Baby getting fussing at night

Baby is 7 weeks old now. We have been trying to establish a day and night pattern with him, but he's usually very fussy at night. At day time, he's gentle and easy to take care of. He easily falls asleep after nursed. At night time, usually after 9-10pm, when we try to put him to sleep, he still cries so hard. So we either by cuddling or by nursing. So we either cuddle him or offer him my nipples. When he seems quiet again in my arms, I try to put him down to his crib but he cries again! We try to hush him and pad him but he still makes lots of noises till 1-2am, until hubby and I become so exhausted that we give up and give him a pacifier... which I considered as a last resort.


How do I know if he needs milk/ purely sucking need? His feeds before sleep time is so frequent (cries again half an hour after a normal feed!) that I cannot tell whether he is still hungry or he purely needs something to suck on. We try to just lull him to sleep in bed but he still cries, then I offer my nipple again and he sucks say 5 min and cries again. Then we cuddle him again or change his nappy. But he is still not satisfied. We are just clueless as to how to deal with it....

He seems to enjoy us holding him in an upright position instead of cradle holding. And yes he moves a lot and struggles a lot even when we hold him. Is it because of colic? I've tried lifting his legs like riding bicycle. But it doesn't seem to work... any other signs of colic apart from moving a lot and lifting up his legs?

Hi Nicher,


I am using grobag at night time, for me, it helps my baby sleeps better. If he's not in a grobag, he wakes up often. Check the room temperature.


I also make sure that he's not sleeping anymore from 6pm, so it would be easier for me to let him sleep around 10-11pm.


My baby sleeps longer at night time now, around 5 hours, i sometimes wake him up around 3am but he is so sleepy and just yawns at me, my worry is he might be hungry, but doc says as long as the weight gain is alright then nothing to be worried.


take care.

I never need to wake up my baby for feed as he's never been a sleepy baby. He is an efficient sucker and I never need to feed him for longer than 25 min until he feels satisfied. Nowadays, he wakes up every 2 to 3 hours for feed and when it comes to times he doesn't doze off after a feed, we try to play with him a bit but he is never too patient and cries after a while He wants to be fed again say half an hour of staying awake. (Honeypie: that's why I wonder how you can keep him awake after 6pm before his last feed!)


I know I shouldn't develop a pattern as offering him my nipple whenever he is fussy, but it seems to me the only way to calm him down a bit (even though a lot of times I am convinced he is not hungry). We NEVER succeed in putting him back in the cot by pure cuddling/ cradling (always end up putting him on the breast).


During night time he usually sleeps through 3-4 hours between feeds on average, but it's never too consistent (sometimes just 2 hours). I know it may be demanding to train a 7 week old baby a strict feeding pattern, but I really wish to start doing something. Any advice? I heard a lot of people mentioning Gina Ford. Is her advice practical?

Hi Nicher,


Maybe it's because my baby has enough sleep the whole night, here is his sleep patter - he sleeps between 10-11pm, wakes up around 4 and i BF him lying down average every 2 hours til 10-11 am, that's 12 hours sleep! The whole afternoon, we just eat, play and sing, he has short naps on and off, so after 6pm, he's quite awake, esp if daddy comes home and plays with him. Then wash and he goes to sleep again.


Oh, by the way, this long night sleep started at his 8 weeks. So your baby might change his pattern later. What time does your baby wakes up?


I have the gina ford book if you want it, i can mail it to you, i read that but don't think my baby wants to wake up at 7am (esp mommy ;-) I let him sleep if he wants but my only routine is don't sleep after 6pm so it's easier to let him sleep at night time.


Take care.

are you absolutely sure he's not hungry. Maybe try expressing some milk from the breast you feed from last and give him a top up, see if that makes any difference if it doesn't then you'll know for sure he's not hungry and just loves to be wwith his mummy!

Hi honeypie, my baby hasn't yet developed a very consistent pattern/ routine yet... that's what i'm worried about. I can't quite tell what time he sleeps and wakes up like what you did. These two days he is so awake during day time and I find it so difficult to put him to even a short nap. He looks drowsy in my arms but once i put him down in the cot he cries. Then his mouth looks for something to suck on again. I cannot quite tell whether he's really hungry or that he just wants something to pacify himself. It's ok if he's awake durin day time, but he is not very patient during the awake hours. We try to play with him/ cuddle him but very often he ends up crying. End up it's crying and feeding until he's settled in his cot, but I can never tell what time of the day he can be settled... it ranges from 11pm - 2am.


