Overtired newborn won't sleep :'(

[KatO79]

My almost 4 week old son is overtired and won't sleep, he just cries and cries. Tried everything from rocking him to holding him to feeding him to changing his diaper and even tried taking him for a walk in his baby carriage - all to no avail and I'm at my wits end as it's been many, many hours since he got any decent sleep In short me and my DH are at our wits end

Any good advice on how to get him to sleep? FYI he dislikes baths ATM so that won't work.

 

[Teri7489]

Is he swaddled? when my son got over tired the only thing that settle him was being swaddled and his bump tapped gently. No amount of anything else worked. my friends little one slept in a swing for the first 3 months of his life as that was the only way he would sleep. xxx

 

[KatO79]

Is he swaddled? when my son got over tired the only thing that settle him was being swaddled and his bump tapped gently. No amount of anything else worked. my friends little one slept in a swing for the first 3 months of his life as that was the only way he would sleep. xxx

Nope it isn't much of a thing here. I wouldn't even know what to use and how to do it

 

[kellyc1987]

Do you drive? Maybe a drive in the car?

 

[KatO79]

Do you drive? Maybe a drive in the car?

I suppose we could but I'd think we'd have the same problem as when we took him for a walk in his carriage: once we take him out, he'll wake up and start crying again

 

[Teri7489]

Just a simple breathable blanket that wrap tightly around baby keeping their arms down. It's helps to sooth lots if babies as it feels like they are in the womb again x

 

[cjb]

What about putting a white noise on? We use a hairdryer sounds works perfectly.

Or a bouncy chair or similar.

 

[KatO79]

Just a simple breathable blanket that wrap tightly around baby keeping their arms down. It's helps to sooth lots if babies as it feels like they are in the womb again x

I'll have to see if I can find something but does it help babies that have been almost constantly awake for 12+ hours

What about putting a white noise on? We use a hairdryer sounds works perfectly.

Or a bouncy chair or similar.

Don't know if my baby is beyond this as he's been almost constantly awake for 12 hours but I can give it a go. As it is he can hear our TV so would've thought that'd be enough.

Unfortunately don't have one

 

[M2B83]

Argghh feel your pain as going through it too! Not awake for 12 hours though. Could he be in pain? Trapped wind? That's our little ones issue! Major trapped wind! Do you have an extractor fan in your kitchen or bathroom? This worked a treat for our ds1. Where are you currently trying to get him to sleep? X

 

[noon_child]

Do you drive? Maybe a drive in the car?

I suppose we could but I'd think we'd have the same problem as when we took him for a walk in his carriage: once we take him out, he'll wake up and start crying again

Yep, I spent 3 months of my life alternately trying driving round for hours or pushing a pram for hours. Learnt quickly that I couldn't take her out once she was asleep, I had to keep her there, which of course meant that "sleep when baby sleeps" was impossible...AND it didn't always work. We had a week where she literally had no daytime sleep at all. It is hell...but babies change all the time. What is today wont necessarily be tomorrow.

I can't offer any advice, just that you are not alone! I think a contributing factor was that my LO had eczema which I hadn't realised was as itchy and painful as it probably was and I think that kept her awake a lot. I also had been hoping she'd have lots of sleepy signs and would fall asleep wherever I was, but actually I needed to make sure she wasn't getting overstimulated by too much scenery or play or talk etc. and try to get her to sleep much sooner than I had been.

At this point 12hrs in I think the aim will be to comfort him not necessarily focus on him sleeping. At the moment he's probably too upset to know what he wants, so the suggestions of noises such as vacuum cleaners/hairdryers might relax him enough to allow him to try feeding again more calmly (I even made a hairdryer noise with my mouth when I couldn't stand wasting the electricity, and that worked too!) and this might tip him over. Tiger in the tree is good too sometimes and simultaneous tiger or side lying on your arm with quite an exaggerated swinging and shhhushhing worked sometimes but I had to keep it up for about 20-30minutes if she was overtired.

 

[broodymrs]

White noise saved my life. There's free apps you can download. Maybe try a sling? You can also swaddle with a grobag/sleeping bag. Just tuck their arms in rather than having them outside the arm holes. Also, won't help now but going forwards look up sleepy wings. These are amazing!

