Effing Naps

Starfish+77 · June 2014

Does anyone else dread when LO needs a nap? I spent 45 mins this AM winding him down and rocking til he was falling asleep, put him down in RNP, white noise and bam..he's up in 15 mins. He's never been swaddled even for night sleep. I can't hold him bc I also have a toddler. He screams in any kind of carrier and I have the bjorn ergo and Ktan. I put him in the swing this afternoon and he slept a long 30 mins and now he's awake and fussing. Help?!? Edit- I have already wasted a lot of gas driving him around and done a lot off mileage at the mall. Oh and he's 9 weeks.

Lizmullen · June 2014

May I ask why you don't swaddle? It's the only thing that saves my sanity some days.

*sparky* · June 2014

Mine is having one of those days too. Totally sucks because it makes her a bear in the evenings. Normally she is really good about naps so I am hoping this is temporary. I accomplished nothing today.

Linnea503 · June 2014

Mine takes all his naps in the ergo. If I set him down he usually wakes up pretty fast too. Bummer your LO doesn't like the carriers. Mine does need a pacifier and shushing when I first put him in, but he settles.

Jodash24 · June 2014

I get this all day ! But don't mind so much because most nights he's sleeping 10-6am

CatherineDC2012 · June 2014

Swaddle. Even if he screams bloody murder at first he will calm down and it does work!!! Happiest baby on the block book and DVD- we give it as baby gifts along with a swing!!!

momofmanyinthemitten · June 2014

He's probably overtired/overstimulated. Try putting him to sleep sooner. I think the recommended awake time for a 2 m/o is 1hr-1hr, 20 min. Definitely try swaddling.

macynsnoop · June 2014

^^ this. If my guy is awake more than 2 hours it is hell to get him to sleep! My guy naps great during the day, he even has a set time for it now! Come 7 pm forget it, this is when he wants to be awake & he will fuss & be an ass till 10 pm when we can finally get him down for the night. During the day my guy naps in the swing, unless we are out then it's the car seat. I find what works is he wakes, I feed him & chNge him then it's okay time. We do the activity mat or walk around until he shows the first sign of fussiness. Then I bounce him on the ball or sway him till he's sleepy then he goes in the swing. During the day it's all curtains open & as much noise as I want. Good luck, the sleep issues are tough!

Starfish+77 · June 2014

Lizmullen said:

May I ask why you don't swaddle? It's the only thing that saves my sanity some days.

I tried in the beginning but he would just fight it and get so upset and it would take forever to calm him. He would eventually bust out of it since he hated it so much. This was new to me because my DD LOVED to be swaddled. This kid acts like I'm squeezing his nuts with a pair of plyers when I swaddled him. I have tried putting him down very drowsy and out cold and neither works. UGGHH.

Starfish+77 · June 2014

Those that mentioned swaddling for naps.... When do you swaddle LO? When they first show signs of sleepiness? Or once you have them settled down a bit and they're calm but drowsy?

fourthnlast · June 2014

This is Emma every day. She sleeps like a champ at night, but during the day? Nope. She does nap on walks or if i'm wearing her, but otherwise she does four 30 minute naps. She's 2 months on sunday and has been like this since birth.

CalinAZ · June 2014

Starfish+77 said:

Those that mentioned swaddling for naps.... When do you swaddle LO? When they first show signs of sleepiness? Or once you have them settled down a bit and they're calm but drowsy?

I'll jump in because we're swaddlers here too. We swaddle when he starts to look a little sleepy (usually is just a little fussy at this point). If he's super upset from it, I will nurse him. Similarly, he hates the act of swaddling, but the end result is a much easier baby.

Hope things get better for you! It's so frustrating when they fight their naps.

kimberpoo · June 2014

<- lurker from march here. I Iet lo decide when he naps (no set times) but I can tell when he starts to fight sleep or get overtired. usually it's because he's overstimulated....too much noise, lights, people. what i do is put on some background noise, like a soothing tv show or music rather than white noise so the odd sounds of the house blend in better, and give him a warm bottle or put him on the boob. when he passes out I'll leave him on my lap for at least 5-10 mins so he's good and out and then put him in his swing on its lowest setting. if he just ate within the last 30 mins I'll give him a pacifier instead and set him in his swing with the mobile on, but without the mobile's music.

good luck!

NatalieBier · June 2014

Try the miracle blanket. Also, my 2nd we would try to swaddle one arm by his cheek. That seemed to make him happy.

rtv3 · June 2014

Starfish+77 said:
Those that mentioned swaddling for naps.... When do you swaddle LO? When they first show signs of sleepiness? Or once you have them settled down a bit and they're calm but drowsy?

I swaddle once she's fully asleep otherwise she gets super pissed. We only swaddle at night, though. I do: nurse, burp, change diaper, nurse other side, burp/pat to sleep, swaddle, bounce and sway for 5ish min to make sure she's really asleep, then finally lay her down. The whole production takes about 45 min but it gets me 3-5 hrs of sleep so it's worth it :-) She always busts out of the swaddle as soon as she wakes up though.

Edited cuz spelling is hard...

hordol · June 2014

My LO acts like he hates swaddling but once you get him in a nice tight swaddle and give him a few minutes to settle he calms right down. It's really important with swaddles that they be tight enough that they truly can't break out of them. If they break out I would reswaddle him tighter or try something like the miracle blanket. If my DS's swaddle isn't tight enough he will break out and act like he hated it. But it's amazing how calming it can be when done right. That said, some babies do truly hate swaddling but for 95% of them you just have to get the swaddle just right.

I swaddle always at night, and I do during the day only if he is getting overtired/overstimulated and having a hard time settling down.

kelbel2440 · June 2014

Agree with PP about getting to the overtired/overstimulated point.... You don't wanna be there! I swaddle LO for naps and at night. In the day I use A&A blankets, miracle blanket at night. If he gets an arm out of the A&A blankets he won't sleep so I reswaddled. The miracle blanket there's no getting out of, but it's a bit more cumbersome for just a 30 min nap. I put LO down when I start seeing any sleepy cues. (Yawning, rubbing eyes, and fussy). I swaddle, give a nuk, and out him down when drowsy and calm. Sometimes it takes 3-4 times of replacing nuk, and calming him. It took a long time to get to this point. I had been using a white noise app and that helped. He had been doing the 15-20 min naps, drove me nuts. But keep at it cuz now he's to the point that when I start to swaddle he knows it's nap time and seems to become more calm. Sometimes he naps 30 min, sometimes 2 hrs now. He still naps up to 5 times a day. It's not easy, but it gets better. I also agree wih not being up for long. Our routine is wake up, feed, diaper and play, and usually once he has been awake for 1-1.5 hrs, hrs ready for a nap. Good luck with your LO.

KyMackey · June 2014

Have you tried helping him learn how to fall asleep on his own? There are other ways rather than the CIO method which doesn't seem to popular on here. Today I put LO down for a nap and she woke up 30 minutes later. I went up and stroked her forehead for a couple minutes and she was back out! Today is day 3 of working on her learning how to fall asleep without being held and she's been asleep for 2 hours! Oh and she's 8 weeks.

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