Overstimulated baby

dwinkles88

Sun, Apr 25 2010, 8:21 pm

My 6 week old gets overstimulated very easily and has a hard time staying asleep. Does anyone have any experience with this and/or suggestions?

Swaddling doesn't work for him, pacifiers do (only when he calms down)...

Thank you!!!

chatouli

Sun, Apr 25 2010, 9:47 pm

My DS also is very prone to overstimulation. One thing we do that has helped him to sleep longer and go down for his naps more easily is to have a pre-nap routine. He's older now, almost five months, but I developed this routine when he was a little older than your DS and I wish I had started doing it sooner.

I sit with him in the rocking chair and sing the same quiet song to him for about five to ten minutes. The goal is to make sure he does not fall asleep while doing this, it's more of a wind-down thing. Then I swaddle him (replace that with something else like a sleep sack if swaddling him doesn't work for you). Then I turn on his white noise and lower the shades. I hold him quietly for a couple more minutes, sometimes rocking him, sometimes just holding him still. Then I put him in the crib with his paci. This all communicates to him that it is sleep time and he generally goes down pretty easily and stays asleep longer than when I skip the routine.

The Baby Whisperer, who I am a big fan of, says that short naps are often caused by overstimulation and an insufficient wind-down ritual. Try winding him down after his activity time and see if it helps!