8 week old doesnt sleep during the day

[katiewalters]

im really worried that my 8week old isnt getting enough sleep. i breasfeed and shes gaining weight nicely. she doesnt sleep at all during the day. you can tell shes tired and shes very irritable most of the day and cries a lot. i try lots of things to get her to sleep. if something does work, she will only sleep for about ten mintues then wakes up again. at night she will go down anywhere between 9-11pm and has 2 feeds during the night and wakes up anytime between 8-10am. on average she probably gets about 10-11 hours sleep in a 24hr period. is this normal? i thoght she needed a lot more sleep than that. thanks

[Helentres]

Have you tried putting her in her Moses basket/cot or wherever she sleeps during the night? My DS3 is 8 months and he refuses to nap anywhere during the day apart from in his cot in his room with the curtains closed, kind of like a mini bedtime lol x

[katiewalters]

yeh ive tried that, tried rocking, sling, walk in pushchair, plsying music/white noise, complete silence, swaddling, nothing will get her to sleep in the day. just worried that this isnt normal and about her getting enpugh sleep

[DrMcDreamysWife]

It is hard at this age. I seem to remember 8 week beinh a bit of a turning point as in they've sort of woken up, less newborn and get easily overstimulated. Try to remove all stimulation at a sleep time.

Does she close her eyes while feeding? I thought my dd wasn't sleeping at this age but then I realised she would basically be sort of sleep eating most feeds. It wasn't enough sleep but it helped if I let her stay on for a while.

We started using white noise about this time. I got an app on my phone, extreme rainfall worked best!

[DrMcDreamysWife]

Also have you looked up wonder weeks? There's a theory about certain weeks being a leap in development that means less sleep and more grouchy mess. Google it, there's a book and an app. Totally matches up with my dd's bad weeks!

[Helentres]

Maybe mention it to your health visitor then? Or try baby massage (again can be pointed in the right direction by HV) I used it on DS3 from approx 9 weeks old and it worked a treat! It also helps with wind, constipation, development etc apparently x

[katiewalters]

thanks for all the info and advice. were currently doing baby massage, started a couple of weeks ago and its made no difference. ive got an app on my ipad that plays lullabies and white noise, made no difference either. will look up wonder weeks. sometimes she closes her eyes when feeding, not most of the time, as shes obviosuly really tired she gets irritated and fussy and doesnt feed properly, keeps going on and off the breast, so i feel like all i do is feed and im shattered too. im getting her weighed in the week so will mention it to the hbv, but think i may just have to wait it out.

[Helentres]

They don't tend to like baby massage much at first. Probably wondering what on earth is going on haha. My DS used to whinge a bit but after a few weeks he loved it!