What to do

[Rainbowbrite]

Yes its me again :o

Just wondering what to do with MJ. She will not sleep on her own anymore. She used to settle herself and seep pretty good, but the last couple of days she refuses to sleep in her basinette. She'll only sleep in my arms or in my bed with me. If I get her to sleep and put her in her bed, she wakes and screams. I love the cuddles but also need to do things around the house.

We have even given her a dummy for the first time since birth due to her first tooth appearing at only 7.5 weeks.

Would the tooth be causing her to be clingy?

Thanks and sorry to annoy you all.

[Chickadee]

Never apologise for asking for advice! We all love trying to help other parents or we wouldn't be here :)

The new tooth might be making her clingy, but in my experience most of the pain and "symptoms" of teething, including being clingy, occur before the tooth cuts through the gum. It might be that she has a 2nd one moving up that is causing her discomfort.

Most very young babies sleep anywhere, anytime. As they get older they start to be more aware of things around them and may not put themselves to sleep as easily. So what she's doing is pretty normal. Do you have a sling or carrier you could put her in to sleep against you while you move around? I relied on a battery operated swing, dd loved the motion and had a lot of day time naps there when she was little. Otherwise you might try some techniques to help her re-learn to settle herself.

[june05isttimer]

Hi there

What are the techniques to help a baby settle herself????

I have a almost 5 week old who only settles in our arms and even then when we put her down she can be awake and screaming within 10mins.

i have this problem mostly of a day where as per a previous thread I have put up about this, she will not sleep for long periods, if at all during the day. It drives me insane.

She is exhausting herself though and we are going through 'arsenic hour' from about 5pm-8pm where she just screams etc.
I have developed and stuck to a routine of a night where she gets a bath and gets fed and then goes to bed and it seems to be kicking in as we have had quite a number of nights since we brought her home where she is sleeping 5-11hrs straight of a night.

I have tried to put her to bed once she has been fed and burped and changed etc and have done the patting thing as well as the dummy etc to no avail as yet.
Today I tried leaving her cry for 5mins and then going in and patting her and that didn't work either.

What else is there to do??
The only thing I am looking at resorting to to get stuff done is putting her in her baby bjorn carrier whilst I vacumn etc.

Anyone go through this too or have any suggestions ?????

[Chickadee]

My dd always was happier if I could get her back to sleep for a total of 1.5 hours, instead of only 40-45 minutes. I used quite firm patting as well as a "naah naaah" drone like a creaking door. If she really freaked & was crying badly I'd pick her up for a cuddle, still patting and speaking to her in a firm confident voice to tell her it was bedtime and to go to sleep. I've described the entire thing in a previous thread.

One trick is to get to them just as they surface from deep sleep at 40 minutes but before they fully wake up, so you can (hopefully) lull them back to sleep before they've had a chance get upset that they're awake. I always knew Chloe has enough sleep when she'd wake happy. If she woke crying, she's still tired.

[draught]

I agree with Martha's ideas, but also wanted to note that while things seem desperate at 5 weeks they will settle down in a few weeks time. So you might need to wear your baby in a sling or pouch for a little while to get them through this rough patch. I have cooked dinner with a baby asleep on my chest on many occasions thanks to the wonders of the baby bjorn!

Don't stress too much about them sleeping in their beds - if you get them to sleep anywhere else, as long as it is safe - leave them. So - I had a rocker which I would put baby in and rock on the floor - gave my body a rest and when they were asleep I would leave them in it - if they stirred I could rock them again. If you don't have a rocker you can get all sorts of varieties. I was visiting a friend a few months ago and she had the best rocker I have come across - the baby bjorn rocker. Ridiculously expensive but fantastic.

So - while your night time routine is going so well - do what you have to in order to get through the days and you will find that things will sort themselves out in a few weeks :)

[Chickadee]

Another trick I've seen used - if they'll sleep in their pram, pop them in there and roll it back and forth over a low bump like the edge of the carpet or rug, or even the toe of a shoe. It's more convienient then taking them for a walk especially in the winter.

[Rainbowbrite]

Thanks for that :) Its been a mixed bag today. For 1 sleep she would only sleep in my arms again, then we went to the shops where she wouldn't stop crying in the pram (normally loves it) but when i picked her up she fell asleep. Got her into the car without waking but when we got home she woke but was content to sit in the rocker, looking and smiling at me :p

BUT as we speak, she's been in her basinette for over an hour :eek: don't know if she's asleep, but she's quiet and i'm not going to disturb her. Luckily I have the Angel Care Monitor so I know she's ok.

Might try one of the baby carriers tomorrow.

Thanks again

[mummy_to_4]

She is still only very young and still settling herself into her new world. I was going to suggest you get yourself a sling. They are so handy. Adele my baby was exactly like yours and would only fall asleep at the breast or in my arms and once i out her down she was awake and screaming in 5 minutes. I got myself a sling - there are so many wonderful ones to chose from and i carried her around in that - she was happy, my hands were free to attend to the other children, prepare dinner or do the vacuuming.
You also said that she has a tooth, this may have made her a bit unsettled especially if there are more on the way.
I hope things sort themselves out real soon for you

[Rainbowbrite]

Me again, with another question :p -

What do people think of letting bub sleep in a portable cot in the loungroom during the day?

The reason I ask is that MJ sleeps so much better with background noise. If its quiet, she wakes all the time. She is not fazed by me vacuuming or anything and was wondering if anyone else does anything like this?

Thanks in advance for any comments :)

[razzle]

Have you thought of making a tape of you doing stuff (like vacuuming) and then playing it in her room? Or even just a tape of music might help.

[Chickadee]

What do people think of letting bub sleep in a portable cot in the loungroom during the day?

I don't think there's anything wrong with it at all. & having bub used to sleeping with noise is better than having to tiptoe around for fear of waking them. Chloe had a lot of daytime naps in our lounge when she was little, either in her swing or in a carry cot on the floor. Eventually though they'll start being able to keep themselves awake when something interesting is going on - anytime from 2 to 4 months old - and so you'll probably need to move her to another room eventually. But that needn't be her bedroom, one friend of mine had her bub's portacot in their dining room for easy checking instead of upstairs in his own room.

The tape idea is a good one. You could also try tuning a radio to static, between stations. Sounds odd but I've heard it helps sometimes.

[jamb]

I also let my bub sleep during the day pretty much anywhere he cant harm himself. This might be his pram, on the floor on his quilt or in portacot. He has just started rolling so i have to strap him in pram and cant use couch anymore but he sleeps better this way and i can keep an eye on him so i feel better. At night he settles in his cot in his room so it has not affected him that way. Its also good for when we are out and about as he will pretty much sleep anywhere!