HELP! My 9 week old doesnt fall asleep til 1030-11pm! Please help

[SleepyCaz]

My 9 week old DD WILL NOT go down to sleep for the night until at least 10.30pm. The last few nights it's been after 11. She will sleep in my arms, but the minute i put her down, either in her moses or her bouncy chair, she snaps awake and sobs. Can't settle herself at all. Falls asleep on her last feed and then wakes at about 4.30am, for a bottle, then sleeps til 7 ish. So, when she does go to sleep, she sleeps well, and only wakes once, but it's getting her down that is the problem. She has no pattern or routine at all in the day, but has bad colic and screams much of the day and ALL of early evening. DH and i exhausted as is 3 yr old DS. help!!

IME they don't settle into any sort or routine until about 12 weeks.

However if she is falling asleep on you but waking when put into her basket, try wrapping her snugly in a cotton blanket with her arms enclosed (swaddled) then cuddling her to sleep, put a hot water bottle in her basket and then whip it out when you put her down. If she wakes on putting her down shush and pat her back firmly; she may settle down after a minute or two.

Having said all that I think 2230-0430 is a pretty good stretch so it might be a case of grinning and bearing it (do shifts with your DH?) until she settles into more of a routine.

May still be too early to self-settle. I found the only way to settle DS at that age was letting him fall asleep in my arms, waiting about 20 mins and making sure he had no REM before putting him in the moses basket. That way, I knew he was in a deep sleep (recommended by Dr Sears!). Gave me arm ache though . It never became a habit either as I stopped when he got to about 12 weeks and started shush/pat.

I do remember those days all too clearly. The sound of the evening soaps starting used to make my stomach drop, as I knew it marked the start of a long night. My baby suffered terrible colic in the evenings and at night and was also very very hungry. I breast-fed her, which is easily digestible, so she would wake at every two-three hours throughout the night for a feed and would often have a prolonged and painful bout of colic. It all came to an end once she started on solids at about 4 and a half months. It was like magic. Advice suggests 6 months before solids, but my baby was hungry and was clearly ready for food. You may have to grin and bear the sleepless nights until then, but for me, once that very tiring stage came to end, my daughter started sleeping through almost immediately and has been a fantastic sleeper ever since. Hope this helps.