VENT - 11 week old will NOT self settle and its driving me MAD

[breakthemould]

My DD is 11 weeks old and will not put herself to sleep. She will feed to sleep and will go to sleep in the car. She is swaddled to go to sleep and then after I pat/rock/bounce etc she will usually only sleep for one cycle. She does sleep well at night once she goes to sleep but during the day she is so damn frustrating! Im at my wits end as I just want her to settle herself to sleep and I have tried EVERYTHING.

This is just a vent before I cry and lose it!

[Chew the Mintie]

Why do you need her to self-settle?

[share a book]

Relax she's only a teeny tiny little baby. It's not recommended to use any self-settle techniques prior to 12 months anyway. Let her sleep however she can. It won't caus e her any harm to feed to s leep or fall as leep in your arms.

[happygrl]

You poor thing. 11 weeks is still pretty young though. My 11 month old still won't self settle 99% of the time, and most times will only do one sleep cycle during the day.

I found what really helped when he was little was to have him in a carrier and he would sleep for hours. Once I figured out how to wrap him on my back I was able to get heaps of things done as my hands were free.

It does get better.

[brogeybear]

I know you are feeling frustrated right now, but can I strongly suggest that you reframe your expectations. This will help!

Your babe is only 11 weeks old for crying out loud. She shouldn't be expected to self settle. If you have outrageous expectations, you are going to be frustrated and disappointed. Babies want to be held, rocked, nurtured. It's actually really important to their development. On top of that, this time will fly past and you will wish that you could get it back. Cherish it, be in the moment with your babe.

[anewme]

Hun, she too young to self settle IMO.

[RmumR]

do what you need to do to get her to sleep. if she wakes after one cycle try and re-settle in the cot with light patting and suusshhing noises to get her back to sleep.

it can be frustrating but thats what babies do, keep things flexible and dont stress if she wakes up.

[bumMum]

Its frustrating but totally normal. After about 6 months you can start trying some self settling techniques (according to what I've read lol) but right now just focus on helping your baby to get enough sleep so that they are calm and not stressed or over tired. Feeding and rocking and holding to sleep is fine and at least for the next few months you will find your babies sleeping patterns are all over the place and changing. My daughter is 4 and a half months and still needs to be nursed to sleep. My 3 year old goes to sleep happily on his own. Just relax and remember its not forever. I have to remind myself of this daily as I have the stress of knowing I'm back at work in 9 days!! I so worry about her being "good" for my partner or mum when I'm awake but then someone will remind me its not a little babies job to behave the way we want them to ya know.?

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[duckduckgoose]

Agree with PPs that 11 weeks is way too early for self settling.

What you could do is try feeding her until she is drowsy and nodding off and put her in the cot and pat her, singing or shhhing her till she falls asleep. If she gets upset you would pick her up and feed her more or rock her to sleep. But getting used to falling asleep in her cot is probably the only thing you could do.

That's great that she sleeps well overnight. Don't worry if she only has short naps during tre day. You could try feeding her back to sleep when she wakes up but if you can't, don't stress. My ds catnapped until 8 months.

[share a book]

its not a little babies job to behave the way we want them to ya know.?

I love that! It's so true!