12 Week Old Won't Sleep

OREGATO

Hi guys,

Sorry for the long post in advance.

First time Dad here looking for some advice/help!

Our daughter is 12 weeks old as of Friday and we're having a really difficult time putting her down for naps during the day and sleep during the night.

My partner is breastfeeding her and we give her the odd formula bottle when required.

Issue is for the past 3 weeks, she has not been sleeping well at all and we are looking for advice as we feel helpless and sleep deprived

At around the 8 week mark, she slept for 5 or 6 hrs in the night and we thought we were making good progress but since then, things have started to go backwards.

We've always tried to keep a bed time routine for her, bringing her up to a dark room, playing a lullaby etc. but she won't go down for more than 2 hours at a time for the past 3 weeks and will wake up inconsolable. It will take ages to get her back down and even then she will only sleep for a maximum of 1 hour before she kicks off again.

During the day, she will simply not nap, the only place she will sleep is in a carrier or the odd time, if we have her in the pram, she'll nod off but for a maximum of maybe 1 hour.

We're just struggling at the moment and wondering if anyone can suggest something or share their experiences? Everything I have read online appears to help with babies who will not sleep well at night OR won't nap during the day, but our little one seems to not sleep at all.

When she is awake, she is generally ok, she can happily sit on my lap for a long stint or sit in her swing etc. Sometimes she is cranky and I put that down to her not sleeping but not sure what we can do as she'll nod off for 20 minutes at a time and wake back up again.

Any advice/help/suggestions would be appreciated.

shesty

How is she waking?
By that I mean, is she swallowing or gulping a bit and waking herself up?And also, do you always rock or feed her to sleep, then put her down in a bed?
Bear in mind though she is only 12 weeks.And there is a sleep regression round the 4 month mark.....
Both mine have been 40min catnappers during the day, and they take a bit more work!!But it can be done.

Neyite

The Wonder Weeks say that there's a leap around 12 weeks. Some babies don't seem to be phased but others show a very disrupted few days around the milestones. Mine seemed to correspond to the wonder weeks timelines fairly obviously.

https://www.thewonderweeks.com/mental-leap-3/

Anne_cordelia

OREGATO wrote: »

Hi guys,

Sorry for the long post in advance.

First time Dad here looking for some advice/help!

Our daughter is 12 weeks old as of Friday and we're having a really difficult time putting her down for naps during the day and sleep during the night.

My partner is breastfeeding her and we give her the odd formula bottle when required.

Issue is for the past 3 weeks, she has not been sleeping well at all and we are looking for advice as we feel helpless and sleep deprived

At around the 8 week mark, she slept for 5 or 6 hrs in the night and we thought we were making good progress but since then, things have started to go backwards.

We've always tried to keep a bed time routine for her, bringing her up to a dark room, playing a lullaby etc. but she won't go down for more than 2 hours at a time for the past 3 weeks and will wake up inconsolable. It will take ages to get her back down and even then she will only sleep for a maximum of 1 hour before she kicks off again.

During the day, she will simply not nap, the only place she will sleep is in a carrier or the odd time, if we have her in the pram, she'll nod off but for a maximum of maybe 1 hour.

We're just struggling at the moment and wondering if anyone can suggest something or share their experiences? Everything I have read online appears to help with babies who will not sleep well at night OR won't nap during the day, but our little one seems to not sleep at all.

When she is awake, she is generally ok, she can happily sit on my lap for a long stint or sit in her swing etc. Sometimes she is cranky and I put that down to her not sleeping but not sure what we can do as she'll nod off for 20 minutes at a time and wake back up again.

Any advice/help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Um that all sounds completely normal to me. I’d be delighted if my baby slept 2 hours at the beginning of the night. They were still downstairs with us at that stage with no bedtime routine. I would say she could be a bit overtired so aim to get her back to sleep within 1.5hrs of waking up. Then just go with the flow and let her nap in the carrier or in arms for another month or two. It’s the best part of parenting in those early days!

Peyton2014

I completely understand how your feeling. I had my first 3 years ago and I now have a 1 year old so I have now perfected the bed time routine for my two rug rats, but not before many sleepless nights.

