How to settle and 'overtired' baby?

OK I'm sure this has been asked a million times before but....
How do you settle an 'over-tired' baby? It's all very well saying 'oh she's over tired' but how the heck do you settle her when all the normal things (bath, walking in arms or in a sling, rocking chair, offering a breast....) don't seem to do anything? Well fed, clean nappy and burped so I can eliminate those causes too.
DD sleeps all arvo then is alert and lively in the evening meaning she doesn't settle at night and ends up fussing and crying for hours - I'm loathe to wake her more in the arvo for fear of making her even MORE tired by night....
Am I missing something obvious? Does anyone have a 'secret trick' they use?

We used to put DD in the car and go for a drive on the freeway when we had tried 'everything' She would usually fall asleep pretty quickly and stay asleep once we got home.

Hi Koru

I see from your ticker that your DD is not even 2 weeks old yet. She is still so little, at that age often they don't know day from night and their sleep is all over the place. I know my DS at that age really didn't know and his sleep was really muddled.

No secret tricks unfortunately...sounds like you've tried all the things I would have suggested. Maybe just being aware that over the next few weeks she will naturally find some rhythm might help? Go with her cues now for sleep rather than trying to wake her or find a routine.

GL

Hi Lollybaby,
I've been doing what I do best when faced with a problem - 'researching' - and have come to the conclusion that you are absolutely right and I just have to ride it out :rolleyes:
In the 'real world' I would naturally have assumed I was doing something wrong and try and 'fix' it. In 'babyland' it seems no-one is to blame for cranky babies - they just are :)
I'll still read anyones tips - you never know what'll work!

Hi
She's probably still getting day/night sorted, as pp says. Maybe try taking her out for a walk in the sunshine - that might help adjust her body clock.
She'll get it eventually - kinda just have to go with the flow when they're little.

Fresh air during the day is really good used to knock georgia out but playing some of my music and just singing along worked for us. She would calm down and allow herself to drift off to sleep.
Goodluck hope it all settles down soon

Congratulations on the arrival of you beautiful little DD hun. The first weeks can be so hard. Mostly it settles down soon so I hope that's true for you.

There is no one right answer to this, and it will depend a bit on why she is fussy and not sleeping. It might be that she's just one of those babies that doesn't need as much sleep - the day and night rhythm will work itself out so the longer sleep will be at night soon. It might be wind pain, in which case sucking at the breast might help as this helps the wind pass through. But then if you have oversupply sucking at the breast can make it worse! Most often a sling helps with unsettledness, as you have tried a warm bath, rocking, walk in the sling or pram, drive in the car etc, you might even like to try a baby swing. Sometimes things that didn't work yesterday (or even this morning), will work next time you try, so it's best not to stop trying these things. Most mums find that each of them works some of the time. Another thing to try is to make sure that you are putting her down as soon as her tired signs start. By preventing her getting overtired it makes it easier. Usually newborns won't stay awake for longer than an hour to an hour and a half at a time - although there are some babies who do!

As you can see, there are so many things to try, and try again! It really is trial and error!

How is everything else going? Is she feeding well - how often is she feeding? What are her nappies like, and how many? How long does she feed for, and does she feed well or fuss? This information can help to work out what is going on.

Best of luck hun. You are doing a fantastic job so far.

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In 'babyland' it seems no-one is to blame for cranky babies - they just are :)

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You've hit the nail on the head, mate :) Natalie was a very cranky baby, and Phoebe is slightly better... but still often cranky. I think she was probably about 6ish weeks old when she settled more easily at night. We just rode it out, as you've said. I found that the less stimulation after 5pm the better and easier it was to get to bed at a reasonable hour. (Low lighting, if telly's on then just softly etc). If she was really beside herself I sometimes found she'd take the breast if I was standing up and rocking her, and that would send her off to sleep. (But not always.)
Congrats on your new baby :) You sound like you are very reasonable in your expectations - keep on trusting your instincts. Hope things settle down for you soon.

This depends on the bub. My first was music and motion. With my 2nd she needs very dark and quiet. So all the tricks I used with my first never worked on my 2nd, they just made it worse.

