Naps, naps, naps! My almost 8 week old refuses to take more than maybe 1 a day! She is soooo tired she can barely keep her eyes open yet she won't go down for a good nap. So I want to tell you all what I've been trying, and what my plan is, and see what you think and if anyone as any suggestions, or has experienced this with their kids.
At first I was just letting her sleep whenever. I thought that she would kind of just settle into a nap schedule on her own more or less since thats what I was 'told'. But she doesn't sleep for more than like 20-30 minutes at a time, and then is super ornery all day until come 3-4pm when she's SO exhausted, then she'll finally sleep for 2-3 hours.
At night, she had gradually started sleeping longer and longer at one time until she was sleeping from about 11pm - 7am (which was glorious). Now she won't/can't stay up past about 9:30, and wakes up every 3-4 hours.
So some things I'm trying. I'm trying to get into a routine during the day like we do at night (bath time, etc.), where we do the same thing and then I put her down for a nap. I change her diaper, feed her, swaddle her, sing her the same song, and put her in the same place. This is just really hard with teaching piano, because I go to peoples houses :( But, I'll try nonetheless.
As of today, I decided to get her up at the same time (since her night schedule is sporadic), every day (7:30). I'm going to feed her, get her dressed, and then play with her until about 9:30. Today we went to the grocery store, and she started falling asleep at about 9. So I kept her awake until we got home, fed her, changed her diaper, swaddled her, sang her the song and put her down. 10 minutes later, she's awake. So I went in, tried to soothe her without picking her up... didn't work, so I picked her up, rocked her back to sleep and then decided to put her in her swing. It's been about 35 minutes and I think she's still asleep (she's actually making some noises right now, but I don't think she's awake... cross your fingers). I've even let her cry herself to sleep and it doesn't work.
So. What do you think? I'm going to stick with this for a week or two, and if I don't see improvement, then I'm going to just go back to doing whatever. There is no sense in having to sit around the house if she's not going to sleep. I'd rather run errands or walk her her in a stroller somewhere if she's just going to be crazy!
Flipping joking... she's awake... damn hiccups!
Oh and PS. She doesn't wake up crying or anything... just opens her eyes, and starts moving around.
She may be awake to long between feedings. Try only letting her be awake for 1 hour from the time she gets up until the time she goes down again. If she is overly tried she won't be able to sleep. Try Feeding her right when she gets up, play time then sleep. She should be eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteBabies' sleep cycles are much different than ours. That 30 minute mark was the hardest for us because that is when they are in a lighter state of sleep. With Harrison, we had to keep the house really quiet and caught him when he first started making noises during his nap. We would run in there and bounce him in his hammock before he fully woke up. If we were able to keep him asleep, he started to sleep for an hour and a half at a time. We also bought a white noise machine to help drown out street noises.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the Dr. Sears Baby Sleep book is a great resource. I have a copy if you want to borrow it!
ReplyDeleteSorry no good advice here, but just know that I still struggle with figuring out Logan's sleep schedule. He will be great for a few months and then change it up on me!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Megan. (must be the name!) At least that's how Collin worked. She was pretty set to that schedule and it worked well for us. Every baby is different I guess. I think you just have to keep trying what works for you?
ReplyDeleteBabywise. Buy it. Ready it. Love it.
ReplyDeleteI meant to say read it not ready it. Typing with a toddler on my lap
ReplyDeleteHey Jodee, trying to get babies to sleep can be seriuosly exhausting! What i do that works for Lucy and worked for Isabelle is I keep a small fan in the rom to drowned out the noises, keep them tight and cuddly with a blanket and put them down right after a good "full" feeding! Also remember that babies cluster feed every couple of weeks, I didn't know that with my first one and I thought I was going to go crazy:) Lucy has been cluster feeding the last week and i swear it feels like she empties me completely and i dont have anything left for her, so I give her a little formula when that happens and its really helped. Hope you find your groove with Brighton and things lighten up for you:)
ReplyDeleteDear Tina: You just made my night! That is exactly how I've been feeling this week. EMPTY!