Babies sleep better after a nice warm bath.
Make sure they are not hungry - babies are generally more hungry if breast fed. Feed loads during the daytime.
Could be teething offer bongella and or calpol.
Make sure they are not refluxing.
Make sure they are not to cold/hot.
Offer soother.
Failing all of the above play white noise - Hoover and hair dryer is best and very last tip if baby is breast fed maybe baby just wants moms scent so get mom to leave a worn T shirt on the crib mattress, obviously in a safe way so that baby can't pull it over their head or get tangled in it.

Do check babys reflux though, there's a baby reflux page on another site which is very helpful.

Hope something here works for you and baby ��

bp

Yep second back for first nap within an hour and a half of waking. I know if is tempting to put them back in bed if they wake at six am for a feed but I was advised to bring them down stairs any time after 6am for an hour/ hour and a half and back to bed. Could the baby have reflux? The leaps are a pain.

I heard Lucy Wolfe on the radio recently (newstalk I think) and she said first two naps in bed and third out and about

Also he is still very young. Sleep patterns dont start forming until about 16 weeks

annoyedgal

I think a consistent 5 to 6 hour stretch would not be the norm with a breastfed baby so young? Can't remember getting more than a four hour stretch at best with my boy for quite awhile!
He slept best during the day after a feed, usually on my shoulder or slept well in the buggy after a walk.
There was definitely no pattern with naps and sleeps until he was older and everything was a phase that lasted a few days or weeks then changed again!
It does all sounds pretty normal for a 12 week old, you could try a cosleeper crib or cosleeping so that everyone gets more sleep ! Worked wonders for us as our guy liked to be kept close.
It's so tough being sleep deprived, hang in there, it will get better.

thekooman

Peyton2014 wrote: »

I completely understand how your feeling. I had my first 3 years ago and I now have a 1 year old so I have now perfected the bed time routine for my two rug rats, but not before many sleepless nights.

Babies sleep better after a nice warm bath.
Make sure they are not hungry - babies are generally more hungry if breast fed. Feed loads during the daytime.
Could be teething offer bongella and or calpol.
Make sure they are not refluxing.
Make sure they are not to cold/hot.
Offer soother.
Failing all of the above play white noise - Hoover and hair dryer is best and very last tip if baby is breast fed maybe baby just wants moms scent so get mom to leave a worn T shirt on the crib mattress, obviously in a safe way so that baby can't pull it over their head or get tangled in it.

Do check babys reflux though, there's a baby reflux page on another site which is very helpful.

Hope something here works for you and baby ��

all of these... we had many nights (and days) with little sleep, constant wakening for feeds. your OH may be breastfeeding but dont feel bad about giving a possible bottle in evening or before bed time at 11pm, etc. you are at 3months so it wont long until you can start some baby rice but consult a doctor about this.

bee06

thekooman wrote: »

all of these... we had many nights (and days) with little sleep, constant wakening for feeds. your OH may be breastfeeding but dont feel bad about giving a possible bottle in evening or before bed time at 11pm, etc. you are at 3months so it wont long until you can start some baby rice but consult a doctor about this.

Breastfed babies shouldn’t be started on solids until they are 6 months.

thekooman

bee06 wrote: »

Breastfed babies shouldn’t be started on solids until they are 6 months.

our doc recommended baby rice at 4 months and he was breastfed until 6 months.

jlm29

thekooman wrote: »

bee06 wrote: »

Breastfed babies shouldn’t be started on solids until they are 6 months.

our doc recommended baby rice at 4 months and he was breastfed until 6 months.

A lot of health professionals recommend it, but it’s not necessarily right. A lot of health professionals aren’t particularly up to date with current guidelines, which are that all babies, breast and bottle fed should start solids at around 26 weeks

shesty

To be honest anyway, sleep patterns in the day only just start to settle into a pattern around 12 weeks.The nightime thing, most will sleep a stretch of few hours from about 12 weeks but there is a whopper of a sleep regression around 12/14 weeks-it affects some babies more than others, so you could be in the middle of that.I'd stick with the bedtime routine for starters because that'll stand to you in the long term.

BP, totally normal.1.5-2 hours after waking is generally nap time for that age.6am is also normal.They might go back to sleep in that time for the first few months, but once they get a bit bigger, if they are waking at 6 they are unlikely to go back to sleep really.It's bloody hard on the parents.

