7 Week Old Not Sleeping Well at Night

I also have a 7 week old little girl, gassy too. I found a miracle homeopathic remedy for gas online, it's called colic calm. It works immediately, i wish i had this with my first. I hope this helps. Good luck!

It sounds like she's having trouble distinguishing her days from her nights which is very common in babies. I'd ask your pediatrician for advice on how to get her back on a more normal circadian rhythm (natural sleep schedule). You can try limiting her napping during the day to help her body adjust to sleeping longer hours at night. It should correct in a few weeks, but any night without good sleep can be hellacious for a working mom.

As for the gas issue, that's a little harder. There are medications you can give her (Mylicon is over the counter as well as Gripe Water). Our pediatrician said they were OK to use but not to expect huge results. You really have to keep up on it consistently.

We found that helping them get it out was the best thing for them. Putting pressure on their tummies worked best for us. We'd either hold her around her waist with her back to us putting enough pressure on her stomach or would lay her back and pull her knees up into her abdomen.

If it's a persistent issue, ask your pediatrician if he has any recommendations on a formula that might have less gas associated with it (though it's going to vary from child to child).

Good luck.

From birth to three months the natural sleep cycle of an infant is 4 hours of sleep, then 2 hours of various stages of alertness/wakefulness, repeated for the entire 24 hour period. If the baby naturally sleeps more than four hours in a row at times, then you may have lucked out. It is important developmentally to have the 4 to 2 schedule, but it is also understandable to try to meet your own needs as a caregiver. I did the 4 to 2 ratio for almost the entire time(by myself!)my daughter was an infant and thought I was going to go mad by month two:) I ended up using a swing to get a straight 8 hours of sleep a few nights:) Good luck, I know it is hard work:)

You don't have to be awake when your daughter is at night as long as she is safe in her bed. I have 2 kids, the youngest is almost 5 months old and both slept through the night very early on, my 1st by 8 wks and my second at 15 wks (though he was born a month early). This is what I did with them...Do things in cycle during the day of Sleep, eat, play...make sure anytime they are not sleeping during the day they are in a bright room...natural light, whatever and they are kicking on a play mat, in a bouncer or playing with you. Nap times should be in baby's bed, snugly swaddled in a dark room. Add heavy curtains and make sure there are no night-lights on in the room. Then feed when she wakes up and the cycle continues. Always try to feed your daughter right before you want her to go to sleep only at night time bed time just to "top off". Burp well...with formula is seems to take longer to burp a baby than with breastfeeding so make sure you are patient and get several burps out. Now here is the trick...set aside a regular bed time and a regular wake-up time..these will be times that work best for you and your family. At bedtime change diaper, swaddle her and then feed her in a dimly lit room. Burp well then lay her down in her bed...you can sing and rock her if you'd like but the important thing is that she doesn't get used to falling asleep while being rocked or in your arms. If she's just too tired, lay her down before she gets too sleepy. Each time she awakens at night for a feeding or diaper change always check her diaper first and get it changed before you feed her...changing diaper wakes baby up so you will want to do it first...feed her,then regardless of whether she wants to stay awake or not lay her back in bed, swaddled, let her grunt and make her little baby noises while you go back to bed. Do not give in to playing with her and avoid talking to her and making eye contact. These things are stimulating and tell her that it's playtime rather than sleep-time. Luckily she is still very new and it won't be a huge ordeal to teach her the difference between night and day. Also, as hard as it is, try not to hold her if she gets really drowsy during daytime meals. If she is really tired, she will remain asleep when you put her down...if she isn't and is just falling asleep because her tummy is full and she's warm and cozy it will take her longer to work out her days and nights as she will end up sleeping too much during the day. Once that wake up time rolls around then switch diapering to after each meal since it will wake a drowsy, contented baby then continue with the daytime cycle as I'd mentioned before...good luck...There are different formulas out there that you can try that help with gas...just make sure you are burping very well, and if you are not opposed to it try giving some Mylicon at each feeding. The Mylicon will help eliminate tummy bubbles but not gas cause by digestion. If her gas is still problematic try switching formula.

try to keep her up and active a little more during the day, and calm and quiet at night. For gas, I found "Little Tummies", and it works great! It is all natural so it can be given at every feeding if need be, and it works super fast. It saved us with our first who had major gas issues.

I loosely followed the Baby Wise philosphy which basically is to feed, play and sleep. In that order. Also, no snacking, full complete belly with each feed about every 3 hours at that age. The idea is to have them have met their daily caloric intake by the last feeding (say 10:00pm) and then maybe only one night time feeding will be necessary. Are you keeping the lights to a minimum at night? Try using only a night light when you're feeding, that way baby knows it's not time to be awake, it's night time. Good luck!

