Hi Moms:
I am a new Mom and I am hoping that someone might be able to point me in the right direction.
I have a very social 5 1/2 week son that has the tendency to get overtired. So, I have been implementing the system outlined in the Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child book where I develop a sleep routine and put him down as soon as I sense he is tired (roughly every two hours.) The problem is this....it takes forever to put him down for his naps because he wakes up as soon as I set him down and then he sleeps for 10 minutes or 20 minutes and has to be soothed back to sleep again and generally only sleeps for 40 minutes at the most. He goes right to sleep at night and sleeps for 3-4 hours at a stretch at night, but only these brief naps during the day. My sleep routine involves swaddling, rocking, rubbing his stomach, moving him to his bassinet the continuing to rub his stomach then leaving the room. Any thoughts on how to extend these naps during the day? Or any thoughts on a better soothing technique that might work to keep him asleep longer during the day. I am so grateful for the length of time he sleeps at night but I would love to get him to sleep a bit longer during the day as well.
Any thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks,
A.
Just hang in there! My 4 month old never took naps. And I was afraid that holding him too much too put him to sleep would get him in the habit of only sleeping when I held him. He does goes right to sleep at night though. He just turned 4 mo old last week and has finally started to nap during the day.
Babies cat nap, but sleep longer as they get older. This phase will pass. Your baby will be starting kindergarten in the blink of your eye.
You could try "wearing" your baby in a baby carrier. My younger son loved this and it allowed me to take my older son to the park or a class instead of being stuck at home all the time. It was also useful for getting things done around the house. You would be amazed at how well babies sleep when they are close to their mothers. I used the Girasol wrap but there are many others out there.
With my first son I used the Healthy Sleep Habits book and was sorely disappointed. While there are some helpful tips such as the putting the baby down at least every 2 hours rule, it trains parents not to use their instincts. Some parents become obsessed with "getting it right" and following the book to the letter and it just doesn't work for all babies and IMHO can be harmful. What's more useful is learning to distinguish your babies cries and sometimes figuring out what they want in advance of crying such as when they are hungry. Babies have lots of needs with sleep being only one of them.
Good luck!
I have a 6 1/2 week old and he does the same thing. As a 3rd time mom, I can tell you that it does get better and this early on you do just have to take it as it comes. Some days my guy will sleep for hours on end and other days he won't sleep at all. Every day is different and your baby will eventually work himself into a nap schedule. He is still very little and is bound to go through some serious growth spurts that will disrupt sleep and eating patterns.
I find working on a night time routine early on helps the rest to fall into place. We started the Bath, breast, bed routine about 2 weeks ago and last night he slept from 8pm until 2am. That is his longest stretch yet!
Hi A.,
Reading this sounded exactly like my son who is four weeks old. He does great at night sleeping 3-4 hours and goes into his crib without any problem or soothing. The day is however another game. He did the same when I laid him in his bassinet or crib, I have to soothe until he falls asleep. What I did find that helps is putting him into a swing when he is drowsy but not too crabby and he will go to sleep for maybe one hour. Usually once during the day when he is really tired I can get him into the bassinet but we have taken to taking day naps in his swing.
I didn't want to use a pacifer but realized that is helps to sooth him and he usually will spit it out when he sleeps.
Hope that helps!
V.