17 weeks I believe is the absolute earliest a baby might be ready for digesting solids but I still would not be doing it til at least 20 weeks.To me, it is not really a solution for making a baby sleep and on top of that, babies often find solids hard to digest and process initially, even when their system is older and ready for it, so it can nearly be more trouble for you with wind, constipation and the like.I don't really know why some doctors recommend it so much, it's not a magic wand.

OREGATO

Sorry guys, been flat out at work (and at home) Really appreciate the advice, stories and tips. Here's my replies.

shesty wrote: »

How is she waking?
By that I mean, is she swallowing or gulping a bit and waking herself up?And also, do you always rock or feed her to sleep, then put her down in a bed?
Bear in mind though she is only 12 weeks.And there is a sleep regression round the 4 month mark.....
Both mine have been 40min catnappers during the day, and they take a bit more work!!But it can be done.

Sometimes she startles herself, we've tried swaddling with no success. Other times she'll just open her eyes then stretch and she'll sit there happily. In the evenings, we normally feed her and then she'll drift off to sleep in our arms and we'll put her down, sometimes she'll go down into her moses basket (now cot) with just a mobile light and she'll fall asleep.

We follow the wonderweeks app and she had the sleep regression two weeks ago as she was two weeks overdue? That was a tough week!

Neyite wrote: »

The Wonder Weeks say that there's a leap around 12 weeks. Some babies don't seem to be phased but others show a very disrupted few days around the milestones. Mine seemed to correspond to the wonder weeks timelines fairly obviously.

https://www.thewonderweeks.com/mental-leap-3/

As above, we went through that leap and it lasted a good 4 days.

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

Um that all sounds completely normal to me. I’d be delighted if my baby slept 2 hours at the beginning of the night. They were still downstairs with us at that stage with no bedtime routine. I would say she could be a bit overtired so aim to get her back to sleep within 1.5hrs of waking up. Then just go with the flow and let her nap in the carrier or in arms for another month or two. It’s the best part of parenting in those early days!

We try to get her back down within 1.5 hours but when she wakes after 30 minutes, she's wide awake, we've tried a lot of things like putting her in a quiet in her cot in a dark room, in the carrier, in a rocking chair etc but she'll sit there wide awake and giggle away or she'll be too cranky and won't go back down.

Peyton2014 wrote: »

I completely understand how your feeling. I had my first 3 years ago and I now have a 1 year old so I have now perfected the bed time routine for my two rug rats, but not before many sleepless nights.

Babies sleep better after a nice warm bath.
Make sure they are not hungry - babies are generally more hungry if breast fed. Feed loads during the daytime.
Could be teething offer bongella and or calpol.
Make sure they are not refluxing.
Make sure they are not to cold/hot.
Offer soother.
Failing all of the above play white noise - Hoover and hair dryer is best and very last tip if baby is breast fed maybe baby just wants moms scent so get mom to leave a worn T shirt on the crib mattress, obviously in a safe way so that baby can't pull it over their head or get tangled in it.

Do check babys reflux though, there's a baby reflux page on another site which is very helpful.

Hope something here works for you and baby ��

Thanks for the advice there! Have tried that and we constantly have some white noise playing during the bed time routine

bp wrote: »

Yep second back for first nap within an hour and a half of waking. I know if is tempting to put them back in bed if they wake at six am for a feed but I was advised to bring them down stairs any time after 6am for an hour/ hour and a half and back to bed. Could the baby have reflux? The leaps are a pain.

I heard Lucy Wolfe on the radio recently (newstalk I think) and she said first two naps in bed and third out and about

Also he is still very young. Sleep patterns dont start forming until about 16 weeks

Doesn't appear to be reflux but will definitely check it out again!

annoyedgal wrote: »

I think a consistent 5 to 6 hour stretch would not be the norm with a breastfed baby so young? Can't remember getting more than a four hour stretch at best with my boy for quite awhile!
He slept best during the day after a feed, usually on my shoulder or slept well in the buggy after a walk.
There was definitely no pattern with naps and sleeps until he was older and everything was a phase that lasted a few days or weeks then changed again!
It does all sounds pretty normal for a 12 week old, you could try a cosleeper crib or cosleeping so that everyone gets more sleep ! Worked wonders for us as our guy liked to be kept close.
It's so tough being sleep deprived, hang in there, it will get better.

