Help.....2 Week old sleeps all day and will not sleep at night!

[Natti]

Can anyone help. Our 2 week old girl will not settle at night. If we put her down she screams. She's well fed, changed and tired but she will just cry and if we do not pick her up scream the entire house down!!

Any advice....please......yawn......

She is very little.

Mine did not start to recognise the y day/night pattern until about 8 weeks in.She is still getting used to the outside world

It is EXTREMELY tiring but it will work out eventually...no consolation when you are shattered,I know,but believe me she will get there.

Congratulations on your baby,btw

Ah, she's too little to know the difference yet. All you can do at this age is go with it, sleep when she does during the day(if you can) and gradually things will change as she starts having more awake time during the day (about 8 weeks).

Sorry, probably not what you want to hear!

No i do understand - daddy talking now - she does sleep during the day when she is not eating every 15 minutes!!

But it gets to 11pm and she will still be up at 5am!! Its hard for me but mummy tries to sleep during the day not always successfully.

I know we will get there she can be an angel but im hoping we'll start our routine at some point so fingers crossed!!

It will get better

Just keep repeating that mantra in your heads

There is nothing on Earth more lifechanging than a new baby,but it does get better

Hi, I'm afraid I haven't got any advice to offer but I could have written your post, my little girl (19 days old) sleeps all day and cries all night which I feel awful about as it seems Dad only gets to see her like that!

Clare x

Daddy is happy to see her however she is but its hard as he goes to work and does long hours and needs sleep so he goes to the sofa and she takes his spot in the bedroom! Im sure it'll improve just real hard work at the moment! And good luck with yours!!

Continue going to the sofa - I think separate beds when babies small saved our marriage at this time. Two sleep-deprived people are so much worse than one.

Has your DP tried co-sleeping with a boob in the baby's mouth? Or at least, learning to feed lying down. (Easier on 2nd babies I think as boobs floppier, but worth a go just to get some kip).

She's only tiny. it's fine to break all the "rules" for a bit.

I found Baby Whisperer book really helpful at this stage - basically trying to keep the baby awake for short periods between feeds during the day.

It's a long long haul at the time but really it's all blink and you miss it!

It will get better! My dd didn't know day from night for about 6 weeks.

Have you try to keep her into a room with daylight, noise such as tv or radio during the day and go to a dark quiet room when it's night time? Also I found with my DS that dressing him in something else then sleepsuit during the day was marking the difference.

It took me a few weeks but in my case it worked

Good luck

I echo all of that. Very few newborns are happy to be put down to sleep at night, IME. My LO slept on me for the first few weeks - not really recommended, but it was the only way she and I got any sleep overnight. Eventually she got the hang of the difference between day and night (about six-eight weeks IIRR) and would gradually consent to sleep in her baby nest.

Congratulations!!

• Swaddle
• Elevate her head
• Co-sleep

These are things that help wee babies sleep. It helps mum/dad nod off too. :D

Different associations for day and night time helped me. I put in place a bed time routine as soon as we got home from hospital, of bath, quiet time, feeding in the dark.

There was a lot of cluster feeding - hours spent my me in a darkened room, playing sodoku on my mobile while she fed! Lots of gently rocking her to sleep and lots of cuddles. But once the lights went out (or dimmed) they stayed that way and she didn't come and have dinner with us or watch TV with us.

That was our approach but it may not work for everyone.

And every day is different... enjoy each passing phase.

Natti - if it's any consolation we're in exactly the same situation with our 4-week old! I promise it gets better (our 3 yo sleeps through the night beautifully so I keep reminding myself that these things shall pass..).

Oh, and for good tips on settling your baby, look on youtube for Dr Karp's 5S approach (from Richard & Judy) - it's great for calming baby but don't expect it to settle her at night, she just needs to get used to life outside the womb for that part to settle.

Inmaculada!!! I just wanted to say THANK YOU for telling me about Dr Karp!

Aw. 2 weeks so small! Good article here:-

teach baby difference between night and day

Congrats on your bundle! x

I second co-sleeping. My DS is 17 days old. The first 7 days he slept constantly, only waking twice in the night. I thought I had given birth to an angel

I have 2.4 year old DD and she never slept.

DS now has days and nights mixed up but if in bed with me (DH in spare room, pillows and duvet off bed - ultra paranoid) he seems to get the idea.

I third co-sleeping! Even if only for part of the night.