[Pebbles2424]

Hi all

I know its early days as my little man is only 3 weeks old, but we are having trouble settling him and getting him to stay asleep for longer than 20-40 mins during the day (which im guessing is to do with his sleep cycles).

We do a feed/nappy change/interaction which i try to keep no longer than an hour, and i watch for the tired signs, then start to settle him by patting him on the back rhytmically and swaying gently, with him on my chest. At night time he will settle usually in about 10 mins of doing this and i can pout him down and he will stay asleep for 2-2.5 hrs, but during the day it is taking ages to settle him if we can at all, and then he will wake after a short time.

We are trying to hen pat him back to sleep while he is still in the bassinet, and he will take a dummy sometimes (after me giving in this week in desperation) but it rarely works.Hence he gets massively overtired which just compounds the problem.

Any suggestions as to settling or how i can get him to stay asleep through that first sleep cycle? I realise hes very young so not sure if this is something that will change in time but am keen to try and get a good ritual happening early.

[CherryAmes]

Will he sleep in your arms during the day? I think that was the only way I got my bub to sleep when she was little . . .

[Xiola]

The only thing that ever worked at that age for my kids (except DS2 who was an amazing sleeper) was a wrap type sling. I had a hug-a-bub and a moby and would pop DD in it and she'd sleep for 4 hours. By around 12 weeks she started sleeping in her bassinet for around an hour in the day.

[tibs]

Those baby swings, the ones that swing side to side like the papasan, are magic when nothing else is working during the day and you can't be sitting down with them sleeping in your arms any longer

[AvadaKedavra]

Sling. Swing. Do anything you can. You cannot create sleep associations, either good or bad, until your baby is at least 4 months old, and probably closer to six months. The aim of the game is to do anything you can to get through until then.

My 3 year old slept happily in his cot for 2 hours during the day, but woke three times a night for feeds until he was 6 months (and we weaned him off night feeds). My now 4 month old has never slept in his cot for more than 20 minutes during the day, but sleeps really well overnight and has only needed one feed (sometimes none) since he was 9 weeks. You win some, you lose some.

[~ Lucy's Mum ~]

Before 8 weeks I had a lot of trouble with DD sleeping in her cot during the day. She would sleep in her pram, so we would go for lots of walks. I kept trying though and eventually it did start to work where she will settle in her cot for day sleeps.

At that age there was no real routine during the day or consistency with length of sleep other than that she was unlikely to sleep through one sleep cycle.

She's a pretty good day sleeper now though, it will all start to fall into place of the coming weeks OP.

You're doing a great job during this hard first few weeks!

[tamietamara]

Maybe try a little longer awake time between sleeps. He sounds like he isn't tired enough for a longer sleep and is just napping. Just a thought. Couldn't hurt to try. Sounds like u. Doing everything else right. Maybe 15/20mins longer before bed. How long he is up for (including feeding/playing etc) from one sleep to ou putting him down next? How long does it usually ame for him to fall asleep. Maybe add that extra settling time onto his play time and he will settle much quicker.

[MrsNorthman]

have you tried swaddling him? It was what kept DD3 sleeping longer (my first two didn't like swaddling).

[mmk]

What worked for us with DS was to run in there at his first sound and either rock the bassinet, pat him back to sleep or place a hand on his tummy until he went back to sleep. If he got overtired he was a nightmare though and would just keep waking...

The other thing is swaddling. He kept jerking his arm and waking himself up, so we made sure in the early days to wrap him tightly.

DD is only 5 days old, but she seems to be sleeping well at the moment. She feeds (either one or both sides, depending on if she falls asleep), gets changed, feeds again and then goes back to bed. There's sometimes a bit of a play depending on how tired she is before the last feed, which an older baby would play longer. Have you tried refeeding him before he goes to sleep?

[AvadaKedavra]

Maybe try a little longer awake time between sleeps. He sounds like he isn't tired enough for a longer sleep and is just napping. Just a thought. Couldn't hurt to try. Sounds like u. Doing everything else right. Maybe 15/20mins longer before bed. How long he is up for (including feeding/playing etc) from one sleep to ou putting him down next? How long does it usually ame for him to fall asleep. Maybe add that extra settling time onto his play time and he will settle much quicker.

A terrible idea! Overtired babies sleep LESS well than ones put to bed early! He is having a short sleep for the simple reason that a baby that age only has a 20 minute sleep cycle, and he is too young to transition sleep cycles effectively on his own (some babies do, but many don't, and it can't be 'taught' at that age!). The first thing to try when babies don't settle/sleep for long enough is actually to put them to sleep 10-15 minutes earlier, not later!