My LO has recently been doing everything he can not to sleep during the day and I don't know what to do. I've been trying to read his cues and as soon as he starts the yawns I lay him down. He is not having it. I've tried putting him in the PnP, RnP, swing, crib with no luck. Today I managed to get 40 min out of him this morning and he just woke up in the swing after about the same amount of time. He's sitting in there now yawning away and fighting to keep his eyes open. It's taking so long to get him down that I keep missing the window and then he's hungry again and will fall asleep while eating only to wake up when I try to put him down. I'm trying to get him ready for daycare and establish some kind of routine but I'm failing miserably. I'm considering getting a moby wrap to try just so I can get out of this monotonous loop but am afraid that will make it harder in the long run especially when he starts daycare in 3 weeks. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. I hate seeing my baby so exhausted and grumpy and in turn making me an exhausted and grumpy Momma.
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How long is his awake cycle? For me, if I wait until LO shows tired signs, the regular battle becomes a battle royale! Preempting the battle is usually the smoothest route. But, there is always the curve ball or two that they throw at you! At 8 weeks, it is possibe he is at a wonder week and/or growth spurt?
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That's the thing - he's been so alert recently that I have hard time knowing when he's sleepy without the visual cues. This morning he woke up at 9. I tried putting him down at 11 and he did fall asleep after a little coaxing with a paci and white noise but woke himself up after 40min. That doesn't seem like long enough for his age. I think I'm going to start writing down how our days are going now and try to sort out his pattern better. He loved his sleep a few weeks ago and we were getting a good routine going and now I feel like i have no idea what I'm doing. Mommy fail. : /
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@Phillybaby2013: from 9-11 is a REALLY long time to be awake for a baby that age. Even if he seems alert, it's possible that he's just very stimulated and so not showing signs of being tired. At that age, I would try putting him down after an hour of awake time....I often even only had 45 min of awake time with LO when he was going through a growth spurt or extra fussy. Also, when they're overtired, they often wake themselves up (sounds counter intuitive I know) which might account for his short naps.
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I would encourage the wrap... just to get baby into a better nap routine. At this point (4.5 months), it works much better than the swing. I have the baby ktan.
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I agree with @hilsy85. And remember that the time it takes for a feeding is included in awake time.
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aww man i totally know how you feel :*( my LO was terrible with naps at that age as well. i was so worried too!
the only thing i can say is to stick to your guns (use a schedule if that is what you want to do, or wear him etc if that is ok with you) and it will get better with time! at around 3 months my LO just suddenly 'got it' and things have been smooth sailing since. the first 3 months were super hard in terms of naps, for us!
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@Phillybaby2013: I also wanted to say that my LO usually had short naps too. It's more the total sleep time than how long the naps are. Some LOs are just chronic cat nappers. Anything over 10 minutes counts toward the total sleep time. It can be so so frustrating!
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Definitely seconding the shorter awake periods comments. At this age our LOs shouldn't be awake longer than an hour and a half at a time. We usually only have 45 minutes-hour of awake time though. We follow a loose EASY schedule, so she eats & then I lay her down to play for 30 minutes or so. I pop in the paci & rock her to sleep at the first yawn, but you could always jut watch the clock if his sleep cues come too late. If she falls asleep while eating I always wake her up. This schedule seems to really work well for us.
ETA: Sadie's naps are never the same length. Most are between 1.5-2 hours, but she'll have some 45 minutes & some 3+ hours. We just modify her "schedule" according to how long she napped.
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Thanks for the input. Tomorrow is a new day and I'll try to put him down sooner and see what happens. Ugh, mommy guilt - I feel terrible that I was unknowingly part of the problem with him not sleeping. We've also been dealing with diarrhea and diaper rash that won't let up- so this week has sucked. Maybe we'll make a trip to BRU tomorrow for the Moby and enjoy the extra cuddle time.
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just wanted to let you know, there is a wonder week at 8 weeks and those always F up my LOs sleep schedule...cranky for naps, fights them like crazy, and lots of wakeups at night....so it may just be he is going through one as well, but the good case is, they usually only last a few days to a week!
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*hugs*. I just wanted to come offer some support. The one thing that has put me in tears over and over in my daughters 11 months is naps. She started fighting naps at 2 weeks old and hasn't really stopped :). It was so hard for me not to compare because everyone around me seemed to just have such an easy time with their baby's nap schedule. No amount of reading and understanding the theories about baby's sleep needs helped us. It was a long time before I, with the help of a few great friends, realized that my baby just isn't a great napper. We have come a long way in terms of helping her learn nap habits, but it was a long road. At this point, you're still in survival mode. It's 100% okay to do whatever it takes right now. You won't be setting up habits that are impossible to break at 8 weeks. Do whatever you need to do to stay sane. For me, that meant a lot of babywearing and a lot of skipping naps just so I could leave the house. She usually fell asleep right as we were pulling back in the driveway :). Also, I would bet that your LO has a much easier time falling into a routine at daycare... They're always better for other caregivers
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@Weagle: @PhillyBaby2013: I just want to echo that LOs are better for other caregivers! My LO will sleep in her RnP for a 2 hour nap for my nanny, but she won't nap anywhere but my arms (or will sleep only in bed with me) on the weekends (she will sleep in a carrier, and sometimes in the car), and even then it is at best a 1 hour (maaaaybe 1 hour and 15ish minutes!) nap. I, too, felt like such a mommy failure because I couldn't seem to master the seemingly *simple* task of putting LO down for a nap! Just know that you are NOT alone, and that you are not doing anything wrong!
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