wearing and co-sleeping?

Daytime sleep on tummy with you watching

I have been there with the 7-11 witching hours and it is awful. Exhausting, stressful, soul destroying. You have my absolute sympathy, because until you have lived it you cannot understand how grim it is. It will pass though. Likely in 6 weeks time (which feels like forever now), things will be getting better.

With my little one, after about 2 weeks old he stopped staying asleep when I put him down. I spent several days thinking he would fall asleep if he was tired, while he stared round excitedly at this new world coming into focus and got progressively more tired/wired.

The only way he would stay asleep was, like @Skyeheather suggests, to hold him all the time he was asleep, or possibly in the pram. I got very little done in the house, but it's a short time and I don't regret any of the newborn cuddles at all.

Hey OP,

I'm currently sat with my 6 week old baby, reading your post. I'm literally in exactly the same situation as you. I've tried EVERYTHING. My son just will not sleep. Please tell me you found a solution 🙏🙏

What milk is baby on? Symptoms seem typical of reflux and cows milk protein allergy .

It’s absolutely horrendous isnt it. Well we are at 10 weeks and we have started to turn a corner. We were put on aptamil pepti 1 which is a very hydrolysed formula but it didnt do anything then we got prescribed neocate which is a total milk free/ protein/lactose free formula I don’t even know if he has an allergy but GP was willing to try anything. He had gavison and this did night other that cause constipation , omeprzol on the highest dose of 6ml which didnt help then we tried Lanzoprozol and this didnt help either. Ut eventually they increased the dose and within 24/48 hours he was like a different baby. Problem is I dont know if its the milk or medication or combination of the two but whatever it is helped loads. He used go be screaming in pain with his poor belly and he has none of this now. You have my utter utter sympathy. It took a lot of back and forth to GP, hospital and tweaks which seem never ending to get there . Still very early days this has only improved in last week

Neocate worked wonders for us !

It could be a combination of the two , the right milk and now his reflux is being treated correctly .

Once he’s been on the Neocate for at least 6 weeks the GP will want you to do a milk challenge , only do this if your happy and baby is . You can totally refuse ! They do this to confirm if baby has an allergy by replacing his allergy formula with a scoop of normal formula . This goes to an oz a day until baby is back so say 5oz normal formula . If baby reacts at any point go back to his allergy milk in all bottles. Hope this makes sense x

I'm so glad to hear that you've resolved it! I've git my health visitor tomorrow so I'll be mentioning it to her. He's not been as bad today but we're headed towards the dreaded witching hours soon. Wish me luck !