3 week old fights sleep

[callmedan]

My little girl is becoming much more alert and has longer periods of awake time, however the only way I can get her to sleep at the min is if she is rocked right after being BF
If she stays awake after being fed she is fine lay on a play mat or sat on my knee being chatted to, then she starts getting cranky and cries and stiffens when I hold her or if she's on my chest she lifts her head up fighting going to sleep
I don't know what to do, last night this lasted for 4 hours I tried feeding her changing her etc but she just fought sleep every time
Does anyone have any experience of this?

 

[Taurus8484]

Completely typically 3 week old behaviour xx hang on there. It gets easier as they get older.

Also how long is her awake time...she might be overtired

 

[summermoee]

Yes my almost 4 week old fights sleep all the time. Ive learned to swaddle her straight after feeding and she falls asleep instantly and will sleep up to 5 hours if its night time.

 

[noon_child]

Yes sounds normal. At three weeks awake time is REALLY SHORT so putting her down to play after a feed probably stimulates her to stay awake and then you've got an overtired baby. Overtired babies fight sleep like you wouldn't believe! At that age I'm a believer in doing whatever you can to avoid the over tiredness...anything....If the rocking is getting tedious, have you tried wearing her in a sling and walking around?

 

[Left wonderin]

It does sound a little like she is overtired . When your overtired adrenaline is produced in your body making it hard to sleep . Sounds like by the time she starts to cry she is already over tired .maybetry put her down before this ? Good luck

 

[Pea123]

Sounds really normal to me hun. The first 6 weeks in particular are tough and it is really a case of getting through any way you can at the moment. There are things you could try but for me nothing made much difference until baby was a bit older and more sleep mature

 

[ChocolateC]

Yes, just what Pea123 said! My LO fights sleep like CRAZY when it's his bassinet, but falls asleep like an angel when someone is holding him. I'm not worried about it because at this age, routines and schedules change all the time.
My DD fell asleep at the breast ALL THE TIME but grew into a great sleeper sometime between 6 and 12 months (I forget already when). The newborn stage doesn't last forever and that's fine by me. It's hard on the mommy and there's only so long you can deal with the constant BFing and sleep deprivation.
You can try to pick up and put down over and over until baby HAS to sleep where you want because she's so exhausted, and I do this sometimes, BUT I'm not convinced it's worth the fight at this age. If she were 3 MONTHS old I'd say yes, try to get a better sleep routine, but 3 weeks? Go with the flow.

P.S. My DD only slept 2 hours at a time until 6 weeks old. Yes, it was exhausting. But she went to sleep easily. Now, my DS sleeps 4-5 hours at a time, but is picky where he's put down and how. I think I prefer it this way. Another thing to try is nursing him while lying in bed on your side. Today we had a lovely 2 hour nap together this way. The doctors don't recommend it but I don't care!

 

[Smanderson]

Ds1 was like this I found he napped well in a baby swing

 

[laila 44]

My dd is 6 weeks old and fights her sleep. My other 2 never did. The thing is, a newborn shouldn't have much awake time, they need to sleep after their feeds.. If they don't, they get over tired and then it's hell to settle them. I have same issue now and what I do is put her to sleep in any way I can and then repeatedly put her down in her space.