Cheers! Some of the nights she slept for more than 4 or 5 hours, we gave her a formula bottle. But there were a few nights where she slept 4 hours after a BF

thekooman wrote: »

all of these... we had many nights (and days) with little sleep, constant wakening for feeds. your OH may be breastfeeding but dont feel bad about giving a possible bottle in evening or before bed time at 11pm, etc. you are at 3months so it wont long until you can start some baby rice but consult a doctor about this.

Yeap, we've been doing the formula feed before bed, especially if my partner is exhausted from the day. I feel bad as there is not much I can do with regards to the feeding during the day and there seems to be so much pressure on BF these days.

bee06 wrote: »

Breastfed babies shouldn’t be started on solids until they are 6 months.

thekooman wrote: »

our doc recommended baby rice at 4 months and he was breastfed until 6 months.

jlm29 wrote: »

A lot of health professionals recommend it, but it’s not necessarily right. A lot of health professionals aren’t particularly up to date with current guidelines, which are that all babies, breast and bottle fed should start solids at around 26 weeks

I'll read up on the solids in the next few weeks, we've just been trying to get through each day at the moment but thanks for the advice!

shesty wrote: »

To be honest anyway, sleep patterns in the day only just start to settle into a pattern around 12 weeks.The nightime thing, most will sleep a stretch of few hours from about 12 weeks but there is a whopper of a sleep regression around 12/14 weeks-it affects some babies more than others, so you could be in the middle of that.I'd stick with the bedtime routine for starters because that'll stand to you in the long term.

BP, totally normal.1.5-2 hours after waking is generally nap time for that age.6am is also normal.They might go back to sleep in that time for the first few months, but once they get a bit bigger, if they are waking at 6 they are unlikely to go back to sleep really.It's bloody hard on the parents.

17 weeks I believe is the absolute earliest a baby might be ready for digesting solids but I still would not be doing it til at least 20 weeks.To me, it is not really a solution for making a baby sleep and on top of that, babies often find solids hard to digest and process initially, even when their system is older and ready for it, so it can nearly be more trouble for you with wind, constipation and the like.I don't really know why some doctors recommend it so much, it's not a magic wand.

Thanks for this! the 12 - 14 weeks is exactly where we are (if we go by due date) so I'm hoping it's this whopper regression.

The thing about during the day is, she just does not sleep for more than 20 minutes, we use an app to track all of her nappies, sleeps and feeds and for the majority of her naps, they are around the 20 to 30 minute mark, with the exception of when she's in the carrier, she might go a bit longer.

We just read and hear from others about their babies going for 2 x 2 hour naps during the day and we're more concerned that we're doing something wrong that's harming baby or that we're not doing the right thing I guess.

Thanks for all the help again and please do share more, it really does help!

shesty

I know, these miraculous babies that sleep two hour naps from the start.Sorry OP some babies just don't do that!Neither of mine did.No.1 was a baptism of fire.I just had to let her do her 40 min nap, then go back again about two hours after she woke all the time.She was (and is) a particularly alert child, and there was nothing I could do to change it.At about 15 weeks I was at the end of my tether, hadn't a clue what I was doing, all I knew was that everybody else's baby was napping properly!I started putting her in her cot for her nap about 1.5/2 hours after she woke in the morning.Then I'd get out and about, try and be in the car or the buggy for nap no.2, then back to the cot for an evening nap round 4/5.At that age she was doing 3/4 naps a day, in a month or so it was firmly 3 naps in a day.She never slept in a sling, hated it-no.2 did though so that helped!
She did miraculously stretch to 1.5 hour naps one day at exactly 6 months.I can't say I did anything to cause that.My second was pretty much the same except her naps didn't stretch til she was nearly 9 months and was down to 2 in a day.
She may just be a baby that awakes regularly at night.Lots of BF babies do, I do know plenty who wake every two hours or so for months!Combined with 40 min naps it is hell because you never get a chance to catch up on sleep during the day at all.If your wife is struggling, and is open to it, then maybe institute a formula bottle at bedtime every night to see can you get some sleep.There is nothing wrong with doing that, it is hard to explain to people who have babies that nap well in the day.My third is due, and I fully intend to have a bottle at bedtime.It's the only way for it to work for me to BF for a longer time, otherwise I get too exhausted,end up sick and that's that, at about 6 weeks.So just consider your options.You aren't doing anything wrong, babies just don't uniformly follow books and parenting websites, so you do what works for you guys.

