Moving over a little early and a question!

Neen33

I'm not supposed to move over till Sunday, but I can't wait to join you all! DD is my first baby and the love of my life! At her doc appt last week she was already at 14 lbs so she's a big girl. (6.13 at birth)

Here's my question - for the first couple of months she was an awesome napper but lately she fights naps and will only nap 20 minutes in her crib. For longer naps she needs to be on me. So here's what today looked like. 

8:30 - get up and get ready for day, walk dog

10:00 - ready for nap so put her in crib. lasts about 20 minutes so I pick her up and snuggle her till about 12.

12:00 - up and at em. Quick trip to target. 

1:00 - home and exhausted. Nap in crib for 20 minutes, then back on mommy for a half hour.

2:15 - up and at em

3:00 - ready for nap again. i try to get her down in crib. colossal fail. end up snuggling her till 4:15 so she gets some sleep.

5:00 - daddy gets home and we play for a bit, then bathe and feed and asleep by 7.

So, with all of that I basically once again got nothing done all day. I'm telling myself that this is just life as a mom. Any hints / tips?

Thanks if you've made it this far!!! 

k.martell

No suggestions here, that's been our schedule since 3 wks, just a crap nappers.  I sometimes wonder if the central valley heat is affecting her sleep because no one sleeps well when they are hot.

Occasionally she'll take a long nap outside of her swing, but generally she naps for 30 minutes in her crib, 2-3 hours in her swing.  So when I know she needs more sleep I pop her in the swing.  Today in she slept for 3+ hours from 3-6p, I woke her up at 6 so she could sleep well tonight.

KateLouise

Do you swaddle her?

As babies get older they don't sleep as deeply towards the end of their sleep cycle, so they're vulnerable to waking. Have got a white noise in the room.

If you use a dummy, you could try putting it back in (assumingit's fallenout) before she'd normally wake.

She could just be a crap napper.

Sometimes my LO needs to be held, and that's ok for me because it's not every nap, every day.

You could look at investing in a wrap carrier, so you can do stuff while she sleeps. 

 

Neen33

I wonder about the heat too!

And yup, I think I've just got a crap napper. She's swaddled in a dark room with white noise playing and I still only get 20 - 30 minutes max. 

I've tried the moby but she can only sleep while I keep moving in it and even then we only get the same amount of time. (I also think it's too hot) I bought an ergo but she can't get comfy in it yet (her legs are just too short). I should be getting a babyhawk this weekend and I'm optimistic it might work better.

 Glad to know I'm not alone!

Neen33

Oh, and I'd kill for a nap in the swing! Not a chance!!!

KateLouise

Another thing I did, when things got really rough for a few days was to sit next to the cot and pat her, or hold her hand.

Somedays it seems she just needed to know I was around.

I put a chair and a book next to the cot, it became quite nice relax time for me, and of course once she was passed out, I could get on with things.

Then once she settled down again I've gotten into the habit of going in and out of her room, whilst she's drifting to sleep to do things. Put away clothes, fold nappies that kind of thing. So again she could hear me moving around and see that I was still nearby.

Good luck, just remember, everything is a phase. Try enjoying this time because really I'd rather snuggle my baby than do laundry :-) So somedays I just adjust my thinking and rather than feeling frustrated at all the jobs I'm not doing I just think, "ok today is all about snuggling Elizabeth" and find myself a good programme to watch whilst she snoozes.