4 week old difficulty transitioning from awake to asleep

[NoodleDoodle]

DS1 (4 weeks old) appears to have difficulty transitioning from awake to asleep.

After a feed he may well be awake and quite content for a short period (20 minutes if I am lucky). However he seems to fight going to sleep. As soon as he starts to yawn he starts to crank up crying. Whilst I/DH might be able to calm him he seems to refuse to just tip over into sleep. Therefore, assuming a feed(BF) and a nappy change take about 45-60 minutes to complete, after about 2 hours of calming him I would then feed him. He may well catch a brief nap towards the end of this cycle but not deep enough that I can put him down without him waking and crying. It seems to take 2 cycles like this before at the 3rd cycle he is so tired that he will actually sleep.

Is this normal? Are there any suggestions on how to improve this?

Hi NoodleD. At 4wks, babies are usually ready for sleep 90-120 mins after they last woke up. If you leave it longer than 2 hrs, they often get overtired and find it harder to switch off and get to sleep. Try to get him down before he gets to the cranky/yawny stage.

Hmmm - ds is 7 months old but I remember holding him while he was sleeping quite a bit when he was very young. To help with that, I used a sling or a baby bjorn often so he would stay asleep longer and I didn't have to sit there. Or, I would put him on a blanket while I nursed him so when he fell asleep I would swaddle him and be able to put him down easier. I also used a white noise machine so he would stay alseep longer. It takes a few months to really get the idea of day versus night because they have to eat so often... One thing I did which my pediatrician suggested, which worked for my son but may not work for every kid as by 6 weeks he was sleeping more at night, was to make sure that he never slept longer than 2 hours during the day so he would have more feedings during the day and need fewer feeds at night making him sleep longer at night. Whether I would do this again or not I'm not sure, but it's an idea anyway to speed up the day versus night conundrum. Anyway, good luck whatever you decide to do!

Hi NoodleDoodle .. I do sympathise. DD2 is 3 weeks and is the same . I am trying to be strict and limit daytime sleep to about 5-6 hours (if possible) in the hope of improving nnightime sleep. I find that she just nods off endlessly after a feed during day and can stay alseep for so much longer at nights. Making sure that your DS is well fed during the day thus, more awake time would also be the aim as well. Good luck !

Thank you all for taking the time to answer my plea for help. DS1 and I have just spent a few days in hospital where the underlying cause has been identified - now that is being addressed we have a much happier baby (and parents!).

my ds3 used to make a strange noise as if trying to keep himself awake!!!! now he does it to fall asleep!!!! your ds is only 4 weeks old..he has a lot to get used to. let him just settle as he wishes,before long he will sort himself out. He has had nine months of been fed all the time never had to wake for it or cry for it,he could nod off and wake up when he wanted and he needs to get used to the way his mummy wants things, so go gentle with him !!