My baby is 5 weeks old and won't nap!

illicks9860

My son sleeps great at night in his crib but during the day he just won't nap! I try to shoot for at least 3-4 naps that are 1.5-2 hours long. I follow a pattern of Eat, Wake and Sleep during the day and he usually stays awake somewhere from 40-60 minutes then I do his naptime routine and put him down in his crib when he's very sleepy for a nap. Then I leave his room and 5-10 minutes later he wakes up and cries. He wakes up and is wide awake and does not want to go down. He's been doing this for at least a week now and I just don't know what's going on, as he used to nap just fine during the day. Help!

AKB090609

At that age DD would only take naps in motion or a carrier. So I went with it, we did eat/sleep/play and let her sleep when we were driving in the car, in the stroller on a walk or in her swing. We didn't focus on crib naps until much later.

NatesCupcake47

We didn't start trying to get DD on a real nap schedule until she got past the newborn-sleeps-all-the-time stage.  On my maternity leave she spent a lot of time napping on me, in her bassinet, and carseat when we were on the go.  While having DD nap on me made it challenging to get anything done or to nap myself, it also was super sweet and precious and it helped her to nap longer because she just wanted to be close.  We just started focusing on crib naps a few months ago (DD is 7 months now).  

illicks9860

Thanks. It's just weird because he used to nap great in his crib no problem for 1.5-2hrs but I've just decided to have him next to me in his swing (he seems to like when I'm close by). However, I don't want him to get in the habit of depending on me or his swing to fall asleep! Hence why I have a naptime routine and then I put him in his crib when he's very sleepy. I want him to be able to learn how to fall asleep himself which he seemed like he was doing but I think I'll just have him take naps in his swing near me for a few days and see how that goes

AKB090609

He's still really little to be worried about habits, I don't think my pedi suggested worrying about 'good sleep habits' until DD was 6 months old. We let her nap in the swing until almost 9 months and she transitioned to crib naps easily.

sammy.k

5 week olds don't have a schedule. You will seriously drive yourself bonkers if you try to stick to a schedule now. Let him fall into his own routine.

illicks9860

It's not really your typical schedule, it's more like some 'flexible guidelines' for me to base the day off of and it is all timed according to when he most commonly shows signs of wanting to eat, sleep or be awake. It's from the Babywise Method and that's just what works well for us:) 

On the brightside, thanks everyone for your input! He is sleeping GREAT now and all I did was put him in his swing during the day while I work around the house. He's back to his normal napping:) he just wanted to be in 'my presence' I'm gathering (go figure ha ha)

MesmrEwe

If you've got the overnights, you're golden!!!! I have a low sleep need DS and let me tell you - sleep deprivation SUCKS!!! (he is off to bed around midnight and up for the day at 7, me, I could sleep 18 out of 24 hours..)...

Really, at this age, just roll with whatever things are during the day because there is no routine at this age. Night-time is the only time to really get picky about because that's the one that determines the level of sleep you get as well. What the PP said about napping in the crib is also accurate, a lot of babies this age want to nap in something like a bouncer or swing, not in a cold lonely bed...