At wits end with 12 week old

Please don't give up ! You are doing an amazing job. It takes a village truly. Try white nose and gentle tummy massges, we do bicycle kicks to help things along. Sometimes we sing or just talk about our day. They love that x

You are doing fantastic - please don’t feel like you’re not! Maybe just try for 2 minutes putting little one down safely and walking away and getting a breather; they can sense if you’re tense too! Deffo agree on the white noise and a calm environment - currently 3am feed with sleep sounds on my phone too! How much Gaviscon are they on? my little one has also been prescribed it for reflux - I’ve heard too much can provide constipation so can you not use as many sachets? Bicycle legs, tummy massage, maybe a warm bath to ease? you got this superwoman! ❤️

White noise was a game changer for us!

If he’s on gaviscon like my little one (also 12 weeks) he can get very constipated and be exactly like this sometimes just inconsolable, we’ve had to reduce the dosage, he only has one sachet twice per day, and even then he still gets tummy pain!

We run through all of the typical, tummy time for a bit, a good tummy massage (sometimes he screams throughout but push through) gentle bicycle legs, a warm bath, try putting gripe water in his bottle, two droppers of infacol 10-15 minutes before a feed (only use two if its bad not regularly)

We’ve also discovered circular burping! This sometimes produces a poop instantly, sit him upright on your knee supporting chest and back/head, move in circular motion, he might scream throughout but it defo gets things moving and we have guaranteed burps everytime.

Reflux is awful, so I feel you x

This is normal
Remember he’s also still getting use to his environment
Take turns … one person sleeps when he wakes the first time and next person sleeps the next so you can get some sleep.
As difficult as it sounds try to sleep when he sleeps ..
And it does get better.. Ive got an almost 6 months old and getting better sleep
You will figure it out .. hang in there

12 weeks is still really little for a routine, but as someone who thrives off of a routine I completely get the desire/need to be in one!

At 12 weeks, my partner and I found it best to do shifts to help with the exhaustion - 4 hours on (8-12), 4 hours off (12-4) and 4 hours on (4-8)
It meant that each of us got at least 4 hours uninterrupted at a time. If the baby slept during your little shift that was a bonus too, but it was your wake up!
It’s a lonely way to do it, but it won’t be forever, I found talking to mums on here during my shift to be a godsend. But when it’s your shift, keep things dark and boring, eventually his circadian rhythm will adjust, and even if he doesn’t sleep perfectly, it will be better!

You’re doing nothing wrong, babies are crazy and everyone tells you about the sleep but you defo don’t get it until it’s happening to you 😭 but it absolutely will get better in time! Xx