Perthites - I always have doubt whether he is still hungry, as he only take one breast for 15-20 min on average from the day he is born. Then he looks satisfied and pull out his mouth. I cannot make him suck for longer as he won't even open his mouth for it. Maybe I can test it if I try giving him a top up using bottle? (as teats are at least easier to open his mouth than my nipples?)


I really want to know if techniques to train baby to fall asleep on his own. Every time I try to put him down he cries.

you don't have to consider the pacifier as the "last resort." If your baby sleeps well with it, there isn't any reason not to use it. Eventually there will be a point where you will have to wean him or her away from that, but in the meanwhile there isn't any need to suffer through the nights, just because you don't want to give the pacifier.


i'm one of the moms on the forum that is a huge believer in Gina Ford. She has worked for both of my babies, and one was NOT a good sleeper initially. With her feeding schedule and nap schedule you often feel more "in control" of the situation, which may help you emotionally. Many moms know that i'm more of the "controlling" type - and i'm also seemingly not intuitive enough to figure out my babies needs that easily. But with Gina Ford, it became MUCH clearer to me what the different cries were - hungry, wet, tired (more often than not tired.)


Sounds like your baby could be OVER tired - which makes them fussier and even MORE difficult in the night time. Also sounds like he has a nursing - sleep wake up pattern. This means at night time, more likely he will look for your breast as that is what he's used to in order to fall asleep.


Try and make sure he's getting enough hindmilk. After he breaks latch, make sure milk is nice and creamy. If not, try and encourage him to suck down some of the fat. Gina Ford believes that the more hindmilk the baby has, the more settled he will be. If the baby has more hindmilk, he'll actually also go longer between feeds, and it will reduce his gassiness. (too much foremilk can cause gassiness.)


This is just my experience- using Gina Ford. Lots of moms find that it doesn't suit their personality, and manage perfectly well. SO you don't HAVE to do Gina. But she has worked very well for me and lots of moms on the forum.


If you have questions about implementing the method (the book seems rigid, but you learn to adjust after you've tried some things out) feel free to PM me.

Hi Nicher,


I have to mention that whenever i BF the baby after 6pm, he might be sleeping, so it's not really "no sleep" after 6pm.


Baby cries too if i put him in cot after BF, even if is SO asleep in my arms/BF pillow, so the technique that works for me is BF lying down, that's the best position for me, so when he removes the latch, he just falls asleep in our bed.

Hi hkchoichoi, I just pm you.

PM'd you Nicher.

Hi Nicher - I agree with hkchoichoi - Gina Ford's approach does work. My baby refused to sleep between 6-10pm from birth to 6 weeks and was always very fussy starting from 6pm; so I started to follow Gina Ford's suggested rountine and immediately my baby started to sleep from 7-11pm (bath at 5:45pm then feed). I don't follow her rountine 100% but her logic of giving the baby enough feeds between 7am-7pm and limiting baby's nap time do help my baby sleeps. Give it a try!

Hello,


Have you tried swaddling ?

It really helped my baby to sleep. You really should give it a try.

Also, I follow a very regular routine when I put him to sleep :

- I swaddle him in his cot (he usually starts to cry)

- I give him a pacifier which really helps him and after a while he just spits it out

- I close the shades

- I turn on his musical mobile and tell him bye bye


He usually falls asleep within 2-3 mn.

I have this same routine since he's born and now he's 5 months and it's still working (as for the swaddling, I now roll his body - but not his arms - in a large blanket which goes around his body, so no safety risk).


Good luck

Hi Chrispy, yes I am trying Gina's routine too. Making good progress too! Baby slept through from 11:30pm - 7am last night! But he still finds it difficult to resettle himself when he wakes up in the middle of a nap (afternoon nap 12-2 and evening nap 7-10). Like you, I don't follow it 100% but now both baby and I have kind of worked out a more consistent schedule ourselves. And yes, I totally agree that if baby has gained enough calories from 7am-7pm, he becomes less fussy at night and sleeps better.


Mum2004 - I've tried swaddling but he never likes to be swaddled. Every time I tug his arms under the blanket he struggles a lot trying to take them out. I gave it up but tried half swaddling instead. Still, whenever he wakes up the blanket is all loose. He's just too forceful. So as you said, I have to offer him pacifier - the only thing to calm him down apart from my breast. He's now less fussy after I put him on Gina's schedule though. At least I have his needs met before he fusses about it.


Thank you all for your advice!!