settling tips???

Sorry if this is the wrong place for my question, but here goes.

My week old DS had been good as gold, wasy to get to sleep after feeds etc. All of a sudden yesterday, nothing would work! DP and I went through the list over and over (nappy burp hungry bored etc etc) and still DS was hysterical. I even busted out tge relaxation music CD. no lasting results there.

Is it normal for a newborn to be awake for up to 5 hours freakung out for no apparent reason? Poor DP pulled an all-nighter on his own so I could get some rest. He sat up all night researching this exact question in between re-settling the baby.

TIA

Do you have a baby carrier? They are priceless if your bub gets unsettled (and most of them do at some point). Put bub in the carrier and you or DH go for a walk. The movement & warmth & your heart beat often helps bub to settle.

Babies often have a week or two before they 'wake up'

Hey hun, sorry you're having a hard time ATM :hug: I remember the first 6 weeks being a complete blur!! lol. Could it be wind? My DS had pretty bad wind and that was the main reason for his crying. I b/f for a short 3 weeks as my milk supply was very minimal and ended up giving him what I could with breast and the rest in formula and then when I went formula 100% I had to change it 4 times as he didn't like any of them and it was playing havoc with his belly. He used to go all stiff and curl his legs up and I knew it was bad wind. Hope you find the reason soon. Remember though, little bubbas do cry a lot in the beginning.

Swaddle him, hold him close, walk around bouncing him a tiny tiny bit while saying ''shhhhh'', try walking around outside. Sammy would be a screaming mess inside, and when we took him outside he'd settle (sometimes not for very long, but long enough to get your head together again!)

Sammy also spent aaagggggeeeessss being BF, he was born pretty big (instead of thinking ''aww he's so small'' when he was handed to me, I thought ''holy crap he's huge!''), so had to feed lots to get my supply up. I remember one night just looking out at the stars while bf'ing my boy for the zillionth time and thinking ''he'll only be 5 days old once, he'll only be 5 days old once'' in order to get through it.

Keep in mind nothing may work. It's not your fault. And what works once may never work again, and what didn't work the first 50 times may suddenly work one day. All normal.

And yes, Sammy was awake for massive periods of time every so often. It was normal for him?

Thanks for the responses.

I've done everything you've listed, except the baby carrier thing because this little episode lasted all afternoon, and all night. DP just didn't bother to go to bed at all. We did go out to the shops for a walk as DS is always happy in the pram, but as soon as we got home he'd worked himself up again. :(

It's been better today so far but he's still just fighting sleep and waking up really easily. The GP gave us infacol wind drops to try today, and reccomended routine routine routine. Thanks for your ideas, I'm going go go and find my baby carrier for the next inevitable outburst.

This too shall pass lol. I just wish DP could be at home with me forever. Axel loves his Dad and settles better for him.

He might be about to or starting to have a growth spurt too and might actually be hungrier than usual, and waiting for your supply to catch up?

I had a really similar thing with DD, (although it turned out she wasn't feeding off me properly) but at one week old the same deal...just couldn't settle her at all. It was taking 4 hours to get her down for the night! The LC did mention that this is about the time their appetite increases a little.
We figured out she wasn't getting enough as she had lost weight. (not saying this is the case with you guys, but thought I would throw it in!) As soon as I started expressing for her, she became a dream baby and was so easy to settle again because her tummy was finally full!
We are now back to solely breastfeeding as my supply has increased and we have overcome our bf probs (she had a tongue tie).

Have you tried expressing and giving some in a bottle as a top up just to see if this makes a difference? Even at night before bub goes down.

I hope this helps!!

if bub is happy to sleep in the pram then i'd just leave him there lol
i agree with the carrier, it was the best thing ever for dd2. Miss S was the same as your ds though and all i could do was cuddle, bounce sing, walk rock etc. and it would be hours on end.

But yes - could also be a growth spurt.

Hope things settle soon. xx

The carrier was a life saver for DS in the early days. Both DD and DS would also cluster feed so from about 4pm to 9pm I think I was feeding them hourly. It meant I was chained to the sofa, but then they would happily sleep for 5hours after that.

Good luck, its such a guessing game most of the time, but it does get easier :hug:

Also don't underestimate the effect of fresh air. A walk in the fresh air can get bub ready to setttle to sleep. It's also good for Mum or Dad. I used to find myself feeling claustrophobic and feeling like i was stuck in the house, the more unsettled bub was the less i felt like going out. Someone on BB (i think it was MadB) suggested taking bub for a walk in the carier around the block, and it really helped me in the early days.