7 week old short naps help!

[Stanfs87]

Hi,
My 7week old DD has started cat napping on me or swing chair (her moses basket has turned to lava apparently for day naps!!)
She will usually sleep for hours in a sling or pushchair but im knackered after three days of 10miles plus walking.
If she wakes early from a nap, what should i do before next feed due? Let her play for a bit And try again or force her to connect those retched cycles!

Our schedule is usually:
7am - wake/feed reflux baby so takes a while
8.15am - attempt nap in moses basket... if not swing chair chair

9am - she wakes but not due for feed until 11? What do i do here?? Play?

Today 9.40am nap on me (still going)

11 - feed

12-12.30 - nap again il be trying the basket if not the pram can usually knock her out
She does usually have a longer nap here. Fingers crossed!

2.30/3 feed

4pm - sling or pram to pick up sibling

Then its all hit & miss from here unless in a sling so she sleeps on & off with the noise of DD1 until feed/bath/bed at 7pm

Can anyone help?

It's been a while so I can't quite remember but at that age I thought feeds were more like every 2.5-3 hours? Perhaps additional closer feeds might help.

At 7 weeks please don't feed to a schedule...

And if you insist on doing so, against all recommendations, 4 hours is much much too long for a 7 week old to go without milk.

I would try 3-hourly feeds and see how you go

@Perfect28 thanks, shes got herself into this one, she is formula fed and takes 5-6oz a go, is growing really well etc and HV is happy, ive tried feeding her at 3 hourly but shes not interested.... il give it another go though!

Yes, same for me. I was still 'demand feeding' (as it was called in those days), when mine was that age and presumed most people did, and still do, the same. I was happy to do that, it doesn't last forever.

@LBFseBrom i will definitely try and feed a bit more, but she usually wakes from her short naps crying then when sge doesn't settle, i take her out... she just ends up looking around and cooing and if she fusses again i attempt a bottle but she pushes it back out & gets cross! So i end up leaving her to be nosey then i attempt another nap 45min after the last wake, this usually ends up being on me!

Sleeping on you is perfectly normal at that age. Many won't be put down to sleep anywhere.

Try smaller more frequent feeds, it might help with the reflux too.

Broadly speaking a large feed will hit their tummy and keep them quite full but it will likely still wear off sooner than say 4 hours. Even if she's happy, her body has decided it doesn't have enough milk for sleep. At least that's my experience.

Ok in that case I would try this
7am wake and feed
8.30-10 sleep
10.30am feed
11.30-1.30 sleep
2pm feed
3.30-5 sleep
6pm feed
6.30 bath
6.45 top-up feed
7pm bed

I would do naps swaddled in a dark room with white noise

I could have written your post OP. My little one is 8 weeks old.

Interesting comments about the length of time between feeds. My little one is going around 4 hours between feeds and has around 5-6 oz each time. He does one long stretch at night of around 5-6 hours between a feed. He's putting on weight well so I wouldn't have thought to decrease the length of time between his feeds in all honesty.

Ah @FebMama thanks for replying... this is literally indentical to my scenario! Sending hugs! Its so blooming confusing, she sleeps for ages if on me and right up until her next feed, but try and put her down then its game over & awake but not wanting food! Gahhh! X

@Stanfs87 I feel you! Today my LO had just 45 minutes for his first nap, woke up quite happy so I let him play until his next feed. Then for his second nap, he woke up after 30 minutes crying so I knew he was still tired! I had to pick him up and put him back to sleep in my arms, managed to put him down and he only did another 30 minutes 😩 but you're right, they seem to sleep solidly for hours when being held!! It's so frustrating. As much as I would love cuddles all day, it's just not realistic is it?
I've tried a dark room, white noise and swaddle and still it doesn't work!

How does your LO sleep at night? Mine seems fine at night going down in his next to me cot but just not in the day

Aww @FebMama ditto... it really is frustrating, she used to sleep really well in the moses basket in the lounge until a couple of weeks ago, but not a chance now, she just coo's and grunts in there lol! I have to sometimes cover her eyes with a muslin cloth whilst on me as shes so bloomin nosey!
She goes into the moses basket into the next2me atm until she outgrows it :) settles ok on the evening, i usually go to bed at 8 and hubby brings her up at 11 after her feed, but she hasnt settled well on the evening recently so might try it differently tonight and take her up with me, i think shes craving a dark space, i bought a stroller black out... she slept 2 hours after school run today, even with her noisy 5year old sister bombing around! Im perplexed 2nd time round! Xx

@Stanfs87 2 hours is great!! I find that my LO doesn't sleep well at all when my 3 year old is around. I am trying to practice his naps upstairs in the next to me with white noise on purely because he's outgrown his Moses basket now and there's nowhere I can actually put him to sleep downstairs 🤷🏽‍♀️ I put the baby monitor on to keep an eye on him, goes against the whole having them sleep in the same room during the day thing but its just not doable! Not that he's even sleeping up there properly in the day at the moment anyway so he's never up there alone for very long!!

@FebMama well all those people were wrong when they said the 2nd one slots in and gets used to the noise, from 5 weeks shes not conformed and we are currently attempting nap one in myy darkened bedroom after a 6.30 wake up!
Its tricky isnt it, we had no choice but to put our first in her bedroom at 4.5months, she was longgg and grew out of everything to sleep in! But had monitors etc and i used to sit on her floor for naps!! Impossible with 2 tho!

@Stanfs87 how did the first nap go? We're doing nap number 1 in the sling at the moment, didn't have the energy or time to attempt a crib nap first thing!!

My second simply didn't like napping anywhere other than the sling on me, for at least a year. She didn't slot in at all and was very hard work. Pushed me nearly into pnd. My third however was a dream and napped anywhere and everywhere. They're all different and can drive us crazy from trying to work it out.

@FebMama we got an hour out of her yday morning, then i was at a couple of groups so she slept in the pushchair rest of the day.... which she sleeps so well in and i know im lucky in that respect, just need the weather to improve!!
We are attempting 2nd nap as i type, its took a good 15mins for her to close those beautiful eyes lol! Darkish room, swaddle and white noise.... pray!!! Im going to try and do at least one up here even if its short!!
How are you getting on? Anymore signs of sleeping in the day?

@MaverickSnoopy awww bless you,my first was a breeze... or ive forgotten 🤣🤣 but i have got PNA this time round which im keeping under control with Anti depressants and talking therapy, its a killer, but was diagnosed early thankfully! Do you mind me asking what sling you use? I have a baby born carrier which is super handy but i cant sit down in it as its too rigid! How does your 2nd nap now? Any better? X

@Stanfs87 an hour is good! I think practice is key. At least one nap a day is exposing them to it I guess! Yesterday I tried to put the LO down and he only lasted 30 minutes but he was still tired so I let him finish the rest of the nap in the sling! And today he slept twice in the sling and then we were out and about for the rest of the day so we had car seat naps. I'm going to roll with the sling naps for a bit and every now and then attempt cot naps in the hope I'll get better in time.
I find myself wasting the day away trying to get him back to settle and it's only stressing us both out!!

@FebMama i totally feel u on the stress of it all, weve had varying successes over the last couple of days, but its the holidays now soooo... baby has been in the carrier most the time unless the hubs can take the older one and ive managed a moses basket nap upstairs! Im going to try and attempt at least one a day up there but Like you say, do what has least resistance, if i get stressed i just abandon and try the carrier or pram! :) such a complicated time!! X