Help!!! She will not nap!!!

Jcat123

My LO is about 2 1/2 months old and she has never been the best daytime sleeper.  The past couple days have been awful!  She will fall asleep in my arms, but as soon as I put her down she wakes up.  And when she doesn't get enough sleep she is a monster!  The dr says the more tummy time we do the better.  We have been doing 15 mins 4-5 times a day.  She hates TT and usually cries the whole time, but we still do it. 

Any advice on how to make this baby tired?  Is that not enough TT?  I need help so I don't have a 3rd day of an overtired, super grumpy baby!

pinottoparenthood

Where/how are you putting her down? Have you tried different places like a swing or bouncer? Some people also swear by wearing baby... she's close to you but you can still get stuff done. Also, this may or may not work for you, but our DS seems to nap for longer if we put him on his tummy. Once he is already asleep, we lay him on his play mat on his tummy. He naps longer that way than when we put him on his back. Our pedi said it's great to let him nap some on his tummy as long as we are there to keep an eye on him. 

Jcat123

pinottoparenthood:

Where/how are you putting her down? Have you tried different places like a swing or bouncer? Some people also swear by wearing baby... she's close to you but you can still get stuff done. Also, this may or may not work for you, but our DS seems to nap for longer if we put him on his tummy. Once he is already asleep, we lay him on his play mat on his tummy. He naps longer that way than when we put him on his back. Our pedi said it's great to let him nap some on his tummy as long as we are there to keep an eye on him. 

We have a swing and rocknplay that we put her down in.  The rocknplay is where she sleeps at night.  We also have been trying to introduce the crib sometimes which results in her usually waking up in 15 mins or less.    I have tried a the k'tan carrier several times and she cries.  I have the ergo I want to try next and am hoping that will be better (fingers crossed).

sdemilio1231

We started doing 30-45 mins of activity time after his bottle and it has done the trick!! After the bottle I do a diaper change and we chat a little while he is on the table, then I read him a quick book bc he loves looking at the pics and colors, then I lay him on his back on his activity mat and he looks at himself in the mirror and laughs and kicks and swats at his hanging toys, then I flip him over for tummy time, usually for 5-10 mins bc he gets so upset and then I pick him up to calm him down and lay him on the boppy next to me on the couch with his binky and he falls asleep within ten mins.  We were having trouble getting him to fall asleep until we introduced more activity time! Hope this helps! 

doremi29

I'd just hold her

youenjoymyself

sdemilio1231:

We started doing 3045 mins of activity time after his bottle and it has done the trick!! After the bottle I do a diaper change and we chat a little while he is on the table, then I read him a quick book bc he loves looking at the pics and colors, then I lay him on his back on his activity mat and he looks at himself in the mirror and laughs and kicks and swats at his hanging toys, then I flip him over for tummy time, usually for 510 mins bc he gets so upset and then I pick him up to calm him down and lay him on the boppy next to me on the couch with his binky and he falls asleep within ten mins. nbsp;We were having trouble getting him to fall asleep until we introduced more activity time! Hope this helps!nbsp;

I agree with this. Whenever we're busy, she usually naps better. And the tummy time is terrific exercise. My little girl loves it for about 5 minutes, then she's had enough. The activity mat is also wonderful to tire her out. Or try a walk. All the looking around at the trees and stuff stimulates her enough to get her drowsy afterward.

Jcat123

jennylyna:

sdemilio1231:

We started doing 3045 mins of activity time after his bottle and it has done the trick!! After the bottle I do a diaper change and we chat a little while he is on the table, then I read him a quick book bc he loves looking at the pics and colors, then I lay him on his back on his activity mat and he looks at himself in the mirror and laughs and kicks and swats at his hanging toys, then I flip him over for tummy time, usually for 510 mins bc he gets so upset and then I pick him up to calm him down and lay him on the boppy next to me on the couch with his binky and he falls asleep within ten mins. nbsp;We were having trouble getting him to fall asleep until we introduced more activity time! Hope this helps!nbsp;

I agree with this. Whenever we're busy, she usually naps better. And the tummy time is terrific exercise. My little girl loves it for about 5 minutes, then she's had enough. The activity mat is also wonderful to tire her out. Or try a walk. All the looking around at the trees and stuff stimulates her enough to get her drowsy afterward.

I was doing a daily walk with her until the weather turned (we live in WA), and usually it would make her pass out for hours.  Lately my mom has been watching her as well, so we haven't been getting the walk.  I even have taken her to the mall to walk. 

Jcat123

sdemilio1231:

We started doing 30-45 mins of activity time after his bottle and it has done the trick!! After the bottle I do a diaper change and we chat a little while he is on the table, then I read him a quick book bc he loves looking at the pics and colors, then I lay him on his back on his activity mat and he looks at himself in the mirror and laughs and kicks and swats at his hanging toys, then I flip him over for tummy time, usually for 5-10 mins bc he gets so upset and then I pick him up to calm him down and lay him on the boppy next to me on the couch with his binky and he falls asleep within ten mins.  We were having trouble getting him to fall asleep until we introduced more activity time! Hope this helps! 

I'm going to try this.  More play time.  When you lay your LO in the boppy, is it on his tummy?

jenna3016

E went through a phase where he napped the best on my shoulder.  I was lucky that I was able to hold him (no other young kids, and I was not working due to maternity leave.)

chimneygrl

Our son was kind of the same way. As soon as we put him down, he would wake up about 20 minutes later. We figured out that he likes sleeping on his side the best. We now put him on his side to sleep. You can also try warminghis seat with a heating pad. When you are ready to put him down,take the pad off.

monalua

I think it's totally normal. Both my kids were this way, my son especially. They need their sleep and are too little for sleeping training so I would just hold/rock in the recliner. My son LOVED the Ergo so he spent many hours in there while I got things done. Also the swing, both my kids napped there for quite a while. Good luck!

08summerbride

I have no suggestions only empathy. DS wii be 7 weeks on Tuesday and wasa great ddaytime sleeper until 4 days ago. I am having the exact same issues as you are. Now I am getting about 20 min. At a time only 1 sleep cycle and I know he is still tired. He will take a full nap on me but that is it.

Question. ..out of curiosity, how are all your bad day sleepers doing at night?

Jcat123

08summerbride:

I have no suggestions only empathy. DS wii be 7 weeks on Tuesday and wasa great ddaytime sleeper until 4 days ago. I am having the exact same issues as you are. Now I am getting about 20 min. At a time only 1 sleep cycle and I know he is still tired. He will take a full nap on me but that is it. Question. ..out of curiosity, how are all your bad day sleepers doing at night?

Mine usually goes down between 8:30 - 9:30pm and wakes for her feeding between 5 - 6am, so we have been VERY lucky in this way.