We figured we were just going through the three week growth spurt - our baby has spent the last few days feeding every three hours, almost to the minute. Yes, including overnight. Fuuuuuuuuun.
Last night she fed at 5:50pm, then again at 8:25 - because she was awake, and fussing, and sucking her hand, and refusing to be settled by any other means (typically, she enjoys having her butt patted as she's walked around in front of the stereo).
Then again at 9:00.
And 9:20.
And 10:05.
And 10:45.
This was when we worked out that she wasn't necessarily experiencing a growth spurt, she was overtired.
Really, babies are silly. You get tired, you sleep, right? And if you're really tired, perhaps you have a nice deep sleep that lasts longer than usual?
Wrong.
Baby gets tired, falls asleep at the baby equivalent of mid sentence (ie, scream, breathe in for a scream and then just suddenly fall flopsy), naps for 20 minutes, then starts screaming again, only to be settled by feeding. And repeat. Because, somehow, and for some crazy reason, overtired babies are harder to settle than your non-or-standard tired babies.
It is recommended that as soon as baby shows signs of being tired, you put them in bed to let them learn to 'self settle'. But then, it's not necessarily proven that a baby of less than four weeks can even 'learn' that type of thing. Plus, she falls asleep quicker in arms than she does alone in her bed. And you're told from early on that you can't spoil a baby with too many cuddles. And if she's awake enough to lay in her bassinet and grizzle, doesn't that mean she's awake? And if she's not sleeping, then shouldn't we be cuddling her to reinforce how much we love her and keep bonding? And if she is awake, shouldn't we be playing with her to stimulate her brain and help her to develop so she doesn't grow up stupid/feeling unloved?
Day by day, day by day...
Do you have a bouncer than vibrates?
ReplyDeleteBoth my boys loved the rainforest fisher price bouncer we had- I just used to take off the top part with the "toys" turn the vibrate on and they would go to sleep when tired.
It worked for both of my kids from birth to 4 months or so - in fact both of them slept in it overnight on more than one occasion.
It doesn`t work for all though- I was discussing with friend today who is expecting again and said that she should get the bouncer ready and she said that her daughter only fell asleep in it ONCE. She preferred to be walked and rocked to sleep.
As for self settling- I think for some kids it is possible but definitely not all. Shion is a much better self settler than Noah was. I can put Noah in bed and he will go to sleep 9/10 times. Noah was more half and half. She is still a bit young though- to me , it really does sound like she is gassy if she wakes up every 20 mins etc. So perhaps a bouncer would be good as it keeps her a bit upright.
Hope advice is wanted. If not, ignore :D You know I won`t mind!
Lulu - we do! We borrowed one from a friend - so far, we've only had her in it when she's overtired, and it has worked to some degree... we just have to try to catch her post-feed and pre-sleep!
ReplyDeleteYour advice is ALWAYS welcome!!!!