Hi Cee Cee,
Congratulations on your most recent addition!
Babies are designed to wake up during the night. I know it's tiresome- especially if you're back to work at only 7 weeks- but just like your first two, this phase won't last long. :)
Most doctors actually recommend that babies don't sleep longer than two or three hours in a row until they reach AT LEAST 12 or 13 pounds. Anything below that is just not healthy.
When my son was a newborn he was very gassy and thus fussy as well. I cut milk completely out of my diet but made sure to keep eating yogurt and cheese and VOILA! No more gas and no more fussy baby! If you're using formula chances are that that is the culprit- especially since your baby is used to the milk from the heavens- a.k.a breast milk. ;)
Good luck, and remember this phase is so short and fleeting... Soon she'll be grown and gone and all you'll have left are the memories! :)

Briefly, don't let her sleep so much during the day. Put her down later at night. She will be crabbier during the day, but she will eventually sleep better during the night.

[EDIT]: Regular and consistent naps are very important to make sure your baby sleeps better. The more sleep-deprived they are, the harder it is to get them to sleep well, especially overnight down the road. So I would personally discourage withholding sleep in the hopes of getting her to sleep better later. [END EDIT]

Your daughter is only 7 weeks old, and will not sleep through the night, period. Kids really don't sleep through the night at this age because THEY NEED TO EAT. At 7 weeks, she should still be eating about every 4-4.5 hours. She may be crying because she's being put back to sleep instead of fed every time she wakes up.

Also, babies don't have a day/night sleep schedule until about 4.5-5 months of age. So please, please, please do not fall into the misunderstanding that babies should be sleeping through the night at this age.

Try getting her schedule to where her 3-4 hour cycles are at least mostly sleeping at night. Feed her right before she goes to bed, make sure she has a routine that is the exact same every night so that she knows, "Oh, it's bedtime cuz we're doing this thing that we do every night at bedtime." She won't make the mental association, but her body will.

You might also try breastfeeding her in bed when she wakes up at night, instead of giving her a bottle. The bottle tends to wake them more, whereas the breast tends to soothe them to sleep. Then you can either keep her in bed with you or if she's a deep sleeper, transfer her to her crib/pack 'n' play/co-sleeper.

As far as gassy, it's kind of just part of the territory. Babies have to develop their GI and don't stop being gassy/spitting up/burping until *thinks* 8-12 months, I think? Not sure, but it's kind of something you can't STOP (unless you exclusively breastfeed, which will considerably cut down on the gas from the formula) - you can only "treat" with things like gripe water.

Good luck... and be patient with your little one... :)

What a disgusting country we have that does not give mother's paid leave for four months after the baby is born. All European countries do that at a minimum. We moms should all be lobbying for proper mothering for our children following their birth.
I really have empathy for you and your baby. What kind of formula are you giving her as it is very likely responsible for her gas. You could change formulas or call La Leche league for extra breast milk so that she could drink that instead of formula.

Cee Cee,

It sounds like she's still got her day and night confused. To counteract that make daytime feedings bright and noisy and interesting. Interact with her, play with her a bit, talk to her; all while nursing/feeding her. Then at night make things dark/dim, quiet, no playing or other stimulation. That should get her un-confused.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

well, 7 weeks isn't very old.

I have a 5 week old right now. He definitely likes to be awake around midnight - 1am. He is also gassier than his sister was...

Some things i've heard help, but can't swear to (and most of which i'm trying - things are getting better, but who knows if this is why):

1) expose your kid to day light during the day - supposed to help biochemistry set for the diurnal schedule. I also try to encourage active interaction during the day.
2) no playing at night - only play during the day - to emphasize the 'night is for sleeping' idea. We use a pacifier at night only - so we get the peace without actual playtime.
3) probiotics (for the gas - there are some infant specific ones)
4) co-sleeping (we have a co-sleeper next to our bed. This allows me to put a hand on my babe without actually having him in our bed. It seems to help him stay calm at night.) For the first couple of weeks we could only get multiple hours at once with him actually next to me.

Just an idea, too - do you need to supplement with formula? If not, you could try eliminating it to see if it helps with the gas. If so, you could try switching brands to see if that helps.

Good luck!!

At seven weeks many babies are getting up at night still, but it sounds like she has her days and nights mixed up. Try ample stimulation,natural lighting(open curtains) and lots of playtime during the day,a nice soothing bath before bed,and a fan or white noise machine during the night.As far as the gas- many soy formulas give babies lots of gas,and be mindful of what you are eating because that can give baby gas as well(milk,gas forming veggies).Best of luck.

Gas was a huge problem for us. I used the gas drops from little tummies or something like that. It was a life saver. I would give him the drops and then rub his belly in a circular motion and them bend his leg and push them up to his belly over and over then magically he would start to pass alot of his gas. The gas problem got better as he got older maybe 3 or 4 months.