February 2016 Moms
=caenis=
member
Naps: the new bane of our existance
=caenis=
member
WTF baby. Just go to sleep!
For the past *two months* or so (!!), my little guy has been hardcore fighting his naps. We'll have a day here or there where he does them without much of a struggle, but in general it's an ordeal to get him down during the day. He's 13 weeks old, but already well into leap 4 according to the Wonder Weeks app. Luckily he goes to sleep for the night pretty easily, though not always for as long as I'd like. It's the naps that are really killing me. I don't think it's part of sleep regression, since this has already been happening for so long.
We do have a nap routine. I close the curtains, put white noise on, nurse, then try to put him in his crib drowsy but with his eyes open. I've tried some other variations (like moving nursing up a bit so that he associates it less with sleep), but this seems to be what does the trick most often. Sometimes it even works, and he'll put himself to sleep. But he often wakes up screaming after 30-40 minutes, or starts crying 5 minutes after being put in the crib. I try soothing him by touching his tummy, singing, rocking his bed a little, but usually need to pick him up and nurse him again to get him back to sleep. Again and again. And again. And then again. Again. And again. He rejects pacifiers completely, by the way.
How are your babies doing with their naps? How many naps a day do you get? ...Do you have any special tricks?
For the past *two months* or so (!!), my little guy has been hardcore fighting his naps. We'll have a day here or there where he does them without much of a struggle, but in general it's an ordeal to get him down during the day. He's 13 weeks old, but already well into leap 4 according to the Wonder Weeks app. Luckily he goes to sleep for the night pretty easily, though not always for as long as I'd like. It's the naps that are really killing me. I don't think it's part of sleep regression, since this has already been happening for so long.
We do have a nap routine. I close the curtains, put white noise on, nurse, then try to put him in his crib drowsy but with his eyes open. I've tried some other variations (like moving nursing up a bit so that he associates it less with sleep), but this seems to be what does the trick most often. Sometimes it even works, and he'll put himself to sleep. But he often wakes up screaming after 30-40 minutes, or starts crying 5 minutes after being put in the crib. I try soothing him by touching his tummy, singing, rocking his bed a little, but usually need to pick him up and nurse him again to get him back to sleep. Again and again. And again. And then again. Again. And again. He rejects pacifiers completely, by the way.
How are your babies doing with their naps? How many naps a day do you get? ...Do you have any special tricks?
Re: Naps: the new bane of our existance
I do let him fuss but it almost always leads to crying. Once in a while he will fall asleep on his own when I leave him, but it's not anything I seem to be able to replicate predictably.
However...since just about EVERY nap time (failed or successful) involves crying lately, I might have to just let him cry. It's getting absurd. Today he only napped for a total of maybe...2 hours?? Broken up into smaller segments. And those 2 hours were in the stroller. It was the only way I could get him to sleep without a meltdown.
I did notice that he usually cries in the car before falling asleep. Like maybe 3-5 minutes of screaming and then *conk* he's out. Also, I sometimes have to snap him out of it when he's scream-crying by blowing or whistling in his face - then he kind of startles and will often flip to happy smiley baby. Not sure what's that about. Is he crying in his sleep or something??
So. Not sure yet what I'm going to do about this. It's starting to look like I will need to try some form of CIO. For the sake of his sleep and my sanity.
I recently learned that a baby's sleep cycle is 20-40mins (hence the cat naps!) When she cries/wakes, I've started to wait 10mins before going in as I've found she often goes back to sleep for another 30-60mins. Not always, but it's better than nothing!
Hang in there.. Be consistent & bubs will get there.
Naps have improved greatly here over the past week. My mom is visiting and when she saw how desperate things were and how tired the baby was, she recommended letting him cry it out. It had gotten to the point where my efforts to soothe him (breastfeeding, singing, rocking, etc.) were not getting him to sleep anymore. He would start this horribly sad wailing out of pure frustration and exhaustion. It was soooo stressful and difficult, but my interference wasn't helping and he needed to solve the sleep problem himself.
I'm happy to say he learned really quickly how to put himself to sleep. Leaving him to cry wasn't easy, but it worked. He now just fusses 5 min or so but manages by himself almost every time. At first he'd cry a good 15 minutes, but now that only seems to happen anymore if he is overtired. Every baby is different of course. Mine seems to need the space and chance to cry a little in order to get to sleep.
ETA: He wakes up happy and gets two 2-hour naps in!!!!!