Not sleeping, eating more often.. growth spurt?

For the past week DD hasn't been sleeping during the day and then when it hits 5/6pm she gets very cranky and unsettled and takes a couple of hours to settle her.

The last 2 nights shes kept us awake by crying and whinging.. but sometimes her eyes aren't even open.

And she was feeding every 3-4 hours and now its 2.5-3.

I took her to the doctors yesterday and he said it was normal and she will settle into a routine soon. Does that sound right? Also when her measurements were done again they hadn't changed from 6 weeks so would that mean shes going to have a growth spurt soon?

Any info is appreciated :)

From memory, I think they usually have a growth spurt around 12 weeks, so she might be leading up to it.

Just give her lots of cuddles and she'll be right. :)

Thanks :)

is she not sleeping at all during the day?? the arvo crying could be overtiredness or good old arsenic hour !

She will drift off for maybe 15-20 mins and then wake up. I do believe that at the end of the day she is just so overtired. Before the last 2 days she would sleep all night, would sleep 6-8 hours straight now shes not sleeping at night either. She slept for 3 hours last night and was crying the rest of the night.

She's currently sleeping now. And has been for i guess 3 hours. But today she had one 1 hour sleep and was awake for the rest.

id say this is mostly related to being overtired, can you try and resettle after that first sleep cycle?? do it now while shes younger as it will get harder, or go in at the 10 min mark and gently pat her as she stirs to try and get her to go into the next sleep cycle

I remember with DS his sleep changed dramatically at around the 2 month mark (and lots of my friends little ones have too). I think at that stage they're becoming so much more alert and taking in so much more of the world, that they don't want to sleep because the world around them is so intriguing. It's around this time that they start seeing colours, are able to focus and properly look at things that aren't 20cms in front of them, really start taking people in etc. Mind you, I can't quite remember how we got through it... I'm pretty sure that at that time it was when he stopped self settling, so we started rocking him to sleep during the day and just generally doing whatever we had to to help him get the sleep he needed during the day - if he slept well during the day, he slept well at night iykwim? Anyway HTH and you manage to get a good nights sleep tonight...

Sometimes i can resettle her and others she won't take a bar of it, the eyes will begin to get heavy but then she wakes herself up by waving her arms or legs. Shes also got a nasty habit of grabbing and pinching at my chest so i have scratches and marks from her.

I've tried cuddling her to sleep and its the same sleep for 30-60 mins and she will wake up. I've tried laying down with her and she just whinges the whole time.

DP has the magic touch but as he works and is gone 11 hours of the day hes not able to settle her for me.

I'm hoping its just a phase and she settles down.

ETA: Yes i think shes too fascinated by the world around her. So i sometimes have to resort to the pram with a light blanket covering so she cant see out.

have you thought about going back to wrapping her?? there are other ways to wrap that she may prefer

Sounds like overtiredness to me too (not only Kailey but now also her Mummy :hug: )

6-8 hours is a long time for a little one to go during the night even if they are formula fed and it would be more normal at her age to be waking every three hours or so so don't worry too much about her not sleeping through at the moment.

As for being overtired - I hear you - DD had a stint where she didn't sleep at all during the day and it almost did my head in. Does she have some sort of bed time routine that you are establishing? Like swaddling her tight and darkening the room and playing a CD or whatever works for you? If so then maybe try starting this routine after she has been awake for an hour of two even if she doesn't seem tired (remembering that most kiddies Kailey's age can't go for more than about 2 hours of being awake). And pat her or cuddle her or whatever until she does go to sleep (it may take a really long time - try and stick with it - once she has got a bit more sleep she will then want to sleep more and be a much happier little lady)

Also, there is a really really good program run by ACT Health called First Steps - ring the Maternal Health line in your blue book and they will be able to give you all the details - and it deals specifically with sleep and feeding problems in the first three or four months of your bub's life. Are you joining one of the mother's groups that they organise in your area? The maternal health care nurse who facilitates these will also be a huge resource of information - but for now give First Steps a call - they are incredibly helpful and have great information on things like recognising tired signs so that you can put them to bed before they get overtired.

Good luck

She used to love being wrapped.

What other ways are there to do it? We got an idea from the dvd we got from the hospital after we had her.

