How to settle and 'overtired' baby?

[koru]

OK I'm sure this has been asked a million times before but....
How do you settle an 'over-tired' baby? It's all very well saying 'oh she's over tired' but how the heck do you settle her when all the normal things (bath, walking in arms or in a sling, rocking chair, offering a breast....) don't seem to do anything? Well fed, clean nappy and burped so I can eliminate those causes too.
DD sleeps all arvo then is alert and lively in the evening meaning she doesn't settle at night and ends up fussing and crying for hours - I'm loathe to wake her more in the arvo for fear of making her even MORE tired by night....
Am I missing something obvious? Does anyone have a 'secret trick' they use?

[Fuzzywuzzy]

We used to put DD in the car and go for a drive on the freeway when we had tried 'everything' She would usually fall asleep pretty quickly and stay asleep once we got home.

[*Infinity*]

Hi Koru

I see from your ticker that your DD is not even 2 weeks old yet. She is still so little, at that age often they don't know day from night and their sleep is all over the place. I know my DS at that age really didn't know and his sleep was really muddled.

No secret tricks unfortunately...sounds like you've tried all the things I would have suggested. Maybe just being aware that over the next few weeks she will naturally find some rhythm might help? Go with her cues now for sleep rather than trying to wake her or find a routine.

GL

[koru]

Hi Lollybaby,
I've been doing what I do best when faced with a problem - 'researching' - and have come to the conclusion that you are absolutely right and I just have to ride it out
In the 'real world' I would naturally have assumed I was doing something wrong and try and 'fix' it. In 'babyland' it seems no-one is to blame for cranky babies - they just are
I'll still read anyones tips - you never know what'll work!

[Snacks]

In 'babyland' it seems no-one is to blame for cranky babies - they just are

You've hit the nail on the head, mate Natalie was a very cranky baby, and Phoebe is slightly better... but still often cranky. I think she was probably about 6ish weeks old when she settled more easily at night. We just rode it out, as you've said. I found that the less stimulation after 5pm the better and easier it was to get to bed at a reasonable hour. (Low lighting, if telly's on then just softly etc). If she was really beside herself I sometimes found she'd take the breast if I was standing up and rocking her, and that would send her off to sleep. (But not always.)
Congrats on your new baby You sound like you are very reasonable in your expectations - keep on trusting your instincts. Hope things settle down for you soon.

[Astrid]

This depends on the bub. My first was music and motion. With my 2nd she needs very dark and quiet. So all the tricks I used with my first never worked on my 2nd, they just made it worse.

[onthefly]

Hi
She's probably still getting day/night sorted, as pp says. Maybe try taking her out for a walk in the sunshine - that might help adjust her body clock.
She'll get it eventually - kinda just have to go with the flow when they're little.

[Salad]

Fresh air during the day is really good used to knock georgia out but playing some of my music and just singing along worked for us. She would calm down and allow herself to drift off to sleep.
Goodluck hope it all settles down soon

[MantaRay]

Congratulations on the arrival of you beautiful little DD hun. The first weeks can be so hard. Mostly it settles down soon so I hope that's true for you.

There is no one right answer to this, and it will depend a bit on why she is fussy and not sleeping. It might be that she's just one of those babies that doesn't need as much sleep - the day and night rhythm will work itself out so the longer sleep will be at night soon. It might be wind pain, in which case sucking at the breast might help as this helps the wind pass through. But then if you have oversupply sucking at the breast can make it worse! Most often a sling helps with unsettledness, as you have tried a warm bath, rocking, walk in the sling or pram, drive in the car etc, you might even like to try a baby swing. Sometimes things that didn't work yesterday (or even this morning), will work next time you try, so it's best not to stop trying these things. Most mums find that each of them works some of the time. Another thing to try is to make sure that you are putting her down as soon as her tired signs start. By preventing her getting overtired it makes it easier. Usually newborns won't stay awake for longer than an hour to an hour and a half at a time - although there are some babies who do!

As you can see, there are so many things to try, and try again! It really is trial and error!

How is everything else going? Is she feeding well - how often is she feeding? What are her nappies like, and how many? How long does she feed for, and does she feed well or fuss? This information can help to work out what is going on.

Best of luck hun. You are doing a fantastic job so far.