I've read several baby sleep method books and done research and all that about getting babies to sleep. Our biggest problem is naptime. Blake spends about 40-50 minutes eating, then I have to burp him, then change his diaper, and swaddle him up for a nap. The whole process takes between an hour and a little more. Then when I lay him in his crib he kicks and plays and wiggles like crazy. I take him out, rock him, give him a binky and he gets totally drowsy. Then when I lay him down he wakes right up. If I leave him he can usually try to work things out for a few minutes, but then after 5-20 minutes he starts crying and screaming. We try to soothe him with a binky, rocking him, patting his back, etc. He gets drowsy, then wakes up and the whole process repeats. This goes on for awhile until he finally falls asleep. By the time he crashes he's been awake for around 2+ hours. Then he sleeps 40-60 minutes before waking up again. Sometimes he can fall asleep, most of the time he can't. But he doesn't seem really hungry, just still tired.
I don't know what to do! I know nap time is SO important during the day and it helps them sleep better at night. Yesterday he had a 2 hour morning nap in his car seat (after finally falling asleep on his own in the crib, and I had to move him 10 minutes later). Then I fed him and did the whole swaddle and try to get to sleep routine. Once again, after 2 hours of being awake, I finally resorted to putting him in the swing to sleep. He slept there for maybe an hour and then woke up to eat. Scott fed him a bottle so I could nap, then he was awake for 2 hours again before we tried to put him in the crib. Once again he kicked and played and didn't fall asleep. So Scott put him in the car seat and we ran some errands. He slept for almost an hour. Then he ate again. Then I did the whole swaddle routine. After he'd been up for 2 hours again, he finally fell asleep in his crib and slept for 5 1/2 hours. I fed him, he was up for 2 hours (shoot me) and then he slept for another 4 hours.
I feel like he gets so tired being up for 2 hours that he can't take a good nap. And obviously he can't take a good nap because he is only sleeping for 45 minutes. I don't know how to get him to nap longer. I don't know if it's because we've moved him into the crib to sleep. Or if he's so used to being rocked, swinged, or vibrated to sleep. Or if he's relying too much on the binky. Or if he is so over tired that he can't sleep well.
Is it okay or normal for him to be awake for 2 hours and then only take an hour nap? I feel like he needs more sleep than that in a day! That's only 3-4 hours of day time sleep with 9-10 hours of night time sleep. Is that bad? Good? Okay? I don't know. :-/
HELP!!!!
Gavin is 9 months now and is awake for 2-3 hours in the morning then naps for an hour...is awake for another 2-3 hours and naps for an hour and does it again before going to bed at 8pm. Do whatever your baby needs. Try to follow their schedule (as long as it consists of them sleeping at night)!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry! That sounds a lot like our Nathan. He used to nap 7-9 times a day for about 20 minutes at a time. I was like, "are you KIDDING!?" I could never nap with him. Now it's a few times less often but still only 45-60 minutes. I think he'll get the sleep he needs. I agree with Rachael-their little bodies know when they need sleep. Some moms believe in SETTING your baby's schedule for them, but I don't. Nothing wrong with that idea, it just didn't work for us with this kid.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to get him to sleep longer, but we're still pretty much rocking him to sleep, which I really didn't want to do. I wanted him to self-soothe from the beginning. My mom said no (humane) theory is a bad one, as long as it works for some kid out there. Self-soothing might work for some, but some might need the extra comfort from mom. I don't plan to do it forever, and we'll cross the self-soothing bridge when he's older, but that's what's made the biggest difference for us. Just picking him up and rocking him. I really hope you find something that works for you! Reading and experimenting is SO frustrating!
Speaking of naptime, little mister's up! Good luck, and let us know what works!