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Soothing LO for Naps

Starfish+77Starfish+77 member
in Babies: 0 - 3 Months
DS is 11 wks and likes to scream his head off at nap time. I've tried starting the nap routine earlier, later, etc but still results in a scream fest and a ridiculous amount of soothing. I feel like I spend half my day trying to get him to sleep. And yes most times I do put him down drowsy but awake. He doesn't like when I sit down with him. Currently I have to walk/bounce him around the room for 20-30 mins. EVERY nap. And as the day goes on, more soothing is required since naps get shiitier and he gets overtired. How do you soothe your LO for naps? He won't take a paci and I don't nurse.
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Re: Soothing LO for Naps

  • purtzpurtz member
    I experienced this with DD around the same timeframe. Check out the book the 90 Minute Sleep Program. Turns out I wasn't getting DD to rest at the right times. Good luck!!

     

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  • *sparky**sparky* member
    Your LO is a little older than mine, but my DD cannot be awake for long during the day or she will never fall asleep - her max awake time is about an hour and 15 minutes. Also I have to swaddle her for naps and them put her head up on my shoulder so she is against my chest. Many times I also take her into our dark bathroom with no windows and run the fan. It may seem crazy to do all if this but during the day if she can look around she will just stare at whatever she can and never close her eyes. I hope you find something that works. We have gotten to that overtired afternoon state before and it really stinks!

     

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  • Jessie615Jessie615 member
    edited June 2014
    I second the 90 minute sleep book. If my guy isn't showing cues by 80 minutes I still put him down for a nap. I would rather soothe him then and avoid the dreaded overtired baby.

    I've also found that my 13 weeks old tired cues aren't what they used to be either. It's usually heavier eyes and no eye contact/not interested in me that means he's ready to go down along with what the clock says. If he gets to being fussy, he's going to be harder to put down for a nap.

    My DS needs to be swaddled, dark room and white noise is on (mainly to block out noise from outdoors-live in a townhouse).

    Good luck! I've been trying to figure out naps for weeks now. It does feel like it gets better the more in tune you are with their cues even if they feel like they keep changing.
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  • TeacherVickyTeacherVicky member
    At 11w, make sure the wake window is short. Should be 60-90 minutes, 90 being a MAX. Your LO should be asleep by the 60-90 minute, not starting to settle in for a nap. 

    Respecting wake times has always proven to be useful in my house. Whenever LO had been awake for too long, I paid for it come time to sleep.
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  • PaoPao820PaoPao820 member
    etc35173 said:
    11 weeks has a pretty short wake window PP were correct that LO should only be awake for about an hour at a time at this point.  

    This point is still considered 4th trimester as well so I wouldn't worry too much about drowsy but awake at this point.  Its great if it works and also a good thing to try from time to time but typically I doubt that you will have very much success.  

    My advice for naps are to go with the flow at this point the most important thing you can do is ensure that LO is getting the sleep he or she needs.  Its also really common to have short naps or cat naps as nap consolidation doesn't really occur for a lot of babies until about 6 months.  My son didn't start to nap longer until about 7.5 months.  

    The best things you can do are have a dark room, swaddle, white noise.  If that doesn't do the trick I would really think about using a swing or wearing LO so that you are able to continue about your day as he naps.  Until about 14 or 15 weeks all of DS's good naps were in his swing or in my carrier.  Otherwise he would wake after 30 minutes, 45 at the long end.  At 10 months he usually STTN 7pm-7:30am and naps for over 2 hours so no lasting damage done.  

    I know we stress about developing great sleep habits from the start but I really suggest reading about the 4th trimester. The 5 S's are also a great tool to use for soothing DS as well as troublesometots.com on what you can expect to see from baby's sleep at different ages. 
    Totally agree!! I've had the same experiences!  My guy is 7 weeks but I've noticed that carrying my guy has been working! And I just bought a mammaroo and he seems to like it since it mimicks what I do with him while walking so that's been a life saver.  My little guy wakes himself out of a nap usually with farts which is hilarious to me!

    I second the stuff about the 4th trimester... it's survival mode.  Things aren't routine, things aren't going to be the same non stop.  I'm constantly trying to read his cues and feel like I'm missing something.  He does not like the pacifier and spits it out non stop so today I sat there sticking the binky back in his mouth as he was in the swing till he was out completely.  He slept for over an hour!  When I wear him in my moby, he can be out for hours!  And I noticed that when I wore him and did errands he was out for 2 hours during errands, then I put him in the car and he was unahppy to be out of the moby but then ended up sleeping another hour in the car on our drive!  
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  • jenn43jenn43 member
    When PP say 90 minutes awake time max, are you including time to eat? My 8 week often happily stays awake for 2 hours, but that includes nursing for a half hour.
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  • TeacherVickyTeacherVicky member
    jenn43 said:
    When PP say 90 minutes awake time max, are you including time to eat? My 8 week often happily stays awake for 2 hours, but that includes nursing for a half hour.
    Yes, that includes eating. Unless of course LO is sleeping while nursing.
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