Alert baby can't switch off!!

[plush_pink]

Hi everyone,

My son in 9.5wks old now and since birth really he's been very alert and physically advanced. He gets overtired and screams A LOT! He just can't switch off. I've tried everything, a dummy, a comforter, his Moses basket, his cot, white noise blah blah blah. He will sleep in the car or the buggy but of course I can't do that all day and all night. Any tips on helping an alert baby to sleep? When does it get better eg when will he grow out of this?

 

[felix555]

My baby has always been the same and is still like this now at 21 months old. At that age the only thing that worked was rocking and the hairdryer. He still gets rocked for naps now but mostly self settles for bedtime.

 

[Literati_Love]

Mine is the same way and what helped for me was figuring out her wake time. I looked up usual wake times for her age and then kept my eye out for early tired cues like rubbing her eyes or yawning. As soon as I see these, I start helping her to go to sleep. Since she is so alert, if you keep entertaining her she will just keep going and going and it's easy to miss that she is actually tired. As more time passes, she gets overtired and then the screaming begins. When overtired she will also fight sleep like crazy. So the key for me was just identifying how long she can stay awake WITHOUT becoming overtired and being very attentive to her cues. We've had a whole lot less crying since we figured that out at about a month old. Not sure how old your LO is but I used this link to help figure out my daughter's wake time initially.
https://www.troublesometots.com/are-you-keeping-baby-awake-too-long/

 

[Gingerspice]

My dd as like this (now aged 4.5yrs) I used to have to block out stimuli, so if at home in pitch black room. If not, then a Muslin I very her eyes. She'd require lots of rocking/movement, white noise to block out sounds and nobody around. She is still a light sleeper (not needing much sleep) She was always first meeting physical milestone, she was running by 10 months. We had electr I swing where she'd nap when at home when little.
As above, important to not get into overtired realm. I ended up going by the clock in the end as she wouldn't give oft tired cues until too late. I read GF book which gives ideas of how long different t age babies can be awake for before needing a nap. Once I moved to that things did get easier.