I Am Concern About My Baby HELP!!!

It's hard to tell from the little information in your post, but most tiny babies sleep soundly for maybe 2-3 hours at the longest before they need to eat again. And most babies sleep much better when in contact with mommy.

There's also a common startle reflex during sleep: their arms jerk as if they think they're falling, or they hit themselves in the face and wake up. Swaddling helps with this.

If your baby is squirming around as if uncomfortable, he probably is. He could be too hot or cold, or have unburped air in his tummy, or have a very sensitive digestive system and be feeling gas or food moving through. Maybe something is poking or pinching his skin. Check to see that he doesn't have a hair wound around a finger or toe.

Reflux is a common problem, too, and propping him up a bit during sleep, and feeding him with his head held higher, may be helpful.

Good luck. Some babies just don't sleep well, for up to their first two years. Everytime the tired parents think they've worked it out, things change and a new pattern sets in. It's just one of the toughest things about parenting.

4 moms found this helpful

I wouldn't be too concerned. I slept with my daughter on my chest until she was 7 weeks old, because if we put her down (swaddled or not) she would wake up within a half hour. We discovered at 7 weeks, thanks to my old-school mom, that she preferred to sleep on her tummy. She has been a great sleeper ever since.
It's totally a personal choice about whether you want to try him on his stomach, since it's not recommended by pediatricians, but it worked for us. We also bought a monitor by Angelcare that senses the babies breathing. That made us feel more comfortable with her on her tummy. They sell the monitor at Babies R Us.
Good luck,
K.

1 mom found this helpful

Are you swaddling him? I stopped swaddling my son around 1 month old thinking he was fussing about being in it. My co-worker came over and told me I was just doing it wrong and he stayed sleep longer. He would wake up randomly as well.

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Your baby is still brand new.
Finding what works for him to sleep happily can be a bit frustrating, but I wouldn't be overly concerned.
How long is it before she stirs and cries?
Maybe you can just try repositioning him and patting him on the back.
My son loved having his head rubbed from day one and that always did the trick.

I'm sure you'll get some great advice. Babies sleep patterns change quite a bit for the first couple of years so these early days really are a learning experience.

Best wishes to you.

1 mom found this helpful

He is probably startling himself awake. Babies have a lot more reflexive responses than adults do, as their brains develop. The startle reflex is one of the reflexes that usually persists until they are around 4 months old. You know that this reflex is the reason he is waking up if all that movement you are seeing includes his arms flinging out to the sides with his hands palm up. It's a normal part of development. The best solution I have found to prevent the startle reflex from waking up my own son was to swaddle him securely.

This is a good illustration of how to swaddle a baby.

http://www.parents.com/baby/care/newborn/swaddling-your-b...

1 mom found this helpful

Cuddle him, nurse him, rock him, play music, turn off the light, change him (a wet feeling can be cold) try to get him back into his "warm spot" - do whatever works at the moment he awakes and is frightened again by his new surroundings to get him back into his sleep mode. Just like adults, we are sleeping soundly and something disturbing wakes us up, we get disoriented and try to find ways to get back into that mode..your baby needs that, you just haven't found out yet what works for him...Only you can know that, but hopefully you have some options now. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

First, I don't think you need to be overly concerned. Second, we need a little more information.

How long is he sleeping before waking? Babies are still on pretty short cycles of sleep/awake at this age.

Are you swaddling him? A baby this age has a pronounced startle reflex and immobilizing him a bit may help him sleep a little longer.

Third, reflux is a possibility, but it is more likely to be regular baby stuff.

Make sure he is fed, changed, and well-burped before putting him down.

1 mom found this helpful

All you can do is experiment to see what works...and the same thing may not work everytime. Are you burping him before laying him down? If he has a gas bubble, it may be causing him some discomfort and waking him up.
Have you tried swaddling him? My grandson always slept better when he was swaddled at bedtime....he finally outgrew the need or desire for it when he was about 4 months old.
Maybe noise is bothering him, possible he needs a white noise machine ( or a fan turned on in the room, set so it doesn't blow on him will do the same thing) to help mask the noise in the rest of the house.
Is he too warm? Too cool? Just be a detective and see if you can find out what is causing it. This is the first of many mysteries that you will deal with as a Mom...but it gets better...I promise!!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi,

You may want to get the DVD 'Happiest Baby on the Block.' The narrator explains how babies are used to being curled up in the wound, so they feel as if they are falling sometimes when they have too much room...

