Problems with 3 week old daytime sleeping

[jenjams]

DD is just over 3 weeks old. We have been pretty much letting her choose her schedule right now. We have a big problem with her sleeping during the day... she really doesnt do it.
At night time we get to between 8-9 and bath her feed her and put her to bed. She sleeps really well at night and wakes 1-2 times for a feed then straight back to bed. She has been getting sleep in great 5-6 hour blocks.
During the day we try not to stimulate her too much before bed. We feed her before putting her down. If she is not tired after a feed, we will bounce her on the fitball until she is just about sleep and then put her down in her basinette. She will go to sleep then will wake 10-20 minutes later. We go in, rock the basinette and she sometimes falls asleep for a short time again. We try the dummy and she will perhaps go for a little bit again. if we are lucky we will get a 4 hour block in the afternoon.
She is tired, she yawns but she cannot put herself to sleep. We have low music playing in the background during the day.
She is wrapped otherwise she will fling her arms around and wake herself up. She also raises her legs. She doesnt scream a lot and doesnt look in pain. She may get a small dose of wind and thats why she raises her legs.
I would like her to get some good daytime sleeping in as I dont think she sleeps enough but during the night we get great sleep.
Any ideas?

I know she is only 3 weeks old but shouldnt she be sleeping a lot more than what she is?

[Arimeh]

Hi Jen, from what I can remember, DS slept pretty well during the day (its a little hazy those first few weeks!!). I think most of the time, I had him on the couch on a sheet, so then when I could hear him start to wake up I would go over and pat him on the back to help him drift back off. He also had a dummy. We also had one of those chair rocker thingys for babies that helped him go to sleep. My sister swears by hers for her kids, says they basically live in them during the day!!!!! Its just trial and error really, see if something works for her. But its fantastic she is sleeping well at night
Hopefully someone can give you more helpful advice cos I re-read my post and its really not that helpful!! Sorry!!!

[~Trish~]

Congratulations on your little girl, she is so gorgeous!

Daytime sleeps are one of the hardest things I have dealt with in my bubs! I'm just wondering how long you are keeping her awake before you put her down for a sleep. Babies as young as yours can only handle a very short wake time, say around 45 minutes give or take (including a feed). If babies are awake for too long they get overtired and it is much harder for them to fall asleep. Watch for her tired signs (yawning, grizzling, jerky movements etc.) and whisk her straight off to bed.

For my bub I would wrap him, pop a dummy in his mouth, put him in his cot on his side and pat him on his back until he was calm and could go to sleep. If he rewoke I would just go back and pat him again until he was calm. Don't be afraid to give her a bit of a cuddle though, she is still little and needs lots of them!

Regarding wind - This would keep my bub awake (he would also pull his legs up) so I started giving him Infacol before a feed and he was a different baby! This may not be your issue, but if you are stuck for ideas it is worth giving something like Infacol or Brauer Colic Relief a go.

If all else fails, talk to your MCHN, I'm sure she will have lots of great tips for you to try.

Best of luck

[LisaBear]

hi, my DS is 7 weeks and he has never really slept during the day..
i have tried everything - but he only has 30-45 min naps 3 times a day.... hes not a big sleeper at night either...

tho we have just gotten a highchair and he goes in that in its recline and tends to sleep in that during the day when im potterign around..... he used to sleep in a rocker with vibrate - it helped with his wind...

dont know if thats been any help tho...

[MantaRay]

I agree that is sounds like maybe she is too tired before you start the bedtime routine, or maybe your routine is too long for her at that age.

The other thing though, is that a long block of sleep during the day as well as great night sleep is very rare at that age. If she is sleeping well at night, usually you would expect shorter day sleeps and often they have more feeds during the day too. So don't be too concerned about not getting 4 hour sleeps. If she can go down easily and sleep for an hour or two, that is a good aim.

GL, it really does get easier. And it sounds like you are already doing an amazing job. Well done.

[jenjams]

Thankyou everyone for great replies.

Yesterday, we had her down for perhaps a couple of one hour sleeps. She went down at 730 for 2 hours. We then woke her to bath her, feed her and she went to bed at 10. She woke at 2 for a feed, back in bed at 245, woke at 630 for a feed, back in bed at 7 and then up at 9.

