I just had my first baby in May and he is now 12 weeks old. He is doing very well sleeping at night. He sleeps from 7 until 10 p.m. and then I wake him up for his last feeding. Then he doesn't wake up until about 7 a.m. He goes to bed very easily at night. I usually just sooth him for about 2 minutes, then lay him down drowsy but awake and he goes to sleep by himself. I am only describing the night time so you know he CAN fall asleep by himself.
The day time is our problem!!! He can only be awake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes before he is tired again. If I catch him at the perfect moment and sooth him then lay him in his crib he will go to sleep. However if he goes any second over this time period and even sooner sometimes, he has a complete meltdown. He will scream inconsolably anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. He will eventually calm down and fall asleep but the screaming is out of control!!! Usually the only way I can calm him down is to go in the bathroom and turn on the water. The noise usually calms him. This is very hard when I have to take him anywhere because he will not just fall asleep when he is tired. His naps are anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours depending on the day.
I am just wondering if anyone has had this same experience. It seems like everyone I tell this to and even my pediatrician just looks at me like I am crazy and say "They all come with their own personalities." I understand this however I am wondering if He needs to be having longer naps or something. I am breast feeding him and he is eating every 4 hours. He is a really good baby but WATCH OUT if he is awake longer than around 1 hour. Maybe this is normal and I will just have to wait it out but if anyone has any tips or advice I would really appreciate it. :) Thankyou!
Thank you so much to everyone who replied!!! I helps so much just to know that other mom's have experienced this. I am going to just keep watching for the "window" of time I need to put him to sleep and hopefully he will outgrow at least the screaming part:) Thank you again so much for all of your advice!
At 12 weeks they still sleep a lot. I would take comfort in knowing that they grow so fast that they need more sleep. His growing will slow down and he will be awake for longer and longer periods of time. Good luck and don't worry about anyone else when you have to go out, there are times you just have to get things done. You really are almost there. Hang in there and best wishes.
Hi J. - I can really relate to your situation. My son is now 9 months, and he's still that way. He doesn't need to sleep as often, but if you miss that window - he throws an absolute screaming fit. I can rock him to sleep, but he will not go down on his own if I've missed the "window".
I wouldn't worry about him needing to sleep so much. If he is tired after an hour or hour and a half, then go ahead and put him down. He probably will start growing out of it soon, and you'll miss the days when he napped so much! :-) My first son is a sleeper - up until he was almost 10 months, he would nap 3 times a day - 2 hours each!
Also, I would try not to wake him up to feed him at 10. Put him down at 7 and see if he sleeps through the night. At 3 months, he should be fine sleeping through the night without eating. It may help with the naps, too.
Good luck!
Hi,
At 12 weeks (3 months) babies are awake for a good part of the day with 2 to 3 naps at about 1 to 2 hours is my experience. I am wondering if he is hungry and that is why he is crying so much when he is awake? Have you tried feeding him when he's crying like that? I know at his age your supposed to feed every 4 hours but all babies are different, and they also say to listen to your baby. He may need to eat more often. I breastfeed too but some babies seem to need more substance. Both mine did even as early as 2 months. Breastmilk is digested so easy that they are hungry often. At 4 months you can start rice cereal (in a bowl or added to breastmilk). Check with your doctor, but I would pump and add rice cereal to your breastmilk and feed it to him in a bottle to see if that helps.
Also, my first son had acid-reflux and was allergic to milk, soy and beef. I had to be on a very strict diet while breastfeeding. I didn't mind though, I lost weight and my baby was happy. Maybe that's something to check out. What are you eating? Maybe it's bothering him.
I know you hate to hear "all babies are different" but its so true. There could be nothing wrong. He may just cry right now and then grow out of it. My brothers daughter cried for her first 9 months. I mean literally cried all day all night. The only way to get her to stop was to drive her around in the car or turning on the vacuum. They had to let her sleep in her carseat at night or she wouldn't sleep (seriously). They just sat the carseat by the bed for the first several months.
Do walks around the neighborhood help? Reading to him? Singing songs? Playing CD's? If he likes noise, maybe take him for walks through the mall or at a busy park?
Best of luck.
Well, I wanted to write to first of all say I understand your pain as our son had issues with getting overtired/overstimulated as well and everyone would say did you try this, this, this,etc. and of course I would practically scream YES but still he cried/screamed with no avail. The book that really helped me was "The Happiest Baby On The Block". It gave us a schedule to go by, soothing techniques, and helped me to know how much his time up should be at particular ages so that we wouldn't miss that window of opportunity to get him down. As much as others thought I was crazy he really had a window and if we missed it, like your saying, watch out...Good Luck and you are NOT alone!
HI J., I'm wondering why you are waking up a sleeping baby in the middle of the night to feed him????!!! Both of my kids are great sleepers and have slept thru the night within just a couple weeks of birth. I would suggest letting him sleep at night and if it ends up all night, maybe he will nap better during the day. Wishing you the best of luck!
I think it is absolutely normal for him to be like that. Because he is 12 weeks, I think he will start to grow out of it soon. I would just wait it out. If you have to go places, there is not much you can do about it. You have to do what you have to do. He will just have to learn to deal with it. Eventually he will get the hang of it. Hang in there. It won't be much longer before he won't want to take naps at all and you'll be wishing he was 12 weeks old again. Hahaha
Totally normal. It sounds like you are doing baby wise. I've done it with my 2 older kids and am now doing it with my 12 week old and he is the same way. There is nothing wrong with 1:15 awake time. Just don't let his naps go super long. Usually 2 hours is plenty. He could probably do well with 3 1/2 hours between feedings. He could also be over stimulated, Anything can cause that from a loud TV or music I have my baby up for an hour and 20 minutes usually and after that he is also hard to console when he's overly tired. As you know, keeping him up longer doesn't make him sleep better so its best to just listen to him, and if he's usually tired around 1:15 just plan on laying him down then. It sounds like you're doing a great job, and having him on such a great schedule sure makes life easier. If you are doing baby wise and ever need any other suggestions or just to chat, let me know. I've been doing it for 6 years now and will do no other method. Good luck
My little boy used to do the exact same thing. If he missed that window to fall asleep calmly, "lookout"! He would get extremely upset. He would scream and cry for about 20 mintues. There was nothing I could do. I would change his diaper and try to feed him, but he would not nurse or drink out of a bottle. He would just scream and throw his head back. I knew he wasn't sick because we'd go to his well visits and he would be fine. I would try to find a way that he would be most comfortable to be able to fall asleep and sometimes it would work, but most of the time I would just hold him until he gave up...I would try putting him down but he would get histerical...(if I would put him down before the "sleep" window, he would fall asleep on his own.) When not tired he is always smiling and laughing.
He is 21 weeks now, and appears to have outgrown this behavior; however, if he stays up too long he still gets upset, just not as bad. Otherwise, he never cries. He only cries when he is tired. When he was younger he would only stay awake for about 1 hour to an 1 1/2. He has always slept really well at night. So long as he is not sick, my advise would be to wait it out...he will probably out grow it. My little has always been a good sleeper...he likes to sleep and I think he sleeps a lot. In fact, he is a very sound sleeper. My older son was not like this. I am not a big fan of "binkys", but I started to use one with my youngest and it seems to help. Hang in there. S.
