Sleeping FAQ: 0-8 weeks – Settling/Sleep Associations

How can we get our 4 week old to settle better in the evening?

We are having problems settling Charlie in the evenings. He is now 4 weeks old. He will go down sleepy, but within 10 minutes has woken again. We go in and re-swaddle him to settle him again. Sometimes he settles listening to his musical mobile, other times he doesn’t. We persevere and keep going in every 10 minutes, but at times he just doesn’t settle and we are not sure what to do. Should we pick him up or do we offer him a dummy?

We don’t want to offer him more food as we are concerned it will put him off his 11pm feed.

Sometimes he becomes very wound up and falls asleep exhausted. One night it has taken an hour and a half to settle him, tonight almost two hours. Where are we going wrong? I understand he is overtired and fighting sleep now but he seems so relaxed and sleepy at 7pm.

Charlie is a very sucky baby and he takes his feeds fast. As he is on Omneo Comfort he needs a medium sized teat. We offer him a dummy after his feeds, but I am concerned about his recent weight gain. He is a very sicky baby and spent the first two weeks of life bringing back his bottles. He presently weighs 11lbs 1oz, his birth weight being 8lbs 13ozs but has put on 35ozs in two weeks. Surely this is too much? He always seems hungry though.

At present he takes between 27-31ozs a day, having feeds at 7am 4-5ozs, 10am 4-5ozs, 11.45am 1-2oz top up, 2.00pm 4ozs, 5pm 3-4ozs, 6.15pm 3ozs, 11pm 5ozs, 3.30am 3ozs.

He sleeps for about 4 hr 45 minutes during the day.

A baby of Charlie’s age who is unsettled and unwilling to sleep in the evening may well be hungry. By offering a small top up as soon as it becomes apparent to you that he is not going to settle, should help stop him becoming so distressed. Rather than waiting and repeatedly trying to settle him, offer him 1-2 ozs after you have left him 10-15mins from going into his cot sleepy. If he accepts this and settles for the evening you will know that is the problem. If it happens on a regular basis, increase the amount you offer him after his bath. Using the “split feed” at 5/6 pm often means a baby will have a slightly larger feed over the two bottles. This is to help him settle well in the evenings.

If Charlie continues to be slow to settle and is not hungry in the evenings consider bringing his bedtime forward to 6.45pm. Rather than going down when really tired, this may help him relax into sleep more easily without the excessive crying. As he appears to settle well at his daytime naps, he should be able to do this at 7pm provided he is not hungry or overtired.

If you have access to a copy of The Complete Sleep Guide look on p26 for a detailed plan of settling a small baby. Excessive crying is something which is not recommended at this age.

Charlie is taking about the right amount of milk in 24 hours for his weight. A “sucky” baby can often seem hungry, and it is sensible to offer him a dummy after daytime feeds to help him fulfil his sucking needs.

His weight gain over the past two weeks is large. Having probably had a slow start with the excessive sickness he made up the weight once on a thicker milk. Keep an eye on his weight in the next few weeks; it should slow down to 6-8ozs. If you are still concerned about his intake and weight, ask advice from your health visitor or doctor.