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Hi Erica,
Congratulations on your new arrival!
Having a newborn can feel overwhelming, so I hope you’re managing alright and have some support from family or friends.
There could be a few reasons for the changes you have noticed with your little one.
1. Your little one is becoming more alert!
In the early weeks, your son probably fell asleep easily during or right after feedings, and you could move him to the bassinet without waking him. But as babies grow, they become more aware of their surroundings, making it harder to transfer them to the bassinet during the day without waking them.
It is a little different at night, as your baby’s circadian rhythm and sleep pressure work together to encourage your little one to fall asleep. This may be why he continues sleeping when you transfer him into the bassinet at night.
2. The Period of PURPLE Crying
A potential reason for your baby’s fussiness during the day is the Period of PURPLE Crying. This is a normal developmental stage that most babies go through, which starts at around two weeks of age, and initially, your little one might just seem fussier or cry more than usual without any apparent reason. This fussiness builds up gradually over the next few weeks, reaching a peak when your baby is between 6 and 8 weeks old. At its peak, newborns will spend around 3 hours per day fussing and crying without any apparent reason. However, don’t be alarmed if your little one cries a bit longer, as it varies from baby to baby.
After this peak, the amount and intensity of crying and fussing will slowly start to decrease. At 4 months of age, your baby’s crying and fussing episodes should reduce significantly and be spread out more evenly throughout the day. At this stage, it also gets a little easier to understand why your baby is crying.
With that said, I want to quickly mention that sometimes a baby’s fussiness and crying due to pain are misinterpreted as the period of PURPLE crying. Since you mentioned your son is generally fussy throughout the day and becoming challenging to feed, I wanted to talk about how you would tell the difference between the Period of PURPLE Crying and pain.
When it comes to PURPLE crying, the crying/fussiness spells typically follow a certain rhythm, tending to occur at specific times, usually in the late afternoon or evenings. During this phase, your baby might unexpectedly turn fussy or burst into tears, seemingly without an apparent reason. And just as suddenly as it came, this fussiness and crying tends to suddenly stop.
In contrast, if your baby is experiencing discomfort or pain, perhaps due to an infection, irritation, or certain intolerance, their crying would reflect an entirely different pattern.
In these instances, your baby might cry, fuss, or squirm throughout the day without any pattern. This unceasing crying and fussing can give the impression that your baby is never truly settled.
If this is the case with your little one, I recommend you arrange an appointment with their doctor or paediatrician to discuss these behavioural changes.
Regarding how frequently your little one is having a BM, pooping every 2 1/2 days is considered normal. Just monitor the consistency of the poop. If you notice your little one starts to poop pellets, this signals that he may be constipated, and you may need to check in with the doctor about possible causes for this.
To help your little one sleep in the bassinet during the day, I recommend that when he stays awake following a feed and starts to display tired signs, you do a simple nap routine, lie him down awake in this bassinet, and use the settling pyramid to help him fall asleep. Do you think this is something that you can do for some of his naps?
I hope this helps,
Emma