January 2016 Moms
EmmyMommy123
member
STTN + fighting naps
EmmyMommy123
member
Babe is 3 months tomorrow and for the past few days has suddenly started STTN (5 hours 45 mins - 6.5 hours yay!). He's always been a terrible sleeper and before this we were lucky to get a 4 hour stretch once in the night. No I didn't do anything different, it just happened!!
Now I hate to complain, but with this wonderful change has also come an awful one....the biggest fights for naps ever. He's always fought them a good bit - has major FOMO, and has always had crappy 45 minute naps except for usually one 2 hour nap a day, and naps are ALWAYS in my arms (I've tried all the things). With the STTN now he will scream in my arms for 20-30 minutes before passing out for a measly 30 minute nap!!! And he's only had one longer nap in days! I wouldn't think it's a problem except his wake times are also getting really fussy as he gets increasingly overtired, and the whole screaming himself to sleep in my arms thing is getting exhausting.
Anyone else gone through or are going through this?? Do I just let him fight me and keep holding him and hope this will pass and thank my lucky stars he's at least having great night sleep? Do I put him down and let him scream and figure it out on his own since he screams when I'm holding him anyways??
When I say I've tried all the things...
he is swaddled at night and for naps (but still manages to find his hands in the woombie lately, so he's in the miracle blanket at night)
white noise is always part of naps
I've held him for the entire nap, held him until sleeping and put him down, tried to let him fall asleep on his own (hour of screaming even when I go in to comfort), done carriers and wraps, he hates the car seat....nursed to sleep, rocked to sleep, bounced to sleep...every one of these scenarios only gets me short naps.
we have a bit of a routine for bedtime and nap time (bath every other night, diaper, pjs, white noise, Swaddle, recite words from a book, nurse, kiss and say I love you and goodnight for night routine, diaper, white noise, Swaddle for naps)
the soother only works if I hold it in for him the whole time and only after a decent amount of screaming will he actually start sucking (have tried different soothers).
he nurses often during the day and I have lots of milk so he is not hungry.
Sorry for the long post just want to see if anyone can figure out what I'm missing!
Now I hate to complain, but with this wonderful change has also come an awful one....the biggest fights for naps ever. He's always fought them a good bit - has major FOMO, and has always had crappy 45 minute naps except for usually one 2 hour nap a day, and naps are ALWAYS in my arms (I've tried all the things). With the STTN now he will scream in my arms for 20-30 minutes before passing out for a measly 30 minute nap!!! And he's only had one longer nap in days! I wouldn't think it's a problem except his wake times are also getting really fussy as he gets increasingly overtired, and the whole screaming himself to sleep in my arms thing is getting exhausting.
Anyone else gone through or are going through this?? Do I just let him fight me and keep holding him and hope this will pass and thank my lucky stars he's at least having great night sleep? Do I put him down and let him scream and figure it out on his own since he screams when I'm holding him anyways??
When I say I've tried all the things...
he is swaddled at night and for naps (but still manages to find his hands in the woombie lately, so he's in the miracle blanket at night)
white noise is always part of naps
I've held him for the entire nap, held him until sleeping and put him down, tried to let him fall asleep on his own (hour of screaming even when I go in to comfort), done carriers and wraps, he hates the car seat....nursed to sleep, rocked to sleep, bounced to sleep...every one of these scenarios only gets me short naps.
we have a bit of a routine for bedtime and nap time (bath every other night, diaper, pjs, white noise, Swaddle, recite words from a book, nurse, kiss and say I love you and goodnight for night routine, diaper, white noise, Swaddle for naps)
the soother only works if I hold it in for him the whole time and only after a decent amount of screaming will he actually start sucking (have tried different soothers).
he nurses often during the day and I have lots of milk so he is not hungry.
Sorry for the long post just want to see if anyone can figure out what I'm missing!
Re: STTN + fighting naps
I don't know if this is the right answer for you, but have you ruled out a problem with something your eating? You said you are breastfeeding, my LO is EBF too. I find if I have a lot of caffeine or chocolate she is extra fussy and has a hard time naping. I am currently trying to go dairy free to see if that helps with the excessive vomiting and fussiness. Could be worth a try for you and your LO seeing as it sounds like this isn't a one time thing!
I've had trouble with naps for a while - LO only sleeps for about 30 min if I'm lucky, so ive been reading a lot about this... Today I tried putting her down way earlier than I normally do (before she even acted sleepy), and she actually slept for an hour! Might have been a fluke but I'll take it.
Mybabysleepguide.com has a ton of great info on sleep, I highly recommend reading some articles on there.
Naps have been really spotty lately. He almost ALWAYS goes down for one between 8am-9am. They only last about 35-50 minutes. He then may sleep 2-3 more times for my mom, but his naps have pretty much been 20-30 minute long tops. I will say though, that he does end up SO tired by 3-4 pm if he hasn't napped a whole lot that day, that he will go down around that time and often be out for the count for a good 2-3 hours.
He has always been good at going down drowsy and then falling asleep on his own, but like I said, somedays and it has been pretty frequent these last couple of weeks, no noise maker, soother, rocking, gets him back down. If he wakes himself up, he isn't real good with self soothing as we still swaddle and he can't get his hands free to put in his mouth or grab his own soother yet, lol. So DH or I will always have to get up and stick his paci. back into his mouth.
@ekscopp I haven't had caffeine for weeks as I suspected early on he was hyper sensitive. I try it every once in a while to see if it's still an issue but it's been a couple weeks since I last had any. However, I have been indulging in chocolate (I do realize it has caffeine but figured the minimal amount I was eating couldn't be an issue)! I don't think I was on the days he's been at his worst, but I'll try cutting that as well (can I live!?!?). Otherwise my diet hasn't changed at all recently, plus the perfect night sleeping makes me think he'd fuss at night too if it was dietary.
@fishee333 I've tried different wake times ranging from 45 minutes - 2 hours with varying success and settled on 45 minutes - 1 hour as the ideal time (least amount of fighting). I feel like I've read every friggen thing on the Internet and in books about sleep hence my posting here... I can't imagine him being ready in less than 45 minutes, but the times he's overtired he's fussy almost right away so maybe I could try at 30 minutes??? He's not big on sleep cues, he goes from happy to fussing without yawns, eye rubs or otherwise.
Today he had another long nap (naps were 30 minutes of crying/screaming in my arms before 35 minutes of sleep; 1 hour of on and off screaming and crying in his bed with me checking on him before 20 minutes of sleep; 2 hours of sleep after a lonnnnng nurse to/during sleep and more nursing in his sleep mid nap; and 40 minutes after literally 10 seconds of dad bouncing him - of course dad gets it easy). The 2 hours and the 40 minute nap make me hope we're getting back to normal. Hopefully I haven't screwed up the night!