annoyedgal

Also don't pin your hopes on solids helping with sleep. Made no difference at all for us. They eat very little at the start and food before one is just for fun as the saying goes. Milk is the main source of nutrition until one.

bee06

My rule is don’t measure a baby against what other babies do (or are said to do). Every baby is different. My little boy is 8 and a half weeks. He slept for 40 mins today and every other time he fell asleep while feeding he woke as soon as the nipple came out of his mouth. Yesterday he got an hour. He woke then every 2 hours last night and took an hour to get to sleep. This is new behaviour just this week.

I’m sure all these sleep training experts would say it was terrible that he got such little sleep during the day but he was happy out awake so I just go with what he does if he’s happy. Am I tired ... hell yes but it won’t be forever. Once he gets past the 4 month sleep regression I’ll try and put some more routine around sleeping but I’m not going to stress myself over it either.

One think I forgot to say, my baby only sleeps in me during the day. He could in the deepest sleep and even if I move him next to me on the couch his eyes are wide open looking at me like “no way mommy, you’re not getting away that easily”. I’m a firm believer in the fourth trimester so if he wants to sleep on me to feel safe then that’s fine. Thankfully he’ll sleep in the co-sleeper at night then (most of the time)

maxsmum

We moved ours to the bottle at about 4 months and this coincided with 'bedtime' and sleeping most of night. Not sure if the two were linked but I got much better sleep and so did baby. Since solids he has settled into a normal day/night waking pattern. Again, not sure if this is linked or coincidental.
Agree about regular naps during day, especially when awake a couple of hours, even if it seems counterproductive.
It sounds like you are doing your best but the sleep deprivation is horrific and well done for getting through what is hopefully the worst of it. I know every baby is different but wow, first 12 weeks for me were awful. It gets better each week after that.

appledrop

Oh how I remember those days. My little boy just didn't sleep as a newborn. He had serve reflux + had to be feed every 2 hours + took him an hour and a half to feed so we got no sleep. Thankfully we did eventually get his reflux sorted + he did then start sleeping at night for longer but he was never good for daytime naps. I used to try + get out everyday so he might have a nap in his buggy. We started his soilds early as recommended due to his serve reflux + it really helped in his case. I'm not saying do this but I wouldn't listen to people who say no to it until 6mths. Every child is different. Just to give you hope our little boy is now nearly 2 + goes to bed by 8 every night. It took us a while to get there but worked out in the end!

annoyedgal

The nights are long but the years are short....sounds corny but a friend of mine told me this saying and really struck a chord! Got me through the first few weeks of night feeds! It's exhausting but they are small for such a short time...!

OREGATO

Great advice guys, apologies for the delay getting back, the past few days have been crazy with work and the weather.

She's gotten a little better in the evening again last week and is now 13.5 weeks old. We have had 5 nights of 7 hours sleep with a short feed in between, one night she slept for over 5 hours in one stretch. So I guess the nights swing in roundabouts - a few good nights, followed by a few bad ones. Last night she was very fussy out of nowhere from around 10 when we put her down to 1am. She screamed the house down. Did nothing different with her routine before bed as well but I presume this is expected?

The day times are the killer though as she just does not want to sleep.

On the acid reflux, if she's sleeping through the night, I assume she does not have acid reflux? Or could this be contributing to her not sleeping during the day? She's generally happy during the days too and wide awake, not that fussy.