They show you five S's for soothing your baby:
Shushing (white noise)
Swaddling (those velcro swaddle blankets are great)
sucking (pacifiers)
Swinging (either with your arms or the swing)
and stomach (some babies prefer being on their stomach

Also- it could be gas... My son was VERY gassy at 1 month... His digestive system was really sensitive... We gave him gas drops all day, and had to massage his little belly... (I got the 'Baby Fart Aerobics DVD' for some ideas)

Also- during the day, my son lived in the sling. (Hotsling) It made my life SO much easier since I had my hands free and my son felt very safe being attached to me. They got a bad rap lately in the news, but that was a specific brand (Infantino) where the material engulfed the baby... With pouch slings, the babies face isn't covered and you can easily keep an eye on your baby.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll figure out what works soon...

1 mom found this helpful

your baby may have a little gas pocket and this. Be sure to burp him thoroughly and be careful as to not allow a lot of air to build in his bottle. Hold the bottle all the way up when feeding him. Keep me posted

Try the swaddling. If you find it hard with a rectagular blanket, go to the fabric store and get 1 1/4 yard of baby flannel, which will be a perfect square and the weight of the fabric is perfect for a good tight swaddle. If you sew, seam basting tape and a straight stich is all it takes to bind the edges, if not, it is not going to ravel much anyway and it is cheap enough that you could get several cut and just toss them when he is over this stage.

M.

I would see if your baby goes back he wakes up. He needs to learn how to self soothe. May be put on music from his mobile or if you have a fan that makes white noise put that on. May be he hears background sounds that wake him up. Good luck

Hi, T.;
Do you burp him? He may have gas. D.

have you tried swaddling?

I agree with swaddling. They feel much more secure when they're wrapped like a taco! LOL
Google "4th trimester" and read about that.

At the risk of sounding judgemental: how was his birth? Was it at all traumatic? Was he circumcised? Either of those things can lead to nightmares in young babies for a little while. Eventually, he'll "forget" about it.
Co-sleeping may help so that when he does wake up, he'll be in a secure environment instead of by himself.
Good luck!

I have a 5 week old boy and he does the same thing. it takes about 20 minutes for them to go into the deep sleep stage where you can pick them up and they won't wake up. i have to swaddle my son (who fights me on it but eventually is comforted by it) and that way he won't wake himself up. or i'll let him fall asleep in his swing, where he's already in motion so he won't wake himself up as easily...

My son's arms would just jump and twitch suddenly and wake him from a sound sleep. Swaddling worked wonders! We got a Kiddopatamus swaddle blanket from Babies R Us. They can be on the pricey side ($20), but my son would kick out of the receiving blankets when I folded them to swaddle him, and I didn't have the energy to go to the craft store and make one myself :) BRU often has a buy one, get one sale on these. If your son likes them, keep an eye out for the sale!

The reason all babies twitch is that their nervous systems aren't well developed yet. He literally has to learn how to keep himself still and calm and to maintain his sleep. It takes months. For my son, the swaddle blankets took us from a 5 or 10 minute nap to a half an hour right away. Then we built up from there. We have lots of pictures of my son snug as a bug in his swaddle blanket, looking like he's in a straight jacket:) At first, your son may struggle and keep crying. Give it ten or twenty minutes with you holding him while he's in the blanket. It takes a long time for the baby's brain to get the message when you change something. Eventually, his brain will realize that he's snuggled up tight, and he'll relax and go to sleep. Then the blanket will wrap his arms tight so he will stay that way! Good luck!

Swaddle him tightly to control the jerky movements. Also, put him in a small place to sleep (bassinet, swing, etc.) rather than a large crib. This will help him feel more secure.

Do you swaddle him? babies are use to be all curl up when in our tummy, and when they born and they are sleeping they may feel weird...I am sorry, I don't know how to explain it right, but they do feel more secure and sleep better when they are swaddle.