Hellobee Boards

that's great you're starting a nap routine, but don't be discouraged if your baby doesn't magically fall asleep after you do all the steps during this mythical "drowsy but awake" stage. i quickly discovered that a lot of the sleep rules didn't apply to my LO. if you find that your LO is having a hard time falling asleep on her own, go ahead and do whatever you need to do (rocking, swing, etc.) because she's so young right now. she can learn the self-soothing later.

FYI--for us, nothing worked with LO, so we started CIO pretty early because i was going back to work and couldn't deal. if something had worked, like carseat or carrier or whatever, i would have used it.

i totally know what you mean. i was obsessed, i mean OBSESSED with his nursing and eating the first two months, then promptly moved on to his sleep, which took up 99% of my brain activity for months.

i was all worried about setting up "perfect" sleep habits before LO went to daycare. well it didn't happen. now his sleep is pretty good at home but sucks at daycare. but the world didn't fall apart and LO is happy, healthy and growing. it was almost like i was forced to let go, and it was a good thing (although i still have angst about his non-existent daycare naps).

Oh man. LO is 12 weeks and I still don't put her down drowsy but awake for naps! I do whatever it takes to avoid an overtired baby. Do you swaddle? As soon as I started swaddling for naps things were a lot better.

After 1.5-2 hours of awake time I do whatever it takes to get her to sleep (stroller, car, nurse, rock, whatever!). After a week of doing that though, she kind of fell into that routine anyways, so i rarely have to leave the house for naps anymore. I'd try that

Just wanted to add that not all babies are the same! Xander could stay up for 2 hours at that age. Trying to get him to nap after 1-1.5 hours never worked. He just wasn't tired yet! And then he'd only nap for 30 minutes. And now at 4.5 months, he's still the same.

@Mrs. Lovejoy: My DD is almost 8 weeks, too! I read The 90-Minute Sleep Program (http://www.amazon.com/The-90-Minute-Baby-Sleep-Program/dp/0761143114) and pretty much go by that. It recommends against sleep props, but suggests they are okay in the newborn stage. So I am still nursing/taking her out for walks to put her to sleep now when nothing else will work--and she sometimes naps in my arms at home.

The book basically suggests that babies are most ready for sleep after 90 mins of awake time, they just need a little help to actually fall asleep.

Like @sslm, I do everything I can to put her down for a nap after 90 mins of awake time to avoid overtiredness!

I'm following this too - my LO is 6.5 weeks and he's going to kill me with the no naps/no sleep at night routine he's got going right now. He will only fall asleep nursing and shrieks the seconds unlatch him. I've only gotten him off the boob for maybe 10 minutes since we got up this morning

@Mrs. Lovejoy: I think so. He's been nursing every 45 minutes since 3 am.