7 week DS - overtired? What to do?

[Igglybuff]

Hi, the last week or so my 7 week DS has become resistant to sleep. I think he's already had the growth spurt (feed feed feed plus up til 3am) which has calmed down. His feeding is now 2/3 hours and he has one longer sleep in the night (4 hours).

However now we've got through that, he is more alert and finds it difficult to get to sleep for naps. Before the spurt he'd fall asleep really quickly on the boob or as we burped him. Now, we have to rock/dance/sling him for at least ten minutes before he dozes off. This is hard for me as he needs a few good sleeps in the day and it takes ages to get him down. Then there's the challenge of putting him down once he is asleep... (although I'm not fussed about that as it can be done).

Anyway I just wanted reassurance that this is not unusual? I think he's just so alert now his brain gets overloaded. So I've stopped putting him in his playgym or under his mobile to keep things calm and let him catch up on sleep. Is that a good idea? To be honest he gets excited from me just talking to him...

This is a bit of a ramble - basically is it a phase having to rock DS to sleep or will it start a bad habit? Should I keep things calm with less excitable playtime so he doesn't get overtired too quickly or am I depriving him?

Thanks

Hello there

You could try starting playtime off with the gym/mobile etc, but quickly winding down to just a chat, or 'reading a book'. I seem to remember that at his age my DS would freak out after about five minutes under anything - I think they don't like not being able to get away from the strange things dangling above their head! Just about anything about the world is super-exciting to them, so don't feel you're depriving him!

It's all a phase. Do whatever you have to to get through the first few weeks/months, you won't get him into bad habits at this age. It is all just about survival at the moment.In fact, only taking 10 minutes to get him to sleep sounds pretty good to me, I remember walking around the block a few dozen times with my two!

try wearing him in a sling (close baby carrier is great) - just walking about would send my dd to sleep. Sometimes i then put her down, sometimes just kept wearing her.
An overtired baby is very hard to cope with, you will not create bad habits by letting him fall aslepp with you. My dd is 17 mths now and falls asleep fine on her own, and has done for ages. The sling helps the baby relax and give in to the sleep.

Seems pretty normal to me. I've had to change how I get DS to sleep so many times. One week I can feed him to sleep next week I'll have to rock him. Then he started to settle himself which he stopped doing.
DH is forever telling me "babies do change you know!" when I get frustrated because DS won't go to sleep!
So I would just go with what works for now as it could change again next week..

Ten minutes to get to sleep is when we catch him on the edge of tiredness... There's been times (usually after we've had visitors playing with him) where he is clearly tired for over an hour and gets more and more worked up...

I'm tempted to try and sling him all day and see what happens. Although he's big (13lb11oz at 7 wks!!) so it's tiring - we have the bjorn active.

He does go mad under the play gym/mobile for a few mins then starts to look away so perhaps it;s too much.

But I feel guilty just leaving him sat in his bouncy chair looking around (although he doesn't cry). Maybe I should just leave him too it for a bit?

Ah the joys of being a first timer - I'm a wreck most days by the time DH gets home as I feel I can't figure DS out!

Yes it's hard the first time and no-one tells you how hard it will be! If he is happy in his chair just looking around I would leave him as long as possible and get stuff done, or if you can sit down and have a cup of tea and a biscuit!
If he is taking longer to get to sleep after he has been playing with visitors he probably is over tired/stimulated. Does he cry a lot on these occasions? If so, that is another sign of tiredness.
I found the Baby Whisperer useful the first time round, it gave me some sort of structure to follow which made me feel I had a little control back. Meeting with other mums and comparing notes was the best thing I did though, realising you are not alone and everyone is going through it makes it a lot easier. And anyone who says their baby is "sleeping through the night" at this stage is probably at best exaggerating, at worst downright lying....

I'm afraid I have no idea how old ds2 was at the time, but I do have distinct memories of needing to put him down to sleep. He just wanted his own space I think. Don't feel guilty about leaving him in a bouncy chair - he may well enjoy it, for a little while at least!

Have you tried putting him on his tummy? I know it's against current advice but dd has been on her tummy since about 4 weeks and cannot sleep any other way - apart from the sling.

Give it a go - if only for daytime naps where you can keep an eye on him if you're worried.

He doesn't cry with visitors - he just looks uninterested as they're usually there in the evenings. Sometimes he'll look away!

He sleeps on his front on my chest but can go for a long napon his back if I time it right putting him down. To be honest I think a sling might be the way to go as he likes being held or looking around at the world.

I just have to get over the idea of being his entertainment all the time...

Other mums I know say their babies sleep well at night but they have a three hour evening of crying... Luckily we don't get that just a few hours of DS not sleeping and getting grizzly...!

Iggly - please don't take this the wrong way but I honestly don't think you are going through anything unusual. The first few weeks are just hard bloody work and you just have to get through it. You will be knackered, you will be confused and you will sometimes wish you had never had a baby. But it does all get easier. And then harder again, And then easier, and then.., you get my point?

clara I think you're right. I guess it's just reassurance that it's fine and it's not supposed to always be easy! it's not til baby actually arrives that you really appreciate how tough it is.... Luckily DH is super supportive and is currently on "put DS to sleep" duty (that sounds cruel!) therefore giving me a break to eat pizza

Iggly this is totally normal. I have a DS3 who is 1 week old today and I know I am going to have to go through this too for the next few weeks (at the moment he mostly goes off like a dream but I know this changes as they get a bit older). My DS1 was exactly as you describe when he was about 6 weeks. They just get so overwhelmed and over tired sometimes and I guess it is just a phase all babies go through to different degrees (DS2 wasn't as bad as DS1). With DS1 even at six / seven weeks I started a routine before naps of story and singing 'you are my sunshine' to him so that he associated these with sleep. He still cried when I put him down but I did the going back to him, leaving him, going back, leaving him thing until he dropped off - exhausting but worth it. Now aged 6 he loves his sleep!

Becky - I think I'm goingto have to try putting him down like you say. Mainly because he's getting too heavy to rock to sleep now - my back is killing me from doing it so much!!!