My almost 8 week old gets clearly sleepy and tired by 8 pm. But if I put him to bed he gets up after 30 minutes! This repeats until 10 pm when he goes out for the night, waking only to feed. It's difficult in the evenings because he is so cranky and tired. Is this a stage? Seems he wants to stay awake despite his body telling him to sleep by 8 pm or so.
Try putting him to bed a little earlier. He is tired by 8pm, but he might be over tired, instead of just getting tired. Try putting him to bed in 1/2 hour increments earlier until you find something that works for him.
That might just be his last "nap" of the day. after he wakes up, keep him up til 10 and then feed him and put him down for the night.
and I agree that overly tired babies have restless sleep, so I don't think a 30 minute nap is going to blow his night sleep routine.
I agree, he's probably overtired by then, which makes it harder for babies to sleep. Try Kaida's suggestion.
He is also still in the "fourth trimester" and still adjusting to the outside world. Many babies are not yet able to settle into much of a routine until at least three months. Check out the suggestions here: http://www.ahaparenting.com/ages-stages/newborns, and Dr. Harvey Karp, author of Happiest Baby on the Block (some video clips here:
Enhanced sleep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk5MUOMecHI&NR=1
Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu0TtxO-ocY&feature=re...
How-to's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6KnVPUdEgQ&feature=re...
lots of babies do this at this age. I had the same problem with my first daughter so with my second I changed a few things and it seemed to help a lot. First I would give her her nightly bath at around 6:30 so she was clean, warm and calm. Then I would just let her nurse for a good 45 minutes to an hour. See lots of babies like to cluster feed during the evening hours. That probably why your baby keeps waking up to eat. So anyways I would let her nurse until she was done and asleep at about 7:30. Then I found that if I put her in her swing and not the bassinet she stayed asleep. She wouldn't wake again until around 12:00 to eat after that feeding I would put her in her bassinet and she would wake through out the night to eat but I loved having those few hours to myself at night. So I bet your baby just wants to eat a lot.....so let him.
I can remember most of my grandkids slept a lot at that age but they seemed to fall asleep for a nap around 5:30-6pm and wake to eat then go back to sleep around 9-9:30pm for several hours.
