7 WEEK OLD...RESTLESS SLEEP

[LUCYKATIE]

HI ALL, MY FRIENDS DAUGHTER OF 7 WEEKS WILL NOT SLEEP IN HER MOSES BASKET, WELL SOMETIMES SHE WILL, OTHER TIMES SHE GETS RESTLESS, FLAPPING HER ARMS AND GRUNTING,SHE SLEEPS WELL WHEN LYING ON MUM OR DAD BUT THEY CANNOT GO ON LIKE THAT, REALLY FEELING FOR THEM AT THE MOMENT....ANY TIPS

I think at 7 weeks old, the baby's movements will be mainly involentary, so maybe swaddling her will help her to settle? HTH

THEY HAVE TRIED THAT BUT NO GOOD, BABY SLEEPS WELL IN PRAM AND CAR SEAT,ITS WAKING MY FRIEND UP AT NIGHT THEN HUBBY GETS UP SO BOTH TIRED AT THE MOMENT

hi

I agree with last person - swaddling can really help - also you could try a gro bag. My ds has never been great at sleeping - only now at 5 months after some cc has he got better. But what did help was doing a bedtime routine - bath, big a feed as poss (at 7 weeks I sometimes breast fed him for an hr) then sleep. We put him to bed at 7.30 and had an evening most nights - which really helped. Then he was generally up twice a night at around 1 and then 4.

I would also say at 7 wks that I think they are so new to the world and need feeding - just have patience it gets better - hopefully.

One other thing that worked for a friend of mine - you could try just putting your hand on the baby when it starts crying and see if you can calm it back to sleep. My friend has her dd next to her in a basket and did this almost subconsciously and by 12 wks the baby was sleeping 12 hrs a night or more without a break !! so jealous and wish I'd tried it

good luck

gret ideas will call her with them, any more ideas would be great

I had a similar problem recently, just as my new baby was falling asleep she would get startled and then be wide awake which was very frustrating as I would just be about to tempt sleep myself. I now lay her in the middle of a blanket and roll the sides up to her so she has like a bolster pillow at either side. (you can buy a specific product which does this but this way just as good and less expensive) It works anyway, I think she feels more secure and cosy. I had also tried swaddling but with no luck. She is now in her cot and I do the same thing, so she has settled well and sleeps 7 to 8 hours from 6 weeks old. I also swear by a dose of gripe water as it has a calming substance in it which warms the belly (aparantly)and helps sooth the baby to sleep.

Are you swaddling right? We were amazed at how tight we had to do it - like a straitjacket only TIGHTER! I seem to remember the Gina Ford book has a good diagram. But do it good and TIGHT! Transformed DD's sleep and we didn't move on to grobags for many months