ReplyDeleteDear Megans: So what you're saying is if I stick to a schedule she'll just eventually start sleeping longer? I try to do the eat, play, sleep routine, but she won't sleep, so come next feeding she's so tired that it's a SERIOUS struggle to get her to eat good, and I feel like it starts a vicious cycle.
Dear Erin: I tried reading babywise, but it is (in my opinion) the worst written book ever, and I was so confused that I gave up. Maybe I'm just retarded. Or you can tell me what pages I really need to read.
Dear Kendall: I would love to borrow your Dr. Sears book.
Keep the advice and comments coming PLEASE! It really helps me just to know that I'm not crazy. :)
You're so funny. I was just re-reading (for like the 5th time) Babywise while putting Ava down for a nap and I almost called you because it was making perfect sense with Brighton. I'll seriously find the pages and e-mail them to you.
ReplyDeleteOne thing just in reading your post... sometimes we wait until they look like they're tired and try to put them down, but by then they are over-stimulated and over-tired (case in point, when she wanted to fall asleep in the grocery store and you kept her up.) Babywise also talks about the 45 minute intruder around 6 to 8 weeks (which is exactly where she is, right?) It's when they go to sleep and wake up 45 minutes later. Check it out...
Another great book: "Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth I think.
Erin/Ash: I take my baby wise comment back... partially. While I still think it could be written better, I busted it back out, and found a LOT of helpful info. There is just so much information out there and everyone has different opinions that I think I'm crossing too many things together. I definitely need to put her down for a nap sooner that is for sure. I have my game plan for tomorrow, wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteIt's me another comment sorry. But I had a very hard time reading Babywise, as a matter of fact I hate reading these books. But I didn't do it with Natalie and she didn't sleep through the night until 8 months and Noah has been since 5 weeks and I did it with him. It's basically sleep for two hours wake them up feed them and keep them up for an hour and then put them back down for a nap. Good luck. I think it will really help.
ReplyDeleteI say that if she isn't crying when she wakes up then leave her there and see if she will fall back to sleep. I know getting on a schedule is rough. I didn't get Nickolas on one until 6 months. He did the same sleep as Brighton and I just made sure that if he was going to sleep for only 30 min. then to have him take like 3 naps or so. He would take one at 9, 1 and then at 4 then go to bed at like 10. He didn't really start taking longer naps until he was about 9 months old. then he went to two naps a day. Don't get discouraged! If you ever need a walking partner at the mall let me know.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteSorry I don't know you, I do know Braden though. I am Billy Hadley's sister Kimberly. I have a 6 month old little girl, and I went through exactly what you are going through. It sounds like she is going through her "2 month" growth spurt. She is going to want to eat a lot and will wake up every 2-3 hours at night to eat because of this. Don't feed her formula, she is doing this naturally to increase your supply (I say this as it sounds like you are BF based upon your comments), and to help in this spurt. She will have another one around 6 months. If she doesn't sleep with you (co-sleep) all the time, I found that it is easiest on both of you if you let her co-sleep while in the growth spurt and then put her back in her room/bed after it is over. My little girl will NOT take a nap during the day unless she is in her swing or I am wearing her. I wrap her up and put her in the swing and then she will sleep. Or you can "wear" her. Get yourself a good wrap/softsided carrier/pouch, whatever works for you (what works for you may not be what works for someone else, Wendy and Allison love the Maya Wrap, and Lilly and I just couldn't get it togheter in that one) and just wear her while you do whatever you need to get done. She will actually sleep in it. She will like being close to you and will feel comforted and safe. I could go on and on here, but if you like, I found a great website www.diaperswappers.com go to the Forums section and scroll down to the breast feeding section or the baby wearing section and get some help there, or just about any of the other forums will get you some help too from a LOT of mothers who have all been here before. If you have any other questsions on anything I said, my email is mrsrlgs12@yahoo.com.
If you do look into carriers, the Baby Bjorn is not a good one for baby, there are so many others if you are looking into a Soft sided carrier, Beco, Ergo, Mai Tai...