Guess the thing that has us a bit worried is that we know sleep is important for their mental and physical development and at the moment, we feel she's not getting enough during the day hours. Naps are non existent

shesty

My first refluxer slept like the dead at night....because she slept so badly during the day ,I think.They are all different.
She's only just settling into her routine though OP, if I had a euro for every hour I spent pacing the floors with both mine between 1am and 5am up to about 20 weeks, I'd be wealthy.No.1 slept most nights (bar sleep regressions) but no.2 did most of her fussing from about midnight on.But being my second I had learned that it wouldn't last forever....once she settled into her bed at bedtime, and I got her napping routine going round 12 weeks, I knew the rest would fall into place with time.
The only thing I can suggest is start clock watching during the day over the next few weeks, and approx 1.5-2 hours from when she wakes, bring her back to bed again (or be in the car or buggy) so she at least has an opportunity to sleep.If you are fairly routine in doing this, it will fall into place....especially that first nap of the day, that's usually the easiest one because they are most rested after their night's sleep, so tend to go sleep easier for that nap.Even if she only does 30 mins, you get a chance to have a cup of coffee and fill the washing machine :-).It's tough but she will settle, it's all just time.

OREGATO

shesty wrote: »

My first refluxer slept like the dead at night....because she slept so badly during the day ,I think.They are all different.
She's only just settling into her routine though OP, if I had a euro for every hour I spent pacing the floors with both mine between 1am and 5am up to about 20 weeks, I'd be wealthy.No.1 slept most nights (bar sleep regressions) but no.2 did most of her fussing from about midnight on.But being my second I had learned that it wouldn't last forever....once she settled into her bed at bedtime, and I got her napping routine going round 12 weeks, I knew the rest would fall into place with time.
The only thing I can suggest is start clock watching during the day over the next few weeks, and approx 1.5-2 hours from when she wakes, bring her back to bed again (or be in the car or buggy) so she at least has an opportunity to sleep.If you are fairly routine in doing this, it will fall into place....especially that first nap of the day, that's usually the easiest one because they are most rested after their night's sleep, so tend to go sleep easier for that nap.Even if she only does 30 mins, you get a chance to have a cup of coffee and fill the washing machine :-).It's tough but she will settle, it's all just time.

Thanks shesty, really appreciate all the replies here. It helps so much.

We don't believe it's reflux as she feeds well and doesn't appear to fussy or spitting up more than usual. Like, the past 3 or 4 days she's been really happy during the day, all smiles and everything. Maybe I'll keep a closer eye on the signs of reflux and see.

We have a baby tracker app and we are very regimented in logging everything from tummy time to nappies to feeds and sleeps so we've always kept an eye on the sleep patterns and have tried to put her down 2 hours after she wakes, we've tried everything during the day time naps:
1. Back to bed curtains closed/open (will not stay in cot)
2. Carrier (sleeps for a maximum of 30 minutes then is wide awake)
3. Swing/chair/rocker (will not stay)
4. Play mat (will keep playing - but that's understandable as it is a play mat)
5. Car seat/car journey (will either scream her head off or else will go to sleep and wake as soon as the engine turns off)
6. Rocking in arms (sleeps for a maximum of 30 minutes then is wide awake or else if we try to put her down, she'll awake straight away)

I guess we will keep trying her with a nap routine but we've tried to be consistent as best as we can and we're seeing some results with the evenings but daytimes are just so tough right now.

shesty

Yes that sounds familiar.
Is she just quite alert?I walked and rocked for hours until I decided my back couldn't handle it anymore!!She's still small, it's to be expected.I switched to closing curtains, putting baby in cot (she took a soother) ...and just sitting there with her for as long as it took for her to fall asleep.I did shh a bit or whatever but at the end of the day, I just had to let her learn to fall asleep by herself, rather than try to make her fall asleep, if that makes sense.I sat with her, held her hand or whatever, tried to avoid too much eye contact(!) some days it took 40 mins (for 40 mins worth of sleep, nightmare!)but as she got bigger, her body became accustomed to needing sleep at certain times and she fell into the routine more easily.The first few weeks are the hardest.
If you look at everything you are doing, you are trying to make her fall asleep.That is something you can't do (some kids it works for them longer than others true but not always), you need to let her work it out.I don't mean cry it out, I mean let her get used to falling asleep herself (with you beside her whatever but not doing anything to make it happen).
And look....somedays it will work, and somedays she will go 5/6 hours with no sleep no matter how hard you try.You kind of just have to accept that.As she gets older and more active it will settle more.She's still very small.

fits

Mine only catnapped during the day until maybe 4-6 months. If she’s sleeping well at night that’s great. Babies are all individuals. Don’t mind the absolute sh1te posted online.

scarepanda

With all her cat naps during the day, what is her total sleep time in a 24 HR period? My little girl was useless for napping during the day as a newborn, 20/30 minutes a number of times during the day. But combined with her night time sleep (and I do admit that she's always been pretty good with that) she always got the recommended number of hours for her age, even though it never seemed like it. I think she was 6/8 months old before she took any sort of extended day time nap, and always usually just the one.

