Is it true that the 6-8week period is the worst? I can’t put my baby down in her cot without her waking :(

[jonatec]

Don’t hate me…but I’m not sure because he slept through the night pretty early and I’m not sure if official methods count during naps?? Maybe Ferber? Basically we would let him fuss in the crib for up to 10 minutes. If he was truly crying, or it was escalating a lot, we’d go in earlier. But provided he was fed, changed, and had been up at least a couple of hours (at that point, now at 9.5mo his wake windows are 3-4 hours)…we watched on the monitor.

Hugely helpful was recording his schedule on a notepad and noticing when he took contact naps. Then I started rocking him to sleep and transferring him during those times. Eventually we put him down awake but sleepy after half a bottle-change-rest of bottle in the rocking chair. Sometimes he slept an hour, or 20 min…but I tried to follow his own schedule. Your baby is too young for that though! Again, we didn’t start this until 4 months and it wasn’t successful really until closer to 5 months. That’s when I went back to work full time so I’m thankful we kept up with the efforts.

It will get better! For now, try to enjoy (hard, I’m not ashamed to admit that I did not enjoy the newborn period of constant contact) and utilize the carrier as much as you can

 

[jonatec]

@maryatheseeker It was super hard! It’ll get better.
We nap-trained my son but didn’t really start until almost 4 months! Until then we didn’t attempt to put him down for naps or have any kind of schedule.

 

[nhuluong]

@jonatec What method did you use?

 

[mikachan]

@maryatheseeker Im finding 15 weeks is the PITA

 

[irislouise]

@maryatheseeker My 9 week old is still like this and she is my 3rd baby! Been like it as soon as we brought her home. Trying to get things done in the day is an absolute nightmare! She cat naps and then just crys on and off throughout the day as she's tired. I've tried a gliding swing and a bouncer but she does sleep in her pushchair. As I have to get my other 2 from school ive been reluctant to let her nap in there incase she starts hating it. She sleeps well at night so I guess I can't have it all but she's deffo my hardest baby so far! Hopefully she grows out of it.

 

[goodtobehome]

@maryatheseeker It’s the WORSTTTTT

 

[jebbber]

@maryatheseeker When my daughter was about hit that age I was anxious because I heard that those weeks were peak crying. To be honest I didn’t notice a difference but I did notice AFTER about 8 weeks things improved, not to say they were terrible during that time, but it was almost like a big step in the right direction.

 

[kinser]

@maryatheseeker Hey, my LO is 9 weeks old so we are only just out of that period and tbh it wasn’t that bad for us but definitely noticed an increased fussiness!

Things that helped us massive nap wise is playing a white noise playlist on Alexa and always swaddle! I hope this helps and you get some rest soon

 

[trusted489]

@maryatheseeker Week 9 here, the contact sleep has definitely increased but on occasion he’ll give us a stretch of overnight sleep.

 

[4bears4]

@maryatheseeker Birth to 8 weeks were hell. It somehow got better at 9 weeks and has incrementally gotten better since with a few setbacks along the way.

 

[definedbytruth]

@maryatheseeker Hi, mine sleeps during the day and does this at night :/ it's exhausting. Mine is 8 weeks.

 

[definedbytruth]

Also, there is an 8 week sleep regression around this time! So I guess it'll change soon?

 

[maryatheseeker]

@definedbytruth Could this be day night confusion?

 

[carmelolenahan]

@maryatheseeker Our LO is 7 weeks and she has been fighting sleep and naps equally last few days. Even with contact naps she will do 10 minutes then wake up. I can tell she is tired but it's like she is fighting to stay awake and then get cranky.

She still gets up 2 hourly in the night to feed so I'm looking to welcome the day this increases

 

[moonchan]

@maryatheseeker My second baby is also a Velcro baby at 6.5 weeks. I started baby wearing and it’s made my life amazing. I can get things done. I honestly think it’s one of the easier phases. I think once they start waking up and staying awake/moving/crawling, and all you want to do is sleep, is the worst. My first was extremely active. She would only nap like twice a day when she was 3-8 months. I’d have my mom take her regularly as i was on the verge of a huge melt down constantly. It sounds like ur baby is like that right now so im praying it’s the opposite for you once she gets a bit older!! Is it possible your baby is colicky? What kind of bottles do you use?

 

[maryatheseeker]

@moonchan I use the hegen and still on test size 0. I try to get a good big burp out of her after every feed but she does fart a lot. I’m sure there’s some colic involved!

 

[ronandcarol]

@maryatheseeker I am literally experiencing your situation OP. 7 week LO and fighting sleeping! Even while contact napping he is fighting lol. (Writing this as I am trapped )

 

[heisrisen316]

@maryatheseeker I just contact napped until about 12 weeks . At least the baby sleeps and is happy and so will you

 

[richinchrist]

@maryatheseeker Right around 7 weeks was INSANE. I’ve blocked a lot of it out I think lol but I’m convinced it’s one of the reasons BF parents start to limit their diet because they think something they’re eating must be causing the sudden havoc. But realistically it’s just kinda when their digestive system starts to turn on more and it sucks. The good news is it really did get better relatively quickly! I’d say by week 10 she was no longer possessed by evil gut demons.
Hang in there. I’m almost at four months now and the first two months are ROUGH but it gets so much easier.

 

[richinchrist]

Things that helped: bicycle legs, baths, getting them to move their legs in any capacity, laying her on her belly, using the halo sleep sack wings wrapped around her belly, and possibly adding probiotic drops though the jury is still out.