T fights his naps like no other. I feel like when I respond to his fussing (not crying) I'm prolonging him going to sleep.
Should I let him fuss it out? It's worked before but it breaks my heart of course, like it would for any other mom. I give him a paci but he spits it out.
GOLD / papaya / 10166 posts
As a mom of two kids that fight naps, I understand your frustration. At this age, it's hit or miss. I think I would let him fuss after I've tried everything else, or you're getting frustrated. Hopefully he'll figure out how to soothe himself. My girls had to be held and bounced until they fell asleep.
grapefruit / 4278 posts
I think there's a difference between letting him fuss it out and letting him CIO. If he's grunty and wiggly, then I would leave him to figure it out for a little bit. But if it got to be longer than 10 minutes or escalated to an actual cry, then I think 8 weeks is too young for CIO
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
It never worked for us at that age. She would get to upset and I wasn't going to CIO with her that young. It was work getting her to sleep for every single nap and bedtime. Which is why I ended up nursing for an hour every night cause it would make her go to sleep.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
@kiddosc: @Smurfette: exactly. I'm not sure where the line is. He's too little for CIO.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Could it be that your baby is overtired, and that's why he's fighting naps? Are you waiting until he exhibits sleepiness cues to put him back down?
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
Same question as Looch, could you be missing his cues and he is overtired? I know that made it 100x harder with R, and still does. Maybe try starting getting him ready for a nap sooner.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
@looch: I'm not sure honestly. I feel like he sleeps enough...he has a pretty consistent schedule he sticks to himself. He sleeps all night from 8:30 - 7:00. He has 2 wake ups but goes straight back to sleep. A nap around 9 for about 45 minutes, a 3 hour nap at 12 and another nap around 5 for about 45 minutes.
I know he's sleepy when he's fussing. You can see it in his eyes. But I honestly don't know if he's overtired.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
@Smurfette: I try. We nurse around 11 to start to soothe him to sleep for his nap. He'll fall asleep on the nursing pillow but as soon as I put him down he wakes up and gets fussy. He's getting enough to eat. Because he rejects the boob when I try and nurse him to sleep again.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I think your first nap is too late, at least, with respect to my son's schedule at that age. I'd try doing the first nap at around 45 minutes to one hour after the first wake up.
If there is yawning and clawing at eyes, those are signs too...do those happen?
grapefruit / 4278 posts
@Danizaur: I sounds like you might be keeping him up a bit too long. At 8 weeks, E was really only able to be awake for 1-1.5 hrs at a time. There was barely time to feed him and change him before it was time for him to go back to sleep it seemed. Every baby is different, but I would try to shorten his awake time and see if it helps.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
@looch: Sometimes but not always. It's usually around his nap time he does it but at that point I'm already trying to get him to sleep.
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
Only three naps at 8 weeks seem pretty little. At that age, they really can't handle being awake for much more than an hour to an hour and a half. So for him to be up from 7am to 9am or from 5:45pm to 8:30pm will be tough for him.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
@kiddosc: That's what I thought! To me it seems like everyone else's infant sleeps more often. I've just been going along with his rhythm though...I assumed if he needed to sleep more he would. Should I just start rocking and soothing him to see if he sleeps? He falls asleep on the nursing pillow after almost every session but wakes quickly if we set him down somewhere to snooze and doesn't fall back asleep. I can't let him sleep a full nap on my lap. Haha
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
@Danizaur: I would try a nap at 830. Two hours seems to long in the morning for that age.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
@Smurfette: Well it's anywhere between 8-9. 9 is usually when he finally gives up and falls asleep after I've been trying to get him to sleep for an hour. Yesterday he fell asleep at 8 but today it was almost 9.
grapefruit / 4278 posts
@Danizaur: I would just start trying to get him to sleep. I was dreadful at picking up on E's sleep cues. By the time we got to yawning and eye rubbing it was too late. Do you have a swing? I know some people are super against motion while sleeping, but our swing was a savior and I figured motion during sleep was better than no sleep. He would nearly always fall asleep in the swing, and then once he was deep asleep I'd turn it off. We also took a lot of car rides to nowhere.
pineapple / 12793 posts
I agree with the PPs. I'd try shorter awake periods. DD could only stay awake for 1.5 max at 8 weeks. She was still taking four naps a day at six months. It's always been a lot easier to get her to sleep if I put her down a little before I think I should. There's a window to catch that if missed makes bedtimes/naptimes much harder.
persimmon / 1355 posts
I agree that his awake time seems long for 8 weeks. At that age, I was walking my daughter for almost every nap bc it was the only way to avoid fighting sleep for an hour. Maybe you can try some new methods of putting him down and see if another way is faster?
persimmon / 1116 posts
Agree with PP! At 8 weeks, he shouldn't be awake longer than 1-1.5 hours. If he wakes for the day at 7 AM, and you feed him right away, I would start watching for his cues around 45 mins. Try putting him down by 8 AM for 3 days, and see if that helps! Always try things for a few days before giving up. Also agree, if you miss the window--they will fight the nap!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts
@Danizaur: I'm right there with you. It sounds like our LO's are on a similar schedule as well, although E wakes up more at night. I'm going to keep reading for more tips, wish I could help!
grapefruit / 4923 posts
it sounds like trying shorter awake times may be helpful, but just in case that doesn't work, don't be discouraged. you're doing a great job. i do hope shorter awake times is the solution for you, but if it isn't, you're not doing anything "wrong".
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
I agree with the others that he's probably overtired. I didn't realize my LO was overtired as a newborn because she had very late sleep signs (and still does). I would attempt a nap at the one hour mark and see what happens. He may go down a lot easier.
Having said that, I think some attended "FIO" would be okay. I wish I had taught my LO to fall asleep on her own earlier. You could try sitting with him & singing & patting him for 10 minutes or so & see if he falls asleep. It works for some & not others.
Do you have a swing? Swings were our nap lifesavers at that age even though it was hard to wean from it.
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