OREGATO

shesty wrote: »

Yes that sounds familiar.
Is she just quite alert?I walked and rocked for hours until I decided my back couldn't handle it anymore!!She's still small, it's to be expected.I switched to closing curtains, putting baby in cot (she took a soother) ...and just sitting there with her for as long as it took for her to fall asleep.I did shh a bit or whatever but at the end of the day, I just had to let her learn to fall asleep by herself, rather than try to make her fall asleep, if that makes sense.I sat with her, held her hand or whatever, tried to avoid too much eye contact(!) some days it took 40 mins (for 40 mins worth of sleep, nightmare!)but as she got bigger, her body became accustomed to needing sleep at certain times and she fell into the routine more easily.The first few weeks are the hardest.
If you look at everything you are doing, you are trying to make her fall asleep.That is something you can't do (some kids it works for them longer than others true but not always), you need to let her work it out.I don't mean cry it out, I mean let her get used to falling asleep herself (with you beside her whatever but not doing anything to make it happen).
And look....somedays it will work, and somedays she will go 5/6 hours with no sleep no matter how hard you try.You kind of just have to accept that.As she gets older and more active it will settle more.She's still very small.

Yeap, that makes perfect sense, thanks. She is definitely very alert. Always looking around her and not sleepy at all. We only try to make her sleep when she shows a bit of a sign that she's sleepy like a yawn or sometimes rubbing her eyes.

fits wrote: »

Mine only catnapped during the day until maybe 4-6 months. If she’s sleeping well at night that’s great. Babies are all individuals. Don’t mind the absolute sh1te posted online.

Cheers! Hoping in the next few months that she'll start napping more during the day. But like shesty says, we won't be trying to force it.

scarepanda wrote: »

With all her cat naps during the day, what is her total sleep time in a 24 HR period? My little girl was useless for napping during the day as a newborn, 20/30 minutes a number of times during the day. But combined with her night time sleep (and I do admit that she's always been pretty good with that) she always got the recommended number of hours for her age, even though it never seemed like it. I think she was 6/8 months old before she took any sort of extended day time nap, and always usually just the one.

For the past 7 days she has gotten the following amount of sleep according to the app:

Monday - 11 hours (we had a rough night in the early hours of Monday with her but she still managed to go down ok, the other nights, she's slept well in the evening times)
Sunday - 11 hours 20 minutes (Night time - slept from 22:30 to 4am, then 4:20 to 8am)
Saturday - 11 hours 50 minutes (Night time - slept from 22:20 to 5:20, then 5:30 to 6:40, then 6:55 to 8:40)
Friday - 11 hours 30 minutes (Night time - slept from 23:40 to 5:30, then 4:40 to 8:50)
Thursday - 12 hours 20 minutes (Night time - slept from 22:25 to 2:50, then 3 to 6:10, then 6:20 to 8:50)
Wednesday - 12 hours - 30 minutes (Night time - slept from 22:35 to 4:25, 4:35 to 7:00, then 7:20 to 8:10)

With a lot of what we read online and everything, it's made out that she should be sleeping at least an additional few hours, I know as she's getting older, she doesn't need as much but even from new born, she was barely sleeping more than 12 hours in a 24 hour period. No where near the recommended amounts (anywhere from 16 - 18 hours depending on the website we read)

corks finest

Out the window

shesty

Don't worry about the recommended amounts.Once she's fairly well rested, that's enough.You'll start to know by her when she's not as she gets bigger!Her nights look totally normal, and she may just be a 40 min daytime napper-if she's doing that 3-4 times a day then that's her sorted.They are always tired at the end of the day, no matter how well they nap, that's normal.

