Sleep routine for a six-week old? IS there such a thing?

[LoisWilkerson]

So dd3 is now six weeks old and her sleeping is becoming more and more problematic every day. As a result, there's no real routine in place.

It's the usual problem, she will sleep happily in my arms but not in the cot or moses basket. It's impossible to put her down awake and even putting her down fast asleep is becoming more difficult (usually wakes up within 10 / 20 minutes). She's fed, winded, swaddled and calmed until asleep. I then lay her in her cot. After a time, she'll wake up & I'll gently stroke her face and 'ssh' her until she (hopefully) drops off again. Sometimes this works but invariably she wakes up again shortly after.

At night she'll eventually go off anytime between 11 & 1am, absolutely exhausted. She's bf every 2 / 3 hours (or less if she's really unhappy).

The main problem is that her siblings are still very young and I can't have the youngest asleep on me all the time. I love the Baby Whisperer and although the 'ssh pat' technique calms her down, it does not keep her asleep in bed. Became that desperate this morning that, against all better judgement, I let her 'cry it out' - absolutely awful and never again. She hollered solid for 40 mins, I ended up in floods of tears (again) and felt like the worst mother in the world (again).

Should there really be a routine in place for a six week old? Do babies really sleep 16 hours a day at this age, as the books tell me? I'm so caught up in what the experts tell us we should be doing (3 hour routines, putting down awake, sleeping 1.5/2 hrs etc), I can't realx and enjoy this time with her at all and am in bits constantly.

My DD who is now three and a half followed GF perfectly and has always slept very well from 7pm - 7am, so I have used the same routine for my six week old DS. I can't believe anyone would want to use a sling to carry a baby round all day! Maybe I'm expecting too much of him, as he can always be put down to sleep, he just wakes a couple of hours early sometimes in the morning.

Aitch: all I'm disagreeing on is WHY not feeding on demand can lead to weight issues in later life.

Thanks for all your ideas on this one - an update.
I haven't tried the sling yet but in desperation I bought a dummy and it's going down a treat. I only offer it at sleep time and it's not always well received but it invariably calms her beyond belief.

Sometimes it works, sometimes not but it has - so far - put a complete stop to the bedtime crying. I've even had the odd success putting her down awake, which I never thought would happen. So EatPeachPearMum, I thank you.

She's still a complete monkey sometimes, refusing to sleep, despite tiredness but we get very little hollering now.