Baby constantly awake!

[lilmisscaviar]

My DD is 3 months old and almost never sleeps. She will fall asleep if you hold her or if she is being rocked in the swing, but as soon as her head hits the mattress, she is wide awake and fussing. I read that the typical 3 month old should sleep 11-12 hours at night and 4-5 hours in the day (and I realize that these are in intervals) and she does sleep a good 6-8 hour chunk at night but she doesn't nap at all in the day. It makes it hard because I have two other children and she needs to be almost constantly entertained because she won't sleep. She also hates the carrier so that is not an option. Anyone else dealing with a baby that never sleeps?

 

[minties]

That sounds truly awful, I am so sorry. I am not sure how I would cope with that.

 

[noon_child]

I had one of those! I wish I could help. My LO hated the carrier if I put her in it when she was tired already, but we had some success with getting her used to it while she was calm and awake and then she accepted it more readily when tired (although still screamed in it if overtired).

 

[thehippie777]

We are in the same boat with a 9 week old. She is fussy all days most days and won't stay asleep. In our case, even the swing isn't helping in the long term.

My DH has taken the brunt of the fussiness lately and it's wearing on him. Our DD is often hungry any more and might be at a growth spurt. We aren't sure.

DH will keep her in the swing and sit with her most of the night, then when he is beyond exhausted he will lay her, asleep, in her crib. Within 15 minutes she is awake and crying. At this point I go get her, sit in her dark room (with nightlight) in the rocker chair, swaddle her good, give her a little warm milk or until she stops sucking, keep the pacifier close just in case, and rock her to at least almost asleep and hold her close gently.

I have stages of setting her in the crib. I will slowly stop rocking, shift forward, stand up and rock her a little while making sure her eyes stay drowsy or closed, and then shift my hand behind her head and rock her a bit, then gently set her down butt first with hand underneath her, hold her there, then set down her head, hold her there and gently release both hands separately. If she starts thrashing around I will also put my hands softly upon her chest and legs just to comfort her. I stand for a few moments near the crib just in case she starts thrashing and I will softly place my hands on her again. If she wakes herself up, I repeat from the beginning. Usually she only takes her pacifier after having eaten already. It took me one early morning an hour and a half to settle her.

I'm thinking we might just start settling her down earlier in her crib. I dunno. Our living room is downstairs from our nursery and I go to bed before DH and he says he has a difficult time hearing her (I do NOT, it's not a large house at all).

She has been refusing to nap for long during the day and that leads to her just crying and crying. I hold her close and shhh her and use the pacifier, and she will go to sleep in my arms and sleep well but when we set her down she will wake up kind of quick and pretty unhappy. Just last week she loved her swing and slept well a few days off and on all day. Then we did sleep and naps in the car seats. It used to be her bouncie chair she loved for naps. She usually has success in the baby carrier, but DH doesn't wear it (yet).

It's all so trial and error! Both DH and I are beyond ourselves most days. It's difficult, but she is so beautiful. I understand your pain and I don't want to. Maybe if we find solutions every day we chould share ideas?

 

[awnmyown]

Sorry ur going thru this lilmiss. I had similar issues with B, where she would not nap during the day, unless I forced her to, which was an hour long screaming battle and I had to hold her. She still only naps in her swing or my arms and u can make a noise. We did luck out on night sleeping but we have a very loud fan in her room. One trick we use for naps is a heating pad. I preheat where she'll sleep and while she wakes when I put her down, the heat seems to lull her back to sleep. I also put a nursing cloth close to her head so she still smells mama. Soother helps too. Oh, and I put a warm fuzzy Fleece down on her mattress to make it warmer.

Last thing, if you live rural, put her to sleep outside in her carseat or stroller, well bundled up with wind protection. Less noise and something about the fresh air really helps. My girlfriend did this with all three of her boys and it really helped. She slept the baby outside while the boys were eating and such, and then sent the boys out and could focus on the baby inside.

Just a few things to try adding.