I find when Blake is overtired that wrapping him firmly, holding him tightly against my body (upright or sideways/lying), making shhhing sounds and breathing deeply helps a lot (it helps me be calm too) I also find stroking his eyebrows and forehead works well sometimes.

the only thing that used to work for my ds2 when he was an overtired newborn was to walk him around the house a few times in a hug-a-bub. worked almost instantly.

Congratulations :D
I agree with previous posters, it depends on the baby. For DD1, taking her for a drive in the car worked every single time. DD2 tends to get a bit wound up if we've had a busy day or if I've been really stressed. In those cases, the best thing I've found for her is to take her to bed (she co-sleeps most nights), turn the lights off, offer her the boob or her dummy (if she's too wound up she wants nothing to do with boobie and will just scream at it for ages) and lay quietly with her until she calms down. She usually nods off or will calm down enough to take a little feed and then falls asleep on the boob. Once she's out, I can get up and go back out to the lounge room and she will sleep through.

GL, bubs that age have their day/nighttime all mixed up and can get very easily stressed out - sometimes just sitting quietly in a darkened room and letting her have a big cry is good, I'm of the opinion that just like adults, babies need a 'vent' when they've had a big day. Just be there for her and let her know mummy is nearby and I'm sure the crying won't hurt her (although it is very stressful for you!!).

I dont think there is any single answer, but I will share what worked well for me. At first I had no routine - and felt as though I was just coping. DS was awake at night as much as day.
Soonafter it was recommended to me to get DS into a consistent feed-wake-sleep cycle during the day. This proved to be very helpful in helping DS to reset the body clock for night and day. I also found it useful for digesting the food - having some wake time after each feed.
During the day, I would try to make sure DS would be awake for at least an hour at a time (including feeds) before putting him down, and kept repeating this cycle.
At night it was feed, burp and straight back down to bed again. He soon leant that wake time was for 'bright' time - and sleep time was for 'dark' time. I always kept DS's room as dark as possible at night when feeding/burping/changing etc.
As he grew I gradually increased the duration of wake time during the day, repeating the cycle, until one day he just slept all night and continued to do so regularly.

HTH somewhat....
Best of luck. Things can seem so much harder when you're sleep deprived!!

XX

Ooooooooh, hope one of the above tips helps with your bub! At just 2 weeks its so hard to work out as our babies are still teaching us what they like/dislike

Like CF - I am a big fan of wrapping, it works 99% of the time with my DS, and he might cry for a few minutes when I first wrap him but ultimately he settles pretty quick. However some babies dont like to be wrapped so this may not work

MR makes a great point regarding retrying some of the things that haven't worked as at different times your bub will be more receptive to different things

PS - If you find out that secret trick, be sure to let me know! LOL, every time I think I have found one, DS changes the rules of the baby game :ROFL:

thanks everyone for your replies. it's nice to know this is all normal and i'm not missing something i should or shouldn't be doing :)
dd definately likes being carried in a sling - so long as i keep moving! went for a long walk in the sunshine with her in it yesterday and she slept really well last night :D
manta ray - yes she's feeding well and filling plenty of nappies so i do take comfort in that.
ok off to take a nap while she's nodded off......

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I find when Blake is overtired that wrapping him firmly, holding him tightly against my body (upright or sideways/lying), making shhhing sounds and breathing deeply helps a lot (it helps me be calm too) I also find stroking his eyebrows and forehead works well sometimes.

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The exact same things works for Aiden when he's overtired or just won't settle. I lie us in bed on our sides facing eachother and hold him firmly against my chest and i put my forehead on his and he goes to sleep within five mins. All else fails i play him "beautiful" by eminem and he goes dead quiet. Only that song though, no others. Lol, i have a weird kid

A dark room, dummy & music does wonders.

If DD ever got really overtired and cranky, I would run a warm deep bath. THis wouls lull her (I would hold her in my arm on her tummy and move her gently in the water. I think it is very womb like. It helped that she was a bit of a water baby as well and loved baths.

You will find what works for you guys.

SOunds like you are doing a great job :hug: Oh and a big Congratulations as well :)

I used to watch Alex like a hawke when he was that age - when he showed his first sign of tiredness, then I would start the settling process, which for him is on the boob and cuddle time.

Hang in there hun.. your doing so well already... it does take a little while for them to get the whole hang of day and night.

I also used to make a lot more noise - talk/play more to Alex during the day and then be really quiet at night during his waking times.This seemed to work for us. It gets easier to read them :D