We had some time with her this morning before her feed and DP rocked with her for a bit. She went back down at 10 and so far she has not cried!
We try not to keep her up for too long. The last thing before bed is a feed. If she is not drowsy after the feed we will bounce on the fitball and we then put her down when she is yawning or her little eyes are nodding off.
I will be happy as long as she can get a couple sleeps in during the day. I am not asking for a huge chunk all of the time. But enough to know she is getting enough sleep.

If she cries after we put her down, we will go in there and rock the bassinette for a bit or try the dummy. We leave the room when she is asleep or very drowsy. We dont talk to her to stimulate her.
Be nice if babies have a manual.

[KatieRabbit]

But they wouldn't be able to read it!! That's what I tell myself everytime things go out of whack "She hasn't read the baby books that I have read". Seriously, it sounds as if she is a great sleeper to me! And getting quite a bit- I am jealous. My DD used to lift her legs up and down at the age too, but it wasn;t wind or anything else, she just used to do it. Lift them both at the same time then bang them down.

[jenjams]

Well my DD is now just on 6 weeks old and her daytime sleep has not improved infact it has decreased to the point of where she doesnt sleep much at all during the day. I cannot fault her at night nor would I want to change her habits. DD is getting between 10-13 hours of a night time. She wakes once for a feed and goes straight to bed. We have her night time routine down pat.
She finally goes to sleep around 730. We wake her for a bath and feed at 930. She is back in bed by 10. She wakes anytime from 2-5 for a feed then back to bed and she then wakes between 6-9. Then that is it until the next night.
We try putting her to bed awake, dozy, asleep etc with no luck. We have tried going in to pat her when she gets upset and leave the room when she is quiet. 5 minutes or less later she is grizzling again. I have bought a sling which she isnt too crazy on. I have had her in my arms a couple of times where she sleeps half an hour or so there.

Day and night time she is chalk and cheese. Night time she goes straight back to bed. Day time she cannot settle. She gets grizzly by the afternoon because she is tired and wont go to sleep.... But if she is healthy and did what she did last night by sleeping 8 hours straight then I can put up with it. But a little sleep during the day which doesnt let her get so grumpy by the arvo would be good....

but we have been very lucky with her night time sleeping that I am not complaining too greatly.

[mihnister]

Hi,
my LO has gone backwards since 3months so I don't feel like an expert but things were good back at 6wks (about 4 hour-long naps a day) so maybe I can help?

my LO was colicky at 6 wks and I found that if I fed him before a nap, he would wake up sooner - my theory was that the digestion and weeing, pooing and burping while sleeping woke him up.
so I stuck to feed-play-sleep instead of feed-sleep. Even though he would occassionally feed to sleep, I found it wasn't worth it because the naps were so short.
I also watched for tired signs like a hawk, he would get tired at about 45-60min after waking up from last sleep.
I used a womb-sounds CD for both day and night sleeps, it really helps I am sure. it is a conditioning tool i think. you could try one.

at 6 wks I would have been thrilled with the night sleeps you are getting. you are doing a great job.

just one more thing... make sure you *keep* putting bubs down to sleep a bit awake... I did this with great results but stopped for just one lousy week and now it's all gone to hell.

[jenjams]

DD turns 8 weeks today. We are now implementing the sleep-feed-play routine with some success. She is now going down for one sleep cycle during the days. When she wakes we do not immediately go to her and pick her up. We go in, put the dummy in and leave when she is quiet. She will stay awake but hopefully she is learning bed time is sleep time. At least I am now getting a break during the days to do some things even if it is only for a short time.
What we do is when she wakes we feed her, change her nappy, play with her, sit her up with us where she normally passes wind or dirties a nappy. When I see her yawn or she starts to fidget, I wrap her, put her dummy in and rock on the fit ball for a few minutes. When her eyes go a little heavy, I put her down. So we are still putting her down awake.
Her night time sleeps are still sensational. So we are getting there.....
I also dont stress so much every time she cries. Both DP and I tend to go with the flow a bit more these days.

[jenjams]

oops double post