Seeking Help with day sleeps

[nagromeyk]

Ok so DS is nearly 6 weeks old and the past couple of nights I have been able to put him down at 8:30pm and he self settles and doesnt wake till 2:00am

BUT during the day it is almost impossible to get him to sleep any more than 30 minutes at a time. I am becoming so frustrated at the fact I can put him down and he will self-settle only to wake up not long after.

Like now he I know he is sooo tired - is rubbing his eyes and yawning. This morning when I have put him down I have used his pacifier but he keeps spitting it out LOL, I sang nursery rhymes to him and he did doze off but then he woke back up again... grrrr

Anyone have any advice on what I may be doing wrong or things I could try? He desperately needs a sleep - I know he does!!

Thanks in advance!

[kellmay]

If he is self settling with little or no fuss at 6 weeks that is fantastic. I have been told that babies that can self settle and are younger than 13weeks generally cat nap for two reasons - hunger and coldness. You may need to increase your feeding, every three hours and if you are breast feeding make sure you have lots of protein in your diet. My nurse who is 70 and been doing this for a long time says BF women need 5-6 serves of proteina day, starting as soon as you wake in the morning ( meat, yogurt, milk,tuna, cheese. (bubs do have a growth peak at 6 weeks too)
Try to put one more layer on him too .
Also you maybe going in to soon, lots of babies makes some noise in between sleep cycles.
If you keep your sleep rituals the same it will get better.
Both my bubs catnapped one from 6weeks and the other from 3. and now they are both good sleepers.
(PS my nurse also says the dummy is ok till about 16weeks so i say use it if it helps.
GOOD LUCK i know how upsetting catnapping can be

[~Trish~]

It sounds like he is waking after one sleep cycle and can't go back to sleep. This is very normal! Both my boys did it and I had to work hard to teach them how to go back to sleep.

What I used to do was try and get bub back to sleep when he woke up, with DS1 I could just give him his dummy and he would go back to sleep. DS2 was a bit harder! I would try patting him back to sleep, if that didn't work I would pick him up and rock him off to sleep. After a while this didn't work anymore so I would sneak into his room just before his sleep cycle ended (for him it was at 40 minutes) and start patting him as soon as he slightly stirred (he would sigh and wriggle when he stirred). This helped him go back to sleep and get through that sleep cycle. Over time I could stop going in at 40 minutes because he had finally worked out how to go back to sleep. Now he is a great napper!

So my advice is to try and find a way to get your bub to go back to sleep after his first sleep cycle. If you stick with it consistently he will learn how to go back to sleep all by himself.

HTH

[nagromeyk]

thanks for that Kellmay. Yeah he is pretty good at self settling, doesnt make much fuss at all. He puts himself to sleep ok but I just would like to figure out what it is that makes him wake up. Last night he had pants on, a shirt, his mittens and socks as it was quite cool.

I persevered with BF for the first 4 weeks - milk supply wasnt good. He is a big eater and my body couldnt keep up with his demands so now he is FF. At the moment he does feed every 3 hours - 150ml usually or close to LOL ..... did I say hes a little piggie hehe I always wrap him when I put him down.

I asked the nurse yesterday about a formula that would sustain him a little longer and she suggested the Lactose Free Karicare as it apparently has more protein in it. I started that last night and I am thinking thats probably why he slept from 9pm till 2am LOL

Trish - I have briefly read information on 'sleep cycles'. I think that is his problem too. How do I know how long the first cycle is? At the moment it seems to only be like 30 minutes tops that he will be 'napping'.

I am not one to rush into his room the very first noise I hear. Have become accustomed to his stirring cry compared to his "i need attention" cry hehe
I usually leave him a few minutes - no more than 5 minutes before I'll go in and yeah I do what you said you did with your DS and usually rub him on the chest and sometimes I even massage his head in a circular motion - he loves it!!

For now I have to persevere with it dont I - I guess I was just expecting it would of just all happened by itself but realise now it's not always that straight forward LOL

[Tan2705]

Sasha,

I think their first sleep cycle is about 45min give or take! DS had dramas with resettling during the day also! He slept through from 3 weeks (a good 10 hours a night) but only cat napped during the day (30 minutes if that)! And yes persistance is the key as it's taken till now (3 months) to get him to the stage where he resettles by himself, i used similar techniques to Trish! Found Pinky McKay's "Sleep (ing?) like a Baby" to be super helpful!

Goodluck!

[nagromeyk]

so 40mins from when he first goes down I should be going in to comfort him so he doesnt fully wake again?

[~Trish~]

Maybe just clock watch a couple of his naps and work it out from there. My DS2 would wake up exactly 40 minutes (how did he always wake on the dot?) after I put him down. I would look at the time when I put him down and then a few minutes before the 40 minutes was up I would creep into his room and stand close by. As soon as he went from being completely still to slightly stirring I would start patting him rhythmically on his tummy. This seemed to help him make it to the next cycle. I won't lie and say it worked every time, but the hard work did pay off!

I hope it works for you too if you decide to give it a go

[~StarBright~]

WOW!!!!

My little champ had a marathon sleep!!!!!!

Last post i was hoping he would sleep will about 4:30 ish.. well he slept till about 7pm!!!!!! So i thought for sure i am in for a bad night, but no- he woke- i changed fed, changed again wrapped tight and tried to feed some more- till he wasnt interested anymore- and instead of me having to feed him to calm him down- as he wasnt cranky (not a single cry all day!!!!!!) i just layed him in his bouncer and HE PUT HIMSELF TO SLEEP!!!!!!!!!! I just watched him and his eyes got heavy and he blinked like 3 times- and then didnt open them again till get this.... 4am!!!!!!!!!!! So that was from 8pm- 4am- his biggest sleep ever!!!! When i woke up and saw the time i couldnt beleive it!! Not to mention my boobies were full and ready to explode!!! lol

thank you thank you thank you Sasha for starting this thread, thankyou trish for sleep cycle info- and The Pixie for the idea of making day like night... i wasnt wrapping him like i do at night during the day and i think this has helped alot too!!!! Thank you thank yo thank you!!!

LoL the only thing now is that miss spending so much time with him.. hahaha- even though he was always tired and crying and cranky- yesterday it felt like i hardly spent any time with him coz all he did was sleep!!! lol But as long as he is happy- thats all that matters!!!!

[thepixie]

Hey I'm glad to hear it's working for both of you! It's great when they sleep well, they're so much happier when they're awake! Keep up the good work.