Newborn does not nap at all!!

[sunshine114]

We are having a nightmare couple of days with our LO. After initially settling to FF really well (was unable to BF, LO was losing weight and starving), we thought things were starting to calm down a little.

The last day or two he has REFUSED to nap during the day. The most he has managed is one sleep of 45 minutes. He sleeps well at night, only waking once to be fed, but during the day it is a different story. He is always so alert and wide eyed, and it's like he is afraid of missing something! By the end of the afternoon he is so exhausted he is getting into a right state and yet STILL fights sleep! Last night was particularly bad, we went for our 30 minute walk and he screamed the entire way round!!!! Obviously I love having such an alert and inquisitive baby, but not when it means he gets overtired and upset.

Anyway, we feed on demand which is usually followed by a change, so the sleepyness of the feed wears off and he wakes up again!

What do you do to help your LO's sleep? Do you change them before a feed to make the most of the after feed sleepyness? What can we do to help him nap in the day? He constantly wants attention and likes to be rocked so we have ordered a swing which will be here Monday, but by then I may have lost the plot!

 

[mrsthomas623]

At that age Nolan was only happy sleeping ON me... so I let him. But def. try changing him before the feeding and see if that helps. I would think he should be needing more sleep during the day but tbh i had a colicky baby and really dont remember much about the age!

 

[sunshine114]

At that age Nolan was only happy sleeping ON me... so I let him. But def. try changing him before the feeding and see if that helps. I would think he should be needing more sleep during the day but tbh i had a colicky baby and really dont remember much about the age!

That's exactly what we think - we can't understand how he only seems to sleep two four hour chunks in the night, and the odd few minutes here and there!! When we said about amount of sleep to the HV she said newborns can sleep 18 hours a day! We always hold him until he drops off to sleep as he can't get himself to sleep in his basket or carrycot yet, but it's still never for very long.

 

[sunshine114]

Anyone else? It's like he constantly wants stimulation but nothing we seem to do is good enough! Please help!

 

[beatnick]

my lo was fussy like this when i wasnt feeding him enough... how much is your lo taking? are they draining the bottle?

plus if you want a bit of peace do the nappy first!

 

[sunshine114]

He was having 3oz bottles so now we make 4oz. Sometimes he drains them, sometimes not. I am wondering if it's a growth spurt as he seems to want feeding so much quicker, one minute he's calm, the next he is screaming and giving hunger cues, there's no gradual build up just calm to screeching!

 

[Punky79]

Anyone else? It's like he constantly wants stimulation but nothing we seem to do is good enough! Please help!

It could be that he is over stimulated - at that age they really don't need toys and stuff to be honest. Have you tried swaddling him? Change his nappy, swaddle and then feed and he might drop off.

Also at that age my LO LOVED white noise - always worked a treat to get him to sleep.

 

[sunshine114]

Ill try swaddling and putting the washing machine on! Hes yawning all the time!!

 

[mrsthomas623]

Oh yes, definitely swaddle! Most (not all though) babies respond well to it.. Nolan still needs swaddled to fall asleep

 

[beatnick]

my hv said if they are draining the bottle they prob need a touch more.

I used this site to help me a bit: https://www.justmommies.com/articles/formula-feeding-calculator.php

he is still fussy and i think he had a growth spurt yesterday and the day before as he just wanted to feed all the time and WOULD NOT nap at all!

 

[sunshine114]

In desperation dh went and bought a fisher price lullaby seahorse as it has really good reviews, he seems a little calmer anyway. It plays quite nice tunes! Am hoping that plus a walk will help him drop off. The more I read the more I think it's a growth spurt as at his last feed he onl had about 2oz so he obviously wasn't that hungry.

 

[twinklestar]

id try nappy first then swaddle then feed, id also feed him in a quiet room where he wont be distracted by voices or the tv etc

things will get better , hang in there x x

 

[beatnick]

plus try a dummy- the sucking calms them down.

plus a good old fashioned cuddle and a bum pat. be patient and quiet and you might just look down to find your lo asleep.

(sometimes i rush to find solutions instead of just waiting a moment!)

 

[sunshine114]

Yeah, we use a dummy. He dropped off on our walk for about 20 minutes, has been awake for a little while, had a screaming fit, but then with a cuddle like you said he has dropped off again. It's hard to work out when he is screaming what the matter is. When he was hungry before this little phase, we would have him slowly wake up and start giving hunger cues. Now he just wakes up and cries!

 

[twiggy56]

I had the exact same problem...you know what solved it almost in one night??


BLACKOUT BLIND!!

Abigail was so over-stimulated, constantly thinking she'd miss something...I cuddled her, fed her with a dry bum, set her down and in the black room she didnt feel like she was 'missing' anything and fell asleep during the day....

she now sleeps 11 hours EVERY night and naps at the exact same time during the day for 2 solid hours.


I cant recommend it enough....the blackout blind meant naps during the day werent a battle anymore.

Hope you get things solved

 

[sunshine114]

Oooo, I hadn't thought about making the room darker in the day! We spent so long at the beginning trying to get him to learn the difference between day and night by keeping the day really light, but hadn't thought about using a blind for naps. that would make sense as he usually (until now anyway touch wood!) settles really well in the evening once we have closed the curtains and dimmed the lights. It would make sense to try it in the day...

 

[twiggy56]

tbh it sounds exactly like abigail's behaviour....she settled fine at night and slept solid until the light came through at sunrise...and we couldnt understand why she woke at the same time every morning....until we finally clicked about the light!

Since getting a blackout blind she naps during the day without fuss, she goes in her cot, in the dark and knows its ok to sleep solidly...without feeling like she'l 'miss something'!

 

[Odd Socks]

bella was the same, we've started putting her into the darkest room in the flat when she's showing tired signs, & she's slept wonderfully
xx

 

[pinklightbulb]

Eamon used to do this and his problem was just plain overtierdness, and if there was a growth spurt happening he was a million times worse. He had very little awake time as a newborn... 15-20 mins max and back to bed once we worked out him screaming was because of overstimulation. Even now he can only go 1.5-2 hours between naps and he's 6 months.

 

[hivechild]

I agree that it's probably growth spurt (he's on schedule for the 3 week spurt), combined with overtiredness. In general, from the moment your LO wakes up until they are ready to fall asleep again is probably a window of 45-60 minutes, sometimes less if they didn't nap/sleep well before then, and occasionally a little longer if they did. If you miss the window and at the newborn stage it is so quick, they get overtired so easily and get wired, finding it that much harder to fall asleep!

I hope things settle for you soon. It's such a hard time when they're this age and just when you have them figured out, they up and change it all on you again. It does pass so quickly, though. I never thought I'd be saying that because when I was living it, it felt like an eternity!