I cant get my 5 week old baby to sleep! i have tried everything please help me

Question

I cant get my 5 week old baby to sleep! i have tried everything please help me

Answer 1

What have you tried so far?

Is your baby hungry?  Around 6 weeks babies go through a BIG growth spurt, so if your in doubt offer more breastmilk or formula.

Gas pains? You could try some oval, etc if you think she/he has gas pains.

Around that age my daughter would not sleep alone in her crib or bassinet.  We pretty well resorted to co-sleeping at that age as she would typically fall asleep on my chest or while she was being fed though sometimes we could trick her into falling asleep in her swing or bouncy chair.

Are they too warm or too cold?  Have you started a bedtime routine at all yet?  A bath and massage may help as well.

Answer 2

Hi,

Your baby is still very young at the moment but I think the most important thing to start with is to get your baby into a good sleep routine.  I had massive problems with getting my 4 month old son to sleep.  He would just lie awake and cry for hours, then when he finally went to sleep he would wake every hour or two hours through the night and cry again!  Talk about pulling our hair out .... we were absolutely desperate for sleep!

It was a baby sleep audio program recommended by a friend that finally saved us. We followed the advice and began by creating a baby sleep routine which included bathtime, dimming of the lights, putting James into his crib, final nappy change and then lullabies. We also made recommended changes to his naps during the day and used some of the other recommended techniques. Within two weeks he was sleeping through the night most nights with just the odd night where he would just wake once!

Definitely start by creating a good baby sleep routine though and you could find that solves most of your baby sleep problems.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Here's what I did with both my daughters who are grown now; I made up a small amount of rice cereal (Gerbers). If you're breast feeding, use your own milk for this or formula if you're not. Then gradually spoon feed your infant in a mostly sitting up position. They only need a small amount, about a teaspoon or so and then they're tummy isn't hungry for a longer period of time. It worked GREAT for my girls and my Mom did it with her kids. My sister used that method too with no problems. Make the cereal a little thin and be patient with your baby the first few feedings. He/she will get the hang of swallowing quicker than you know. Sometimes the old fashioned things work the best. Parents are too paranoid with all the media telling them how to raise their children.

Make sure you don't introduce cow's milk to your baby until much later because it can cause an allergy to it.

I hope this helps.

Answer 4

I have heard that taking your baby for a drive in a car can put them to sleep.

My mum use to do it to me and she said it alwasy worked.

Answer 5

You could try giving it a warm bath or rocking it...  I have had to hold my babies and walk around with them, rock them, go for car rides, sing lullabies, and my very last resort was to let them scream it out...  But, I never liked doing that when they were that little...  Maybe he/she has gas, mylicon works well, and so does sugar water ( a whole bottle of water and about a half  of a teaspoon of sugar) and when you burp him/her pat up the back but not down it helps send the air bubbles in the belly up.  My first son was very gassy and I didn't sleep for days and my grandmother said to pat up his back and it worked everytime for me...  Hope this helps you...

Answer 6

http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070300.asp

#

TRANSITIONING TECHNIQUES

Many infants need help making the transition from being awake to falling asleep, which is really a prolongation of the bedtime ritual that conditions baby that sleep is expected to soon follow.

# Nursing down. Nestle next to your baby and breastfeed or bottlefeed him off to sleep. The smooth continuum from warm bath, to warm arms, to warm breast, to warm bed is a recipe for sleep to soon follow.

# Fathering down. Place baby in the neck nestle position (nestle baby's head against the front of your neck with your chin against the top of baby's head. The vibration of the deeper male voice lulls baby to sleep) and rock your baby to sleep. If baby doesn't drift off to sleep while rocking, lie down with your baby, still in the neck nestle position, and let baby temporarily fall asleep draped over your chest. Once baby is asleep, ease the sleeping baby into his bed and sneak away.

# Rocking or walking down. Try rocking baby to sleep in a bedside rocking chair, or walk with baby, patting her back and singing or praying.

# Nestling down. For some babies, the standard fall-to-sleep techniques are not enough. Baby just doesn't want to be put down to sleep alone. After rocking or feeding baby to sleep in your arms, lie down with your sleeping baby next to you and nestle close to her until she is sound asleep. We call this the "teddy- bear snuggle."

# Wearing down. Some babies are so revved up during the day that they have trouble winding down at night. Place your baby in a baby sling and wear her around the house for a half-hour or so before the designated bedtime. When she is fully asleep (see limp-limb sign) in the sling, ease her out of the sling onto her bed. For babies who are used to nursing off to sleep in a mother's arms, fathers can wear their baby down to sleep and give mother a break.

Wearing down is particularly useful for the reluctant napper. When baby falls asleep in the sling, snuggled with his tummy against your chest or draped over your chest once you lie down, you both can take a much-needed nap.

# Swinging down. Wind-up swings for winding down babies are a boon to parents who have neither the time, energy or creativity to muster up rituals of their own. Tired parents will pay anything for a good night's sleep. Once in a while a moving plastic seat may be more sleep inducing than a familiar pair of arms. Sometimes high-need babies associate a parent's body with play and stimulation and will not drift off to sleep in a human swing. For them the mechanical one is less stimulating, if not downright boring, and therefore can be a useful part of a sleep-ritual repertoire. Yet remember, high-need babies are notoriously resistant to mechanical mother substitutes and will usually protest anything less than the real mom. Before you actually spend money on a swing, you might want to borrow one for a week or two to see if the spell of the swing will last. You may discover that you are uncomfortable with mechanical mothering and decide to get more creative. Still, swings have their moments.

# Driving down. If you've tried all the above transitioning techniques and baby still resists falling asleep, place baby in a carseat and drive around until she falls asleep. When you return home and baby is in a deep sleep, carry the carseat (with the sleeping baby) into your bedroom and let baby remain in the carseat until the first nightwaking. If she is in a deep sleep (witness the limp-limb sign – hands unclenched, arms dangling loosely at her side, facial muscles still), you may be able to ease her out of the carseat into her own bed.

# Mechanical mothers. Gadgets to put and keep baby asleep are becoming big business. Tired parents pay high prices for a good night's sleep. It's all right to use these as relief when the main comforter wears out, but a steady diet of these artificial sleep inducers may be unhealthy. We remember a newspaper article extolling the sleep-tight virtues of a teddy bear, with a tape player in his stuffing that sings or makes breathing sounds. Baby can snuggle up to the singing, breathing, synthetic bear. Personally, we are not keen on our babies going to sleep to someone else's canned voice. Why not use the real parent?

Answer 7

I bought the rocker/glider chair with the ottoman and it worked wonders for my little girl. If you don't have one, just hold him/her close and rock back and forth in a chair for a while (it can be exhausting but it works).

Answer 8

Sleep during the day, night, doesn't matter? I had a colicky baby and a horrible sleeper/napper. So, I'm assuming you've tried swaddling, the swing, humidifier, etc. Does baby sleep with you? I know it's a big "no no", but try having baby sleep with you. That should do it. Babies don't remember until 3-4 months, so don't worry about starting a habit this early. My niece will only sleep unless someone is holding her. If that's the case with your baby, just relax and enjoy it. I wish I did when my babe was 5 weeks!! Now, he wont let me cradle him or cuddle.. he's just up and about!!!