8 week old no 'day' sleeping - at all!!!

Hi Ladies,

this is my first post since giving birth to my beautiful baby girl Siena :). She started off as a dream child and had regular feeds and sleep. About a week ago her sleep patterns changed and she has only had one 'day sleep' over the last two weeks. She sleeps well at night, but usually begins her restless ritual from about 5 or 6am. She is breastfed and has gained a good amount of weight. I dont know if this is a feeding, settling or medical problem. Could wind keep her up for so long? She tries to settle, but wakes every few minutes - sometimes even when she has her dummy. I have also noticed that she makes a lot of grunting noises.

I have gone back to work this week and cant function because of the stress of leaving her and trying to express. My mother-in-law takes care of her and my 2 y o.
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Please help!!!!! I would appreciate any advice. I have tried all settling techniques and nothing has worked - I feel terrible that she is not having a day-sleep - not even one!:confused: :crying:

Sorry for the long post
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Hi Danstar,

I've had periods of this with Tallon. Some days I just let him fall asleep on me and it was the only way he would STAY asleep. I've also found.. even now.. letting him sleep in the pram in the day works wonders. Don't know why, but he sleeps well in it. Tallon used to make grunting noises all the time too LOL. I think they're still working out exactly what their bodies are doing! I think he's finally figuring out his bodily functions tho :)

I don't really have any more suggestions, other than just go with it. My solution was to just relax and sleep with him, and it seemed to help. She'll get back into the swing of things again some time :) they go through so many developmental stages which can unsettle them.

Having said all that, I guess if it goes on too long, you could get her checked for reflux or something. But is she distressed when she wakes? or just normal waking up cries?

I hope it all settles for you soon.

Hi Danstar,

My baby was doing exactly the same thing. She was sleeping through the night, but during the day all bets were off. i was having to nurse her all day because the moment i put her back in her cradle she would wake up.
things started to turn around when we went to o'connell family centre. i found that feeding her in bed in the morning would help, she would generally have a good sleep afterwards. i found she also liked sleeping in a cot in a dark room. they suggested holding her hands together on her chest and rocking her, and also keeping a hand over her eyes because she might try to engage you.
i must admit that i have recently tried her on a couple of bottles of formula per day, and she seems to settle better on it. she also seems to be much better when feeding in a quiet calm environment, when i am relaxed also.
i also find that if i give her a dummy and cuddle her into me so that the dummy doesn't fall out, and incidently she feels like she's on the breast, within 5-10 minutes she goes to sleep, i can put her down and she will sleep.
Have you spoken to your MCHN about a day stay program? one of the girls in my mothers group also had this problem and she said that it really helped her.
I hope this might help - hang in there, it will get better!

Allison

I was about to edit my post to say that I pretty much always breastfeed Tallon to sleep.. but then I realised you said you've just gone back to work, so that won't work for you! hehe.

I also discovered that he was waking often because he was cold (my bad :( ) so maybe make sure she's secure and warm and she may not wake as quickly after settling.

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and also keeping a hand over her eyes because she might try to engage you.

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I dunno about that one.. there's been many times Tallon has gone off to sleep gazing into my eyes :) I love it.

I think daystays encourage controlled crying don't they? I'd be reluctant with that, coz Siena's probably waking for a reason.. it's a matter of finding that reason! Like I said.. I worked out Tallon was cold and that fixed the problem somewhat.

Good luck!

Have you tried wrapping???

She's only so little - and often when babies sleep well at night, they don't have much sleep time left during the day! Babies can only sleep so much, on average, a baby sleeping through the night is 5 hours. So if you get more than that, you are very lucky ;)

As Vanita said, try wrapping, wearing (Hug-A-Bubs are great for this, babies feel very secure, no spine compression like other pouch carriers and very comfy, so you can get on with other things without feeling like she's there!) and she sounds very normal to me! Don't let anyone tell you it's a feeding problem and she should have formula or anything like that, as you say she is thriving, but remember babies have developmental stages too where they will sleep less, be more fussy, be more clingy etc. This is just babies! It sounds like you have a gorgeous little girl there who is feeding well and sleeping well overnight - unfortunately babies also bring less sleep for mum and it's great you have family support. Don't forget to call on it when YOU need a break to rest and have some baby free time, it makes for a much easier parenting experience :) You could always call on a post-natal doula if you feel bad asking family for more or at night have your partner watch her, take her for a walk etc so you can have some peace and unwind time.

I forgot to add, check out this article: 15 Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep and also check out Pinky McKay's book, 100 Ways to Calm the Crying which has some fabulous tips. Her new book is coming out in early July, Sleeping Like a Baby which I am sure will be a huge hit. Quite a few BB members have been quoted in there too :)

Danstar,

I started back at work when Indah was only 4 mths old & I hated it got myself worked up to resign every 5 mins for the first 2-3wks... I found it emotionally draining, now I am back in my role with all my important meetings & crap that I attend but have my girls on my mind 24/7!

It is very hard & Indah stopped having a day sleep for a while just getting out of 1 routine into another I gave striuct instructions to my Sister & my My Mum whom have her on various days to let her lead & guide them... They promised to let her do her own thing...
She now sleeps anything up to 5 hours after her morning feed, then another 2-3 hour sleep after her afternoon feed!
I think it's just part of them changing daily & getting used to the new environment etc...
Indah had Colic intially so we really had to work up a decent burp or else she'd be awake soon after putting her down...

You need to relax when handing her over in the mornings, maybe she is sensing your stress about leaving her? I know I was a mess but now I enjoy my job & enjoy the times I get to spend with my girls so much more!!!!

Good Luck!

I fell so much better after reading all your lovely posts!

Thankyou so much for all your advice. It is reassuring to know that our little girl is normal and probably only going through a developmental stage.

Mwa
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