I'd consider starting to move her bedtime forward at this stage by the way, maybe just by about 15 mins every day or few days and see how that goes.I found with both mine round the 12/13 weeks mark they needed to be in bed gradually earlier.(Also it's getting slowly brighter in the evenings ,so handier to do it now than when she's bigger and it's bright til 11pm-hard enough then anyway!!!!)

I did find with my first that if she did ever yawn at that age, she was often gone too tired and of course took twice as long to sleep, but that depends on the baby.Just roughly see if you can get her to sleep about 1.5/2 hours since she last woke and as best she can at nightime (although honestly at this stage nightime is all over the place a bit), and it really will settle more as she gets bigger.

scarepanda

The nighttime sleep times sounds pretty much the same as what my daughter did at that age, so I don't think you've anything to worry about in that regard. For the day time naps, she took them so sporadically that I honestly can't remember how many she took and what length they all added up to, but what you've written down doesn't seem much different to my little one.

Don't forget that every baby is different. It sounds like your baby gets a good stretch of unbroken sleep at night, so she could be a baby that doesn't need much sleep and is getting a good restful sleep at night because she's sleeping good stretches and therefore doesn't need a whole lot during the day. Don't forget that recommendations are just that, but every child is different and what's the correct amount for one child isn't necessarily the correct amount for another one.

To be completely honest, once I realised that my little one was getting enough sleep at night, I stopped 1) worrying about her catnaps during the day and 2) stopped trying to force her to sleep/stick to a strict nap time routine. I let her guide me to when she needed to sleep by learning her queues. She also sleeps a lot while on the go - in the car or carrier, rarely in the buggy though for some reason.

OREGATO

So our little one turned 7 months a few days ago and for the most part, her sleeping was getting better since the last time I posted.

This changed over the past 3 weeks and we are both like walking zombies, we started to follow Lucy Wolfes Baby Sleep Solution as it did not involve CIO methods and it worked ok for the first week, especially with setting a solid routine and napping schedule during the day, although she still doesn't nap for more than 30/45 minutes during the day.

Since the last 2 or 3 weeks though, at night she's been waking 30 minutes after being put down and then almost every 2 hours or 1 hour after that, sometimes putting the dummy in her mouth will make her nod off again - she used to never take the dummy but she seems to take it now when she's sleeping.

Other times, she goes ballistic and needs to be patted and shh'd to go back, the last few mornings, she's waking at 4am and it's been impossible to get her back down. We don't do a night feed any more and she doesn't appear hungry. We have the room as dark as possible, she is a perfectly fine, happy baby during the day and we have her up to bed at 630/7pm most days now.
We don't think it's teeth, her bottom teeth came out already and she's not showing any other signs of teething.

Sorry for the long post but we're struggling at the moment - any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thekooman

OREGATO wrote: »

So our little one turned 7 months a few days ago and for the most part, her sleeping was getting better since the last time I posted.

This changed over the past 3 weeks and we are both like walking zombies, we started to follow Lucy Wolfes Baby Sleep Solution as it did not involve CIO methods and it worked ok for the first week, especially with setting a solid routine and napping schedule during the day, although she still doesn't nap for more than 30/45 minutes during the day.

Since the last 2 or 3 weeks though, at night she's been waking 30 minutes after being put down and then almost every 2 hours or 1 hour after that, sometimes putting the dummy in her mouth will make her nod off again - she used to never take the dummy but she seems to take it now when she's sleeping.

Other times, she goes ballistic and needs to be patted and shh'd to go back, the last few mornings, she's waking at 4am and it's been impossible to get her back down. We don't do a night feed any more and she doesn't appear hungry. We have the room as dark as possible, she is a perfectly fine, happy baby during the day and we have her up to bed at 630/7pm most days now.
We don't think it's teeth, her bottom teeth came out already and she's not showing any other signs of teething.

Sorry for the long post but we're struggling at the moment - any advice would be greatly appreciated.

sounds like teeth to me... something is wakening them.
do you give Nurofen / Calpol?

our little fella is just gone 2 years and still wakes the odd night (and comes into mammy and daddy) as he still hasnt all his teeth.
i know its easy to say this but it wont be long you wont be able to get them out of bed!