Can't Transition to Sleep

DD2 is now 9 weeks and is struggling to get to sleep. Previously she would have 2 hr naps during the day and wake 3 hourly at night but sleep in between so it wasn't to bad. But now she only sleeps for 40 minutes and that's if I can get her to sleep. I'm exhausted!

I've been watching for her tired signs and take her to bed. I swaddle her, we have a cuddle and then I put her into bed. She lays there quietly until her eyes close, but after about 5 - 10 mins she jerks awake and starts crying. I then settle her again but the same thing happens. :wall: The poor thing wants to go to sleep but can't.

She did have her needles last Friday, but was fine both Friday and Saturday. It was Sunday that things started falling apart and have been getting worse since.

Can anyone help??????

I have had a similiar experience with my 4 wk old. I took her to an osteopath today as she has been really unsettled and the osteopath suggested a book she used called 'The Baby Whisperer' by Tracie Hoggs. Apparently it was really helpful so i'm going to give it a go. Olive is sometimes awake for 6-7 hrs at a time and gets sooo overtired. Anyway hope the book helps as it sounds like your doing the same as me.

Thanks, I've read both the books but I'm still having issues! She suggests patting them to sleep, which can take 20min or more(In our case definately more). Which is really hard because I have a 3yo in desperate need of attention. I'm still persevering but slowly going insane.

Hi Captain,

Maybe see your gp and get a referal to a sleep and settling clinic nearby. You don't want the frustration and sleep deprevation to overwhelm you! Hang in there.

Hi Captain,

So hard to know what the cause is. I have a nearly six month old who has had this problem since birth and also a toddler in need of attention too! Going insane - well, I'm probably there :o

Could it be that the startle reflex is waking her up? Is she still swaddled?

Also, could reflux, even silent reflux (no outward symptoms) be an issue? DS#2 seems to have a bit of this issue.

I would also suggest an osteopath - they can be good at identifying any potential reason for it? Ours idenified DS#2s silent reflux because of where he had tightness - we seem to be making progress during the day (night time is a different story! help!!) Make sure you find one experienced with babies.

GOOD LUCK.
TICKLISH

Is it a developmental thing maybe? I know for a bit there DD was only sleeping for around 20 minutes - if that - and was sooo hard to get back to sleep...

But she seems to be ok now. That could be the chiro that I take her too though - so maybe try that?

(oh and DD has silent reflux so that could have been her problem.. she sleeps longer now if I put her on her belly - unwrapped of course!)

Well, yesterday after nearly 11hrs awake, she finally fell asleep at 10pm. I think it was only because exhaustion got the better of her. After that she slept a bit better, but still several wake ups. Then today was back to constant waking. She even had trouble when I put her in the sling, and that's usually a guaranteed sleep.

Eej, wont go to the sleep clinic cause I had a bad experience with them last time (yep, I had massive sleep problems with DD1 too, difference was we knew what caused it.)

Ticklish, yep she is swaddled. I have thought of the silent reflux cause of the way she was screaming, but today she seems a lot more settled, though still not sleeping. I might look into it more. After 6 months of not sleeping I'm not surprised you're going insane. Hope the oesteo helps things get better for you soon.

Mel, I've taken her to a chiro once for a check, but her didn't need to do anything (c/section bub so not to much trauma.) Is due for another check up soon though. I have thought about sleeping her on her tummy, cause she does like it, but I'm way to paranoid. I don't have a monitor.

I'm really hoping things get better soon, because she's growing so big she almost doesn't fit in the bassinet anymore. I'm not ready for her to go in her own room so don't know what to do:dunno:

Hmm.. thats a tough one.. both of my kids were/are tummy sleepers - couldn't get a decent nap out of them without them being on their tummy - I always use the monitor though.

Maybe try hiring a hammock? They are supposed to be pretty handy.

Oh and my kids were c/sections as well - so your doc must have been a bit more gentle than mine - cos both of mine had neck problems (and they weren't even emergency ones!!)

It certainly didn't look gentle when he pulled her out, lol. Maybe I'll look into getting a monitor. Where do you get them from?

Um i think my mum got it from the SIDS foundation - although they don't recommend a specific type (which is weird, why would you be able to get it directly from them if they don't recommend that type??)

Anyhoo - mine is a babysense one - just google them :)

Just thought I'd do a little update of where we're at now, JIC it helps anyone else.

I think the intitial problem was a pain issue. Maybe left over from her needles or from the nappy rash. Whatever it was, she doesn't jerk awake anymore. She is still a little hard to settle, but over the past couple of weeks I've been learning a lot about her personality.

First, she is very easily overstimulated. Just a small outing can unsettle her for a full day. I discovered this because she always slept well on Saturdays - because we didn't go anywhere on Fridays. :o
Second, she has a very short sleep window. If I don't act with the first tired sign then it can take ages to settle her. She doesn't do overtired well, lol. But if I act quickly, she can sometimes self settle.

So, we have been very slowly improving things, I'm actually getting a 4hr block of sleep at night. Hopefully things continue to get better. :D

Captain, have you tried Infants Friend? Just in case she has had wind. I used to give it to my DD at every feed and it helped her to sleep, it was excellent.

I do hope things get better for you soon.

Have you tried letting her sleep in a sling during the day (eg. a Hug A Bub). You may find she will sleep better at night if she has had proper sleep during the day (because she's not overtired). Also, if she sleeps in the sling, it frees you up to look after your toddler.

I found with my LO when she took long to settle, cutting back her awake time usually helped. I think at 9 weeks she was having awake time of max 1.5hrs. If she didn't settle within 15mins I would cut back on her awake time the next sleep. I found that she would always cat-nap if she took ages to settle (because she was over-tired). Anyway, you might have tried this but just in case, it worked for me!!