My 5 week old baby has not been napping very well the past two days. Both days he took a solid hour nap, and then little cat naps of 15 to 30 minutes occassionally throughout the day. I'm worried because I know how important sleep is to a newborn. Also, I was wondering how early is too early to start a routine? Our night time routine is going well but there really is no daytime routine as far as feeding and napping? What can I do? Also, he is sleeping in his car seat. It seems to be his favorite place right now. Any suggestions on how to break him of that?
When my son was a newborn he would sleep almost as soon as I put him in his carseat. I just used that to my advantage and got as much of my errands done and run as possible! He does fine sleeping in his crib now. In fact he still does pretty well in his car seat. I wouldn't complain... just look at it from a different angle and realize how lucky you are! ;)
If I were you, I would be happy he's sleeping in his car seat. My son screamed every time he was put in his and the whole time we were driving somewhere. I thought we'd lose our sanity.
A. :)
No need to break him of sleeping in his carseat! It is probably a comfortable place for him so please don't rob him of that comfort. He is used to being in the womb. He will grow out of the need to sleep in the carseat in his own time, probably very soon. Also, some babies are "catnappers". My son would take naps for hours at a time. But my daughter who is 9 months old still only takes 30 - 60 minute naps at a time. However, she sleeps 12 hours at night (since she was 12 weeks old). It's the sleeping through the night that you should be focused on. Until the baby is old enough to drop the night time feedings he will need to wake up once or twice to feed and then should go right back to sleep. Rather than trying to force a routine, just let your baby guide you. He knows what is right for his body and he will let you know when he needs to sleep and when he needs to eat. Good luck!
My little guy was the same way!!!!!! I let him sleep in his car seat, I put in the middle of his bedroom floor!! Mine catnapped until he was 4 months:) He knows how much sleep he needs and he will make sure he gets it:) Carseat sleeping?? I was worried that he would get in the habit of that and one day he just didn't need to any more. I would occassinlaly try him in the crib and one day it worked:) Don't stress, I did and realized that even in his young life, he knew what he needed better thatn mommy:)
My grandson slept either in his car seat or in his bouncy seat for several months due to a reflux problem. The dr. recommended this. As he outgrew the reflux, he gradually moved to the crib. No problems at all. Let him sleep where he is comfortable!
I agree with the others about the carseat, he will sleep in there for a while, and then he will out grow it. My Dr told me that if they are going to have a schedule it should be set by two months or they probably won't have one, so it you want him on one now it the time. I don't think are needed though. You and your baby know what is best. Also for the naps, all of my babies did that at that age and the only way i could get them to sleep longer was the put them on thier tummies, which i know is not recommended, but my dr advised if they are in a bassinet and you are near by watching they should be fine. Also the short naps probably means he will be sleeping through the night soon, so maybe it is best not to change his schedule to get him to sleep longer. Good Luck!
It's never too early to start a daily routine. Look at his usual wake up time and build your routine around that. If he doesn't have a regular time that he wakes up every morning, then that is where you need to start. Just remember that your routine will get messed up sometimes and that's okay. Stick with it the best you can.
J.
I would recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." The author (Marc Weissbluth, I think) does a great job of outlining the different stages and what you can expect from your child sleep-wise in each stage. The morning nap is the first one to develop and then afternoon naps may take a bit longer to organize. But I don't think it is too soon to start working on them. He also goes into different methods of training them to sleep on their own in their own bed, so you might get some ideas to try to get him to sleep out of his carseat. I really liked the book because it seems to take a good middle viewpoint between too much scheduling and too little parent leading in the process. It allowed me to follow the baby's cues, while still being the one to train the baby to sleep (because I think it does take some training, they don't always just sleep when they need to.)
M.
Pick up a copy of the book BabyWise...we used it from day 1 with our son and it was miraculous...he is now 3.5 and still a champion sleeper/napper.
Some children are born great sleepers/nappers. Others are not. Some will sleep for solid periods of time while others are content to catnap all day. You have a while until your son figures out his schedule. I would say until at least 3-4 months. I would not worry about whether he's sleeping for an extended period of time versus napping. How is he eating? Is he fussy all the time (as in does he seem tired?). How do you get him down to sleep? If it's on the boob, he may not be full and that is why he wakes up.
As far as him sleeping in his carseat, I think it's okay but I would recommend moving him to a cradle, playpen, crib, etc after he falls asleep.
