I keep reading about newborns and how they are so sleepy but that is the farthest thing from my 6 week old. Every night from 5-11 my husband and I spend the entire night rocking, shushing, swaddling, bouncing anything to stop our LO from crying and to get her to sleep but no matter what we do nothing works and every night is a hysterical mess. During the day I do my best to get her down for a nap after 45 minutes of wake time but when that 4-5 o'clock hour hits nothing works and our day is down hill. Any suggestions for us? This is exhausting particularly if she doesn't have a good day and the day is filled with crying and sleeplessness too as well.
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Ugh - this is what my DD was like. I spent all day and evening bouncing on a yoga ball because it was the only thing that soothed her. She was such a miserable mess
Eventually she realized she was MSPI and a hypoallergenic formula made all the difference, but of course all babies are different. Hugs mama!
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I'd say two things....
First have you eliminated causes for this? Like at first our LO was screaming almost nonstop for 5-7 hours/day and then we realized that she was not eating enough (low supply) and I started supplementing with formula and things improved dramatically immediately.
If there isn't any obvious reason for the sleeplessness (even once our LO stopped screaming she still rarely slept more than 2 or 3 30 min naps all day until 8 weeks... and was generally pretty fussy from 3-9 every night).... there isn't much to do but put one foot in front of another. It does get better. 6 weeks is the peak of fussiness I think I recall, so the worst should be here and hopefully it will get better soon. (but I apologize for saying that because when I was in the thick of it people telling me to wait it out made me ragey...)
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My daughter was like this, and at 3, still has very low sleep needs. She was just never that sleepy kind of newborn who sleeps all the time - not for a day. We just went with it and didn't stress, but she didn't cry. I'd look for clues to fix that part, and then just try to enjoy your very awake baby.
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Witcging hour(s). It's tough but gets better with time. Have you tried loud white noise? The hair dryer worked like a charm for us (later replaced with the app "white noise baby"). Hang in there!!!
Oh and what really helped for me was taking a nice hot shower and getting my pjs on at the beginning of it. DH would deal with her while I regrouped from the day. It was kind of me resetting and preparing for what was to come until she went to sleep! It really kept me sane. Also, acceptance. Just accepting it's going to happen and there might mot be anything you can do to make it stop. Too much rocking/bouncing etc can contribute to overstimulation. Sometimes just holding her, staying calm and relaxed, and letting her cry and not to trying to stop it worked wpnders.
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Second the witching hour idea. A lot of newborns go through it and I think you just have to wait it out, unfortunately. Hang in there!
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Another vote for the witching hour. Both of my LOs went through this. You just have to power through it as best as you can. It ended for both of my LOs around 2.5-3 months.
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Google "the period of purple crying". Our hospital gave out a DVD about it to warn people. The vibrating bouncy chair helped us have dinner many nights. It gets better!
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Yep. Witching hour. We go thru if evety night from 7-10. Fussing and crying if she isnt being held, terrible nursing sessions where she fusses and latches and unlatches a million times while crying. ugh. Sucks.
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There's some info on that site with ideas of how to help the crying and what may cause it. Good luck, it'll end!
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Mine had sufficient supply, no allergies, no reflux and was just like that at 6 weeks. It lasted a couple of weeks, but it was the worst in the 6th week. It sucked. Hang in there.
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Oh man, those days were rough, I feel for you!! LO is only 20 weeks but I can barely remember what we did to survive that period. I think just holding him for hours and hours.
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My DD was never a sleepy newborn. She was colicky until 4 months and screamed all. the. time. It's rough, but is DOES eventually end. Hang in there.
On the flip side, I know 2 people who had very sleepy newborns and they both ended up with very screamy, irritable infants after the newborn stage was over. Mine was the opposite, screamed for 4 months and got it all out of her system. lol. She's still super laid back at age 3.
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Thank you everyone for your responses. Heading into another tough evening after a busy rough day it makes me feel better that others have experienced the same and there is happier nights after this stage. I hope we're getting this out of her system like you said @loveisstrange: !
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Weeks 5.5-8 (I think! Hard to remember exactly now) were so rough for us. LO would freak out and nothing helped. I remember bouncing her near the sound of the dryer running in the dark, walking her around the house for hours, etc. The only thing that ended up working was a drive. She would scream for 5-20 min but then conk out. Once we got back home, she was calm enough to nurse and go back to sleep. It sucked but it ended after a couple weeks. It just felt like forever at the time!
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Do you have a wrap or carrier that you could put your LO during the evenings? My other thought is to try skin to skin (this seemed to work for us up to almost twelve months old) or taking LO outside to get fresh air.
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My LO was exactly like this. Never slept, screamed and cried no matter what we tried. And the crying was worst in the late afternoon and evening. Turns out she had food allergies and needed prescription formula.
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16 comments