ETA: We go to bed at the same time every night. Because she is currently co sleeping with us her day sleeps are on one of the arm chairs in the loungeroom. I have a blanket put down and when i want her to sleep i put her down on her belly put her dummy in her mouth a blanket over her and then i walk away. Sometimes when she is fighting it i sit down next to her and calm her and she drifts off to sleep. This was working really well, i could walk away she would drift off to sleep and i would do my daily chores and then it would be she would take longer and longer to settle and then it was she wouldnt at all. If i am having cuddles with her when shes away and she starts to whinge and grab at me i say thats it sleep time and i put her down. So i try and catch her as shes just feeling tired. I know if im consistant and dont change she will fall into a routine just in the meantime sooo tired lol

put a wrap on the floor (or a sheet) fold the top edge down about 4 inch (more if you need to), lay her on the wrap with shoulders onthe fold line, slip her hands/arms up and under the fold, the wrap across her as normal, that way when shes wrapped her hands are near her face, not straight down beside her (hope all that makes sense its hard to explain lol ) oh and use a large wrap

Thanks Muppity :)

I keep forgetting i have my blue book with all the info and support. I will give them a call on Monday as a program for sleeping and feeding will be great.

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put a wrap on the floor (or a sheet) fold the top edge down about 4 inch (more if you need to), lay her on the wrap with shoulders onthe fold line, slip her hands/arms up and under the fold, the wrap across her as normal, that way when shes wrapped her hands are near her face, not straight down beside her (hope all that makes sense its hard to explain lol ) oh and use a large wrap

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No that makes sense.. and i will have to give that a try. Hopefully she prefers that because shes also trying to sleep with her hands up in the air (its so cute :p) and then if she is moved or in the car she goes over a bump her hands move and she jumps then wakes up :doh: i try put her arms down and they slowly go back up.

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i try put her arms down and they slowly go back up.

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It's so cute when they sleep like that! I guess it must be nice to stretch out after being all squished up for so long...

She makes me laugh so much. Sometimes she gets really hyper and her arms and legs just go and shes babbling away i get tears in my eyes its just soo cute. After a night of no sleep what makes it worthwhile is that smile i get when i say "good morning" to her. Its why i never want to give up co sleeping (for selfish reasons of course LOL) i just love that her smiling gorgeous face is the first thing i see.

But i know if i dont get her into a routine now it will be harder when shes bigger.

I know all babies are different but shes 10 weeks tomorrow and weighs 4kgs and her length is 50cms, which is only 1 kg and 1cm bigger than her birth measurements. The doctor did say that babies dont tend to grow rapidly but id assume she would be growing a little more than what she has.

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put a wrap on the floor (or a sheet) fold the top edge down about 4 inch (more if you need to), lay her on the wrap with shoulders onthe fold line, slip her hands/arms up and under the fold, the wrap across her as normal, that way when shes wrapped her hands are near her face, not straight down beside her (hope all that makes sense its hard to explain lol ) oh and use a large wrap

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This is how we used to have to wrap Miss J because she hated it with her arms by her side, worked well for us for ages (we used a cot sheet) then Miss S comes along and decides that she likes it better with her arms by her side LOL

DD was like that. After a while she hated having her arms tucked in, would wriggle them out and then startle and wake herself up. We also went through the feeding every two hours and just when I was feeling like I could never leave the house again, she settled and got herself (and me) into a nice little routine. Good luck.

well she made me out to be a liar last night LOL

she slept a good 7 hours which was nice to get some solid sleep without waking up every 15-20mins.

i'll just have to be persistant and keep putting her down for sleeps.

Thanks for everyones advice :)

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Thanks Muppity :)

I keep forgetting i have my blue book with all the info and support. I will give them a call on Monday as a program for sleeping and feeding will be great.

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I woke in a cold sweat at about 3 this morning thinking of you (and then laughing to myself!) First Steps is not the program you want. The one you want is Early Days. Asking for First Steps could set off some alarm bells (I'm pretty sure it is a program for people with mental illness who are in crisis)

I blame my own lack of sleep :)

:rofl: ohhh that would set some alarm bells off! and id been awfully confused when i turned up to the first meeting LOL

Thank you again.