HELP! How much sleep should a 2.5 week old need?

[~Trish~]

Oh you poor love . My DS1 was a very unsettled baby too. He loved to be worn in a baby carrier, so DH and I would take turns carrying him around.

I love Lulu's prescription and I think it is definitely for you .

Babies do get overtired easily and when they are overtired they actually fight sleep rather than welcome it. Overtiredness makes them hyper-alert which is probably why your bub is having trouble sleeping. You have done nothing wrong, it's so hard to get an unsettled baby to sleep.

All I can suggest that you try (and I'm no expert, I'm just throwing an idea to you as a mum who has been there ) is to limit your DD's wake time during the day to around 40 minutes each time before trying to put her down for a nap (or letting her sleep with you, whatever you need to do). So after she has fed, look at the time and watch for her tired signs (grizzling, yawning, jerky movements, etc.). As soon as she is showing tired signs, wrap her up and put her down for her nap. Do whatever you have to do to help her to go to sleep - pat her, cuddle her, put her in bed with you while you nap too, etc.

The less awake time she has, the easier she will be able to sleep (seems weird doesn't it?!). My DD is 8 weeks old and can only handle 40-45 minutes of wake time at a time (this includes feeding time). After she wakes I feed her (she feeds for around 20 minutes), I give her some time to kick around on the floor and when it's been around 40 minutes and she's starting to show tired signs, I wrap her and put her to bed. This has worked really well for us.

If you're finding your bub remains unsettled over the next few weeks I highly recommend getting her looked over by a paediatric chiropractor. They have amazing success with settling unsettled babies. It turns out my DS1 was such an unsettled baby because he had a dislocated shoulder from birth, this was not picked up until he was 10 weeks old after I took him to a chiropractor on the recommendation of a friend. Once it was rectified he was so much happier. But 10 weeks was a long time to deal with an unsettled bub, I was seriously losing the plot. I took DS2 and DD to the chiro when they were 4 weeks old just to rule any problems out so we wouldn't have to go through it again.

I really hope you find something that works for you both soon .