Is it normal....

[woodmill100]

For an 18 day old to fight sleep? DS usually has a 3-3.5 hour sleeping pattern when he will wake hungry however, in the evenings, ie around now he will wake, be changed, fed and then won't sleep (or will fight sleep) until around 11-12 when he will eventually crash out until around 3 and then 6.

The fighting sleep is a bit distressing because he gets so tired plus we're sitting almost in the dark in the livingroom with the TV virtually on mute!

Is this normal? If so I can handle it because I know he'll find his own way over the next few weeks but it is upsetting that he gets so cross with himself. We top him up when he needs it (formula fed due to meds that I am on) to see if that helps but he'll may be just drop off for about a half our if we're lucky.

We've tried warming his moses basket with a hot water bottle as he doesn't like cold sheets. We've tried letting him fall asleep on us but wakes as soon as you put him down!

As I say, if you tell me it sounds normal then I can deal with but if you have any tips, I'd be grateful!

He doesn't sleep with the hot water bottle! It's just to warm the sheet before we put him down!

I used the babysoothe cd (white noise). You could try swaddling him and putting the radio on some white noise under his moses basket. It worked for me, although not all babies like being swaddled!

It does sound normal though. Mine used to cluster feed around this time sometimes too.

18 days? Oh heavens yes, mine hadn't even worked any sort of routine out by then! We would keep him with us in the evenings but have the light on, tv on, and if he fell asleep I would transfer him to bed then. If not, I took him when I went. Otherwise it was me sitting in a dark silent room with him, equally awake, for the whole evening which wasn't much fun. So we all just winged it and he worked out a good evening sleep pattern around the same time he seperated night from day (a few weeks in - 5/6?), although (gosh it's a year ago now, I'm trying to remember) at this point I would sit with him for up to an hour before he drifted off, in the dark. It all felt like a fairly natural progression I think. I wouldn't worry too much about the sound of the telly! Oh and we would rock him in his rock-a-tot car seat too, in the living room, but not everyone wants to get into rocking.

why not rocking?

We dealt with it by using a dummy. Not ideal, but made life bearable for everyone and he gave it up at 4 mths.
I think it's pretty normal.

oh yes, a dummy was invaluable.
Mine gave it up at four months too.

very normal, a great many babies hate to sleep on their own and with very good reason.
Think about it; all he's ever known is being inside you, being warm and close to you and now you expect him to sleep on his own without the comfort of another human !
Of course he doesn't want to sleep on his own in a basket he's only 18 days old !!

They get scared of falling asleep, babies. They can't work out what's happening, poor little buggers.

I'm not fully sure why not rocking, woodmill, it's just something I've picked up on - I suppose because they get used to it and then you have to carry on doing it, which isn't self-settling, but then he always falls asleep in the car seat but it doesn't mean we have to go for a drive every time we want him to go to bed. He just likes it. Also, I was thinking about what we used to do, and I don't think I did often transfer him to bed early on, he would sleep on me at the very beginning, but wasn't disturbed by surrounding noise (tv and chit-chat). I think I thought he was so little to then be waking up on his own in the dark, but then you have to start thinking about routine and going in his basket soon after. But it was sort of like we all got used to it together.

oh and we used a dummy too - it made a HUGE difference, he was just a sucky baby.

ALSO (sorry, this is turning into a trip down memory lane) when I did start actually putting him to bed, it started off as about 10/10.30 because of evening cluster feeding, and then I reduced it gradually, taking my cues off him (sometimes going too far and readjusting back half an hour but trying to keep a 'current constant' IYSWIM) until he was on a regular 7.30 bedtime (still making allowances for extra long afternoon sleeps etc)