Poor sleeper

jdb04d

I have a 7 week old who is giving us so much trouble with sleep. I wish I knew how to put him to sleep, but I don't. I see his cues - and will immediately try to help him fall asleep, and he will fall asleep in my arms (sometimes) but the minute I put him down he wakes up. We were up with him for 6 hours last night, finally rocking him in the RNP for an hour with the hair dryer on did the trick. I'm willing to cosleep with him as well - but he doesn't even go down that way sometimes! Anyone else have a poor sleeper?? Will this get better?

BlondieBia21

He's not a poor sleeper, he's an infant. It takes them a while to figure it all out. Try to do a loose routine- play, eat, bath, sleep. Rock him in a chair, and don't try to set him down until you can lift his arm and it is "limp" and falls down on it's own without him pulling back from you. We used the song "baby got colic" which you can put on loop and it was worth every penny. You can also get free white noise apps. Also, turn the lights off at the same time every night (we do 8) so he knows it is time for sleep. Turn the lights on in the AM so he knows it's time for the day. It will get better.

taraleanne

Unfortunately I think we can all relate at some point. Yes, it will get better, promise. PP has some good suggestions, try them.  Sleepy time routine is good. Be consistent, I know he's just little but he will get used to it sooner than later.  We do bath and nursing only at bedtime but otherwise daytime was eat, play sleep repeat  which started around 7-8 weeks old.  White noise, swaddling, rocking to deep sleep, car rides, swing, I used to do 100 squats while holding tight, shusshing and my swaddled baby. Try the 5's.  For me, when my baby was that young, I did whatever I had to do to make sure he slept, I didn't care about "habits" cause an overtired/overstimulated baby is a cranky and unhappy one. Wake times will be short short. It wasn't until 3-4 months that we started working on baby going down awake but sleepy/drowsy and now he falls asleep on his own. (only because he was no longer falling into our rocking tricks - too distracted by our faces )  The sleep sheep and a soother has helped!  Good luck and hang in there. 

SnoopyLuv

By the time they show tires signs it might be too late. He's probably overtired and needs to be put down earlier. Instead of rocking or whatever you're doing try lying him down and soothing while he's in his sleep space.

KimS17

We had the same problem! I had my mom come over and help us one night because we had no idea what to do to help DD sleep. We dim all the lights at 7 and put her in PJs, and feed her (every other night is bath time). One of us will hold her and if she's screaming (which does happen a lot) we wrap her in a blanket and hold her arms tight and give her a pacifier. It takes a little time, but it worked for us. Usually she will fall asleep, but not deep sleep and she will wake up and scream again. Then we just keep holding her tight so she can't fight it. She does eventually get into a deep sleep so we can put her in the RnP.

The way my pedi explained it to my parents when I was a baby was, babies get stressed from the day just like adults, but they don't know how to unwind and fall asleep. So, you need to help them and not let them fight sleep by keeping them still.

Littlemama01

We sort of have a routine that seems to be working for us, evening hours he is awake usually 45-1 hour, then I feed him, every 2 hours. Ie) between 5-6 feed, 7-8 feed, 9-10 feed. After the 9-10 feed I make sure his diaper is clean, he's swaddled up tight, lights are dim, soother in, and put him In His bassinet with water noise. He can be awake, I find he sleeps better when we aren't holding him to sleep. Then I walk away. He can fuss a bit, sometimes it's just gas he's working out, or that he lost his soother. but if he gets frantic or cries, I go pick him up, rock/sway with him, then put him back down. I don't try and put him to sleep in my arms as I have found that unsuccessful.

huntjul

If he's waking during the transfer, you could try getting him to fall asleep in the RNP instead. I would have said that wouldn't work when I had the same problem, but then it worked... I did the bedtime routine, swaddled tight, fed, then laid her down in the bassinet, gave her a paci, and rocked her to sleep. Then things just got easier and she started going down easier--not fighting sleep as much. Now we switched up the routine some, but that adjustment was our turning point at about 7 weeks.

PrimRoseMama

Dude, WTAF do you expect from a newborn? Seriously. Babies gonna baby...

Odds are by the time the cues start it's too late. Start attempting a nap every 45 minutes. Adjust your expectations. There is no "good" or "bad". There is what your baby needs as an individual. You will save yourself tons of anxiety if you throw out what you think should happen & make your peace with what is happening.

Do what works. Keep experimenting until something works. Don't force certain things if they don't work. Go with the flow. There is no baby manual.

PrimRoseMama

KimS17 said:

We had the same problem! I had my mom come over and help us one night because we had no idea what to do to help DD sleep. We dim all the lights at 7 and put her in PJs, and feed her (every other night is bath time). One of us will hold her and if she's screaming (which does happen a lot) we wrap her in a blanket and hold her arms tight and give her a pacifier. It takes a little time, but it worked for us. Usually she will fall asleep, but not deep sleep and she will wake up and scream again. Then we just keep holding her tight so she can't fight it. She does eventually get into a deep sleep so we can put her in the RnP.

The way my pedi explained it to my parents when I was a baby was, babies get stressed from the day just like adults, but they don't know how to unwind and fall asleep. So, you need to help them and not let them fight sleep by keeping them still.

Um. Some babies require movement...

Swaddling also achieves this tight, comforting feeling.

KimS17

PrimRoseMama said:

KimS17 said:

We had the same problem! I had my mom come over and help us one night because we had no idea what to do to help DD sleep. We dim all the lights at 7 and put her in PJs, and feed her (every other night is bath time). One of us will hold her and if she's screaming (which does happen a lot) we wrap her in a blanket and hold her arms tight and give her a pacifier. It takes a little time, but it worked for us. Usually she will fall asleep, but not deep sleep and she will wake up and scream again. Then we just keep holding her tight so she can't fight it. She does eventually get into a deep sleep so we can put her in the RnP.

The way my pedi explained it to my parents when I was a baby was, babies get stressed from the day just like adults, but they don't know how to unwind and fall asleep. So, you need to help them and not let them fight sleep by keeping them still.

Um. Some babies require movement...

Swaddling also achieves this tight, comforting feeling.

Umm, I didn't say this works for all babies. My parents did it with my brother and I and it happen to work for us as well. OP asked for suggestions, so I told her what we do, because it might work for her too.
Also, I'm aware of what swaddling is. We can't swaddle our DD due to hip problems, doctor's orders, and sleep sacks go too far down on her hips, so we can only use blankets to swaddle her arms.

Lmdesaiku

Get the book "healthy sleep happy child" it's awesome. I followed it with my daughter and at 2 years old she's the best sleeper. My son was harder and I've had to adjust a few things. The book is a great starting point though. Your baby is young- things will get easier but it's imperative you establish healthy sleep hygiene soon. Graco makes a great white noise machine you can get on amazon for $25. It stays on with no shut off which I love. We had the sleep sheep but when it turned off my son would wake up. Hang in there. It's hard but if you teach your little one to soothe himself and sleep well you will be rewarded for years to come. Try the book!