Inconsolable baby, any ideas?

[hopefully]

DS is nearly 8 weeks, and around 50% of the time goes down for his naps fairly easily ( goes into cot just about awake and shh/patting for 5-15 mins).
However, the other 50% of the time, he is fairly tense from the moment we begin to settle him (he is giving the same sleep cues at the same time as when he is calm...) and just gets worse and worse. Cuddling, rocking, holding him don't help, he doesn't appear to be after human comfort (from me or dp). he's not looking for food but will latch on if i offer (excl BF)) - he pulls off after a moment, dozes for a minute or so then starts screaming again. The frequent feeding also seems to make him colicky (lots more screaming, knees up to tummy etc), so I'm not keen to attempt to console him this way.

He's obviously exhausted after a while of this, but it continues for hours (occasionally we can distract him in the bouncer or by giving him a bath, and try again to put him down). I hate the idea of just sitting by his cot while he screams, but I don't really know what to do to help him get to sleep!

Any thoughts or ideas much appreciated. I know it's not a major problem, and possibly hugely common, as he does sleep around half the time, but it's just such a shame seeing him so upset and exhausted.

Are you trying to get him to nap at the same time every day? With my ds this has never really worked - even when he rubs his eyes sometimes he's not really tired enough for a sleep. 8 weeks is still v young and he'll probably get into a bit of a routine himself after a while. Mine sleeps at 10.30 every morning for an hour but hardly ever has another nap...

I'm not trying to get him to nap at exactly the same time, but roughly similar awake times, iykwim - he follows a vaguely Eat, Awake, Sleep routine a la baby whisperer.

His lunchtime nap is usually the worst one - I don't know if I'm trying to put him down too soon or too late, but he rarely settles for this one. however, I assume he's tired, as he's yawning inbetween screams, has massive bags under his eyes, and if I give up and go out with the pram, he is literally asleep within 30 seconds.
I know the logical answer is to put him in the pram for this nap every day, but as he's grouchy if he has less than about 2 hours at this nap, it means walking the streets for 2 hours!
Also, in the pram he wakes a few times, screams for a minute or two and nods off again - don't know if this is the rocking or the fact that I don't tend to interfere with him in the pram.

His afternoon nap is fairly hit and miss as well, but more successful than the lunchtime one, and the evenings vary depending on whether he's got a sore tummy (lots of knees up and screaming) or not (instant sleep)

Interesting that your DS sometimes isn't ready for sleep even when rubbing his eyes etc - perhaps I'm pissing DS off (if that's possible) by taking upstairs for quiet time before he's remotely ready for sleep.

hmm...I remember mine used to nod off to sleep quite happily if on the move, but not if I put him down in his cot - he seemed to want movement. For this reason I used to push him to sleep in his pram in the hall and then leave him to have his naps there during the day. Now that he's older he doesn't require the movement as much and will nap in his cot upstairs.

My DD isn't always ready for sleep when she rubs her eyes.

At 8 weeks DDs sleep was also very erratic. She did love being swaddled though. Have you tried this? Or if I really wanted her to sleep I'd stick her in the sling and go for a walk. I could come back and have a cup of tea and a sit down while she was still sleeping there.

Another thought - what about a cosy bf and then swaddle and a song, like a mini bedtime routine to give him the message that he's off for a nap? Even when DD is tired, she doesn't always know it.

Izzy I tried pushing him up and down the hall, but for some reason he seems to only appreciate the movement if he's out in the fresh air, going along a wobbly pavement being thrown from side to side in the cot!

LaTrucha I do swaddle DS (although he's really beginning to fight it, but can't get to sleep without it).

I do try to have a bit of a nap time routine (couple of minutes quiet time in his bouncy chair, then a cuddle upstairs while a lullaby plays, then in bed with a shh/pat for a few mins). It works really well when he's in the mood, I can see and feel him relaxing as we get to the cot, but when he's not in the mood I can feel him tensing as soon as the lullaby/dark room happens. Perhaps I need to just abandon trying to get him to nap for a few minutes if he's getting tense...

"The frequent feeding also seems to make him colicky (lots more screaming, knees up to tummy etc), so I'm not keen to attempt to console him this way."

This is indicative of too much lactose causing him tummy ache/colic. Read up on kellymom.com about foremilk/hindmilk imbalance and consider block feeding to make sure he's getting loads of hind milk. It might also be worth you cutting milk out of your own diet for 2 weeks to see if it makes a difference to him, but as he's not always colicy, probably that is unnecessary. www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussybaby.html

Hi hopefully, I have a tiny tip which might help a tiny bit. It is:

hold baby
do not rock baby
climb on bed
bounce gently up and down on the bed.. baby is stationary in your arms and the movement is all yours.

It used to help mine.

That's all I've got really, I hope things resolve soon.

DD liked that too.

I say abandon it if you sense him getting tense, play for a bit then try again in a while. My DS has always been like this! Looks knackered, but sometimes won't sleep. As he's got older it's become easier to recognises when his brain is too busy to settle, even when his body is tired. If he is colicky/ windy you could try gripe water/ infacol to see if it helps?

thanks for the suggestions, will have a try today!