Baby does not settle down at night

amother

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:11 pm

Any tips appreciated! I follow the Baby Whisperer steps of Eat, Activity, Sleep. She does well during the day but then come the 7:00 feed and after that it is straight screaming, shreiking until around 9:30 when she will finally settle down. For that hour and a half I am holding her rocking her, singing etc. nothing helps. And she looks like she wants to sleep but it just is a no go!

Please help a tired mom!

Edited to add she is 5 weeks

amother

Oxfordblue

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:14 pm

I find ahhhhhh in a monotone helps more than singing.
Also the more consistent movements.
Baths always help my baby settle faster
New diaper
Nursing. Idk how old your baby is but you shouldn’t be scared to nurse to sleep.

These baby books are not meant for every baby.

amother

Rainbow

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:17 pm

I dont have much advice just that I dealt with this with all my kids.. it's the witching hour and its so normal.
you can try Mylicon gas drops (ask a dr) that helped my kids
also Gripe water.
and just feed feed feed till they fall asleep...
haztalcha and it does get easier!!

amother

Oxfordblue

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:22 pm

amother Rainbow wrote:

I’ve heard and seen on YouTube dangers of those gas drops. I would do a lot of research on that for infant babies. Maybe older who are eating real food. But scary when the bubbles suffocate the baby.

It’s also not always gas. It’s jsut comfort that they want

amother

Oxfordblue

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:22 pm

amother OP wrote:

I do give her gripe water and sometimes it does help but I avoid all the gassy foods at all times!

There are movements and massages you can do for baby to relieve gas. Check out on YouTube

amother

Cornsilk

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:23 pm

amother OP wrote:

Don’t follow that book. It’s outdated.
If she is screaming why don’t you nurse her? She is probably hungry or thirsty.

amother

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:29 pm

amother Cornsilk wrote:

Don’t follow that book. It’s outdated.
If she is screaming why don’t you nurse her? She is probably hungry or thirsty.

What is a current book?

She's not hungry she just finished eating, burping, making.

amother

Cornsilk

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:34 pm

amother OP wrote:

What is a current book?

She's not hungry she just finished eating, burping, making.

The no cry to sleep solution by Elizabeth Pantley is a great resource for helping baby sleep.
A five week old is an infant, just nurse her to sleep.Nursing frequently is wonderful as nursing is for hunger, thirst and comfort.
Babies are wired to biologically fall asleep when nursing so use that tool and just nurse her to sleep.

Also after they make very often they are hungry again as breastmilk digests very rapidly. Something to keep in mind.
Babies are little individuals, never use any book as concrete guidance as to how to take care of them.

Nurse on demand. Whenever your baby wants to eat feed her. She is in charge and not the clock. At least every 2-3 hours.
Mazel Tov on your baby.

justforfun87

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:40 pm

This is very normal and really a phase. It's horrible when you are in it but it's the witching stage. Just take care of yourself and continue to cuddle etc.

rowo

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 10:46 pm

Cluster feeding,
Witching hour…
Very normal for newborn babies this age.
If she wants to be held, baby wearing might help. Or a walk outside, some babies find a bath soothing. But sometimes they just want to nurse every half hour. It’s for the comfort as much as the food.
It’s exhausting, but they do settle eventually.

amother

Blue

Sat, Oct 14 2023, 11:58 pm

Huge fan of baby whisperer. Used it with all of my kids, however my youngest (like yours) screamed at bedtime every night for a few weeks. Same story.

My only thought is that after a long day baby may be overtired. You might want to try moving the last feed up half an hour so you can put her down a little earlier.

Your baby will outgrow this stage though. You just have to keep telling yourself that.

mushkamothers

Sun, Oct 15 2023, 12:06 am

She sounds overtired. I very loosely follow baby whisperer (only in the sense of having a rhythm, really I nurse on demand) and I always did the night feed to sleep. So 7pm it's nurse to sleep. If she's up til 9:30 she's overtired that's why she's not falling asleep.

marineparkmom

Sun, Oct 15 2023, 12:30 am

At that age I always nurses my babies to sleep. They are really too young to be sleep trained or taught to settle down on their own. Plus it’s easier on you to nurse them to sleep then an hour of frustrated rocking.

amother

Daphne

Sun, Oct 15 2023, 9:25 am

Try Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block - the 5 S's. I can't remember them all (google it, even if you don't read the book) - swaddling, shushing, swinging, there are more.

amother

DarkKhaki

Sun, Oct 15 2023, 9:44 am

I don’t get how people nurse their babies to sleep. Mine need to be burped well after feelings or they’ll wake up as soon as you lay them down because they’re in pain. Burping tends to wake them up again.

amother

Cornsilk

Sun, Oct 15 2023, 9:50 am

amother DarkKhaki wrote:

Good point. Remember to burp them at the end of the feed and then let them suck for a bit to fall back asleep. Or lie them down very sleepy and rub their back.

amother

Dimgray

Sun, Oct 15 2023, 10:01 am

5 weeks is really really little!
They don't have yet a night routine. The 7pm feeding is just another one in a long chain of feedings.
Baby crying is normal.
Try a pacifier if they just finished eating.
You can try to wear your baby and see if it comforts them.
I like the MOBY wrap.
My baby is 10 weeks.
Until 7-8 weeks there was no day or night pattern. It's feed round the clock whenever they are hungry. Hold them when they're unhappy.
I'm a strong believer in setting a routine but not at 5 weeks.
I also found week 6 to be the hardest. I felt like I'm loosing my mind.
As they get older their eating and sleep habits get a bit more predictable.
Please don't try any "training" on your baby at this age.