night time waking

[poonchi]

my 7 week old baby usually wakes around 3am for a breast feed. unfortunately, she then stays awake for 2 hours, looking around the room as if it is morning. i keep the lights dim and do not show any affection/play with her. eventually i end up bringing her in the bed so that she might sleep. any solutions or ideas please?

Congratulations on your baby!

She is very young. I think day / night organisation only starts at around 6-8 weeks. Try rocking / patting her, although it may not help. My DS used to be up for 2 hours every time he woke up in the night, but it gradually got shorter and for the last month or so (he's 17 weeks) he generally goes straight back to sleep after feeding.

I'd stick with taking her into bed with you until she settles more easily. Don't worry about getting into bad habits. I co-slept with DS when he was hard to settle, and now he's happy in his cot.

Have you tried just putting her back in her crib? When my baby was newborn I felt I could only put her back in her crib once she was asleep. Then I discovered I could put her back still awake and she'd just happily lie there for a bit then fall asleep.

thank you. if i put her back in the cot she eventually starts crying after playing for a little while. in the end it just seems easier to pick her up and hold her until she is asleep, although i dont want to start bad habits