Overtired Baby

BabySeaTurtles · March 2016

My baby has been awake for 5 hours. Before this she had a 3 hour nap and was awake for 4 hours before that. I have spent a total of 8 hours today trying to get her to sleep and I have tried absolutely everything I could possibly think of short of crying it out (she's only 3.5 weeks old). She's obviously way overtired at this point and I am at my wits end. Swaddling, swinging, comfort nursing, cluster feeding, rocking, car ride, etc. has been done. I have tried it all and I just don't know what else to do. I am hoping for someone to throw out an idea that I haven't tried on getting this little girl to sleep. Please?

MississippiCatfish · March 2016

Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry:( It sounds like you've tried just about everything, but here's a couple ideas that may be worth trying. You must be so tired. Hugs. I'm sure you doing a GREAT job, despite such a rough day:(

- taking a bath with LO, as in both of you in the big bathtub together. This is my magic right now - baby likes to put one ear under the water to hear that sound, especially when the faucet is still running. He absolutely loves it and calmed down tonight during his witching hour for 20 minutes or so in there.

- loud white noise, like vacuuming or standing right next to the dryer.

- baby-wearing or stroller ride, if you haven't tried already

meg+on+the+DL · March 2016

I second @MississippiCatfish. My LO loves the showers. She just completely relaxes in my arms. (Warning... she's hella slippery when wet! Try wrapping them in a towel or something that you can hold them in a get wet.)

Also, the walk might be super good. I always find that when they are super stimulated, it wears them out more.

Good luck mama! We are all there with you!

OctoberStars · March 2016

Bouncing on a yoga ball is my crying cure all at the moment. If I'm wearing him in the k'tan while bouncing he usually goes to sleep pretty quickly.

ashton2190 · March 2016

I agree with the vacuum idea. I couldn't get my LO to sleep one day in the bassinet so I figured I would vacuum while she was fussing since I knew there was nothing wrong with her. When I turned off the vacuum, I realized she was fast asleep. Or turn something like a box fan on for white noise. I've found that if my LO is too warm (she's a little space heater), she gets super cranky so it kills two birds with one stone. Good luck to you and here's hoping she sleeps through the night for you!

Fullerj21 · March 2016

Bath with baby or put in a carrier (if you have one) and go for a walk. Good luck!

Vkrosa · March 2016

Oh mama I feel for you. LO has done that to me. I ended up sitting in the floor with her in my arms crying before H came to my rescue. Since then I have tried:
- carrying her in a ring sling to the point where her and I fell asleep.
- vacuum
- hair dryer noise ( it's part of the Happiest Baby in the Block program)
- a warm bath is also a great way for all to relax.
I hope you get some reprieve soon. Hang in there and know it won't last forever.

Katty422 · March 2016

Turn the shower on and let it run while rocking your little one to sleep. Singing to her may help too.

BabyHope2013 · March 2016

Put them in the car and take a ride. Hit up a drive thru for some Starbucks or ice cream for you.

MississippiCatfish · March 2016

Obviously hoping you're fast asleep right now, but I remembered while reading the responses that when my first baby was little, when driving in the car, we had to turn up a static radio station suuuper loud, and it would put him to sleep within a handful of minutes. Something to try next time, maybe:)

lilqt3929 · March 2016

I've had good luck with the hair dryer, washer/dryer, and also bringing baby into the bathroom with the shower running (while I take a quick shower, he lays on the floor on his changing pad) these things usually make DS fall right to sleep.

Sweet_D · March 2016

There's YouTube videos of the vacuum and blow dryer that loop for hours! We play them on our iPads.

Adyer7 · March 2016

I'm so sorry! I've found that when my little or is overtired (she tries to stay up for a couple of hours everyday) just holding her close and whispering softly to her works. She is generally very alert so too much rocking or outside sound just stimulates her more.

Hope you got some rest mama! Overtired babies are the worst. I try to only let my daughter be up for 40 minutes or less. Past that and I have a really cranky baby on my hands.

BabySeaTurtles · March 2016

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. We finally did get some sleep last night. I had not tried the vacuum cleaner or the bath ideas so I'll stick those in my back pocket for a hopefully non-existent next time. #StillSoTired

starsinnight · March 2016

This may sound dumb but burping her always helps her pass out. Even when I think I've burped her enough, sometimes there's more and it prevents her from sleeping.

i also pull her RnP into the bathroom while I take a hot shower. She passes right out in it. Good luck!

smn14 · March 2016

@Sweet_D we swear by the you tube videos at night. OP, Google 'YouTube womb noises' and you can get 10 hour whooshing noises. It transformed sleep time for us. I just have it on my iPhone all night. Calms me too and prevents me from hearing her little noises that keep me awake too!

mommaz1 · March 2016

This is a really strange suggestion... my LO loves deep voices. Neither myself or my husband can get our voice low enough, but we found a white noise app that has chanting monks and it knocks him out cold in 15 seconds. We play it super loud. The app is "Relax Melodies" and the free one has the monks! Worth a shot next time!

meg+on+the+DL · March 2016

I saw this this morning after a rough night of sleep. Basically how I feel!

willkc · March 2016

meg+on+the+DL said:

I saw this this morning after a rough night of sleep. Basically how I feel!

I so appreciate the laugh! We had an awful night last night, baby woke up every hour and was fine until we set him back down. He hasn't done that since the night we brought him home. Needless to say, when he naps today, momma will be napping too.

BabySeaTurtles · March 2016

These past couple days I have learned that the best way to get her asleep is just to set her down and walk away. She fights sleep like crazy and will grunt herself awake when she's "in danger" of falling sleep. But if I don't respond to the grunts and fusses and let her be, she will eventually fall asleep.

ashton2190 · March 2016

Something else to consider is that not all babes like being swaddled. Mine went a couple weeks where she was better with her arms free and now she can't sleep without being tightly swaddled in a sleep sack

dtaded13 · March 2016

BabySeaTurtles said:

These past couple days I have learned that the best way to get her asleep is just to set her down and walk away. She fights sleep like crazy and will grunt herself awake when she's "in danger" of falling sleep. But if I don't respond to the grunts and fusses and let her be, she will eventually fall asleep.

I found this out this week as well. DS does amazing when I just swaddle him, sing him a song, give him a kiss and lay him down. Sometimes he doesn't cry at all. Other times he'll cry on and off for a few minutes then fall asleep. Kinda sad he doesn't enjoy rocking but happy I found something that works.

Overtired Baby

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