 

[Cupcake9596]

This is exactly what my DD was like as a newborn and she's still the same now. White noise was a lifesaver and it's something we still use to this day - even if it's not to get her too sleep, it's great to just wind down to. Swaddling is also something I highly recommend, it used to be the only way that I could get her to nap during the day! Have you thought about using a dummy/pacifier? I know not everyone agrees with them but they can soothe an upset baby

 

[KatO79]

Managed to get him to sleep around 11 PM but to answer your questions and to learn what to do if it should happen again:

Argghh feel your pain as going through it too! Not awake for 12 hours though. Could he be in pain? Trapped wind? That's our little ones issue! Major trapped wind! Do you have an extractor fan in your kitchen or bathroom? This worked a treat for our ds1. Where are you currently trying to get him to sleep? X

I don't think so and nope, no extractor fan I think During the day he sleeps in his lift in our living room while at night we move the lift onto our bed so it's between DH and I. He currently refuses to sleep in his cradle but we're hoping to get him to use it very soon.

Yep, I spent 3 months of my life alternately trying driving round for hours or pushing a pram for hours. Learnt quickly that I couldn't take her out once she was asleep, I had to keep her there, which of course meant that "sleep when baby sleeps" was impossible...AND it didn't always work. We had a week where she literally had no daytime sleep at all. It is hell...but babies change all the time. What is today wont necessarily be tomorrow.

I can't offer any advice, just that you are not alone! I think a contributing factor was that my LO had eczema which I hadn't realised was as itchy and painful as it probably was and I think that kept her awake a lot. I also had been hoping she'd have lots of sleepy signs and would fall asleep wherever I was, but actually I needed to make sure she wasn't getting overstimulated by too much scenery or play or talk etc. and try to get her to sleep much sooner than I had been.

At this point 12hrs in I think the aim will be to comfort him not necessarily focus on him sleeping. At the moment he's probably too upset to know what he wants, so the suggestions of noises such as vacuum cleaners/hairdryers might relax him enough to allow him to try feeding again more calmly (I even made a hairdryer noise with my mouth when I couldn't stand wasting the electricity, and that worked too!) and this might tip him over. Tiger in the tree is good too sometimes and simultaneous tiger or side lying on your arm with quite an exaggerated swinging and shhhushhing worked sometimes but I had to keep it up for about 20-30minutes if she was overtired.

Yep sounds like our babies are similiar which is why I didn't bother trying with driving him around even though I know he does sleep on car rides. He'd wake up when we'd take him out and we'd be back to square one anyway

Thanks and soory about your baby's eczema as that does sound uncomfortable, poor baby

I'll have to try the white noise thing next time although I did have the TV running most of the time but perhaps it has to be other noises? And yep feeding him in that state was torture, my poor nips that were already pretty sore as I've only been bf'ing for almost 4 weeks so they haven't toughened up yet

Sorry, what's tiger in the tree?

Have you thought about using a dummy/pacifier? I know not everyone agrees with them but they can soothe an upset baby

Since I've only been bf'ing for 4 weeks, I'm being cautious with using a pacifier as I've heard it can lead to nipple confusion if used too early. I've been advised to wait another 2-3 weeks before starting to use one to avoid that problem.

Thanks everyone, I'll have to educate myself on the swaddling asnd maybe look into buying something to do it with. Just want to learn how to do it properly so I avoid hurting him.

 

[noon_child]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p3T5xv1snM

 

[Bevziibubble]

I used to have to lie him on my chest in a completely dark room so that he would calm down enough to sleep as he would get very overestimated by lights and noises unless I was babywearing him while walking.

 

[Kanichen34]

The tv would have been a mix of sounds. White noise is a constant relaxing sound, water running or the hair dryer, that kind of thing. I still use it for my 3 year old every night. When she was a baby when she had days like that I'd go and feed her lying down on my bed with all the lights off and white noise or a classical song on repeat. I had to do it round my mums on Xmas day because the poor love got completely overwhelmed. If you can master the art of feeding lying down it can be very soothing for both of you. Good luck with your little one.

 

[gingajewel]

My six month old is still a rubbish sleeper and as a newborn was awful.
I second white noise and I still use it now, I downloaded it on my phone and I still use it now, I literally tried everything people told me to try, swaddling, putting something of mine in her cot, bed sharing, she hated it all!! Just sending you massive hugs as I no how tough it is.

 

[KatO79]

Ok I'll have to look into an app, thanks everyone