am I being too impatient?

(31 Posts)
cleoowen Tue 05-Feb-13 17:11:03

My 7 week old will not nap in the,day,for longer,than about 10 minutes. I find I am in a cycle of trying to get him to sleep from,about 12.30 until 4/5 so get nothing done all day and just get frustrated and end up crying. He doesn't seem bothered and after a feed is happily say with me. But for my own sanity I feel I need him to nap partly because I am trying to start a loose routine now and partly because I just need some time to myself.

I am following the easy routine so feed,activity,sleep. I sometimes manage to get him to nap in the morning but not for long or if it's right after the feed but the other two daytime naps are not happening.

basically I feed then talk to him, sit/cuddke him or play on his playmat with him or he plays,independently. When he shows,cues he is tired I get him off,swaddle and go straight upstairs to quiet room. Today tried the bathroom as,wondered,if our bedroom is,too light. He usually starts to cry at this point so rock in arms and do white noise. From this,he usually starts falling asleep quite easily so I put him down before he actually falls asleep. He either wakes up as put him down or he appears to fall asleep but wakes up shortly which case,he will cry or just happily coo and look around for ages without falling asleep.

I have tried just leaving him if not crying but doesn't fall asleep just starts crying after awhile. I have,tried the hairdryer, tried going in and,patting chest,rubbing head,or tummy. Tried sitting by Moses out if sight and doing white noise and rocking,Moses. Each time he appears to fall asleep but just keeps waking up and nodding,off,etc for ages by which time it is time for his next feed and,he starts crying because,he is hungry. I ve tried more blankets, less blankets, darker room, everything. He is tired as will nod off and be

He's a,great sleeper at night and only wakes once in night so I am grateful for that but could this be the,problem?

Am I just being impatient expecting him to learn to fall asleep and self settle? But he has done it from day one at night so why not during,the day?,it is usually about two hours awake,time before I try and,get him to nap.

teacher123 Wed 06-Feb-13 20:49:38

Mummybare I said at the bottom of my post that I agreed with lots of what BW said smile I think the books are useful as a guide, but haven't followed any of them slavishly. Glad you had a better day OP

mummybare Thu 07-Feb-13 08:17:57

I was agreeing teacher123 - I quite liked it (once I got over her slightly annoying turns of phrase: accidental parenting, anyone?), but some of the stuff - particularly about bf - is just plain wrong out of date.

FWIW, I agree with you on the crying thing too - there is a difference between a baby crying because they are distressed and one that cries to settle him/herself. I didn't leave DD at all until I was sure of the difference, though, by which time she was about 7mo and there wasn't much crying at all, tbh. But there's every chance that the OP is slightly less clueless than I was at that stage, so worth mentioning! smile

teacher123 Thu 07-Feb-13 08:24:48

Sorry, I can't read (eats humble pie with her breakfast cup of tea wink!)

cleoowen Thu 07-Feb-13 21:31:19

Well an update. Managing to get him to nap in morning but not the,other two naps. I am usually out and about for the afternoon anyway and plan to be in the future so not too bothered. Still working on the later afternoon one though. But taking your advice and if,he doesn't go down just going with the flow and trying again tomorrow. Having a couple of hours me time in the morning is enough to keep me same.

have noticed,he does not naturally nap in day,though. if I hadn t put him down for a nap this morning he would not have slept all day. Even a 20,minute walk in the pram to a friends and back after a big feed did not send him off! Plus I will rock him and,shhh him until sleepy, put him down in Moses and it's,like he has a,sixth sense he constantly wakes up but does drop off after a while and a but of a,moan.

Does this,mean he will always be awake in the day and not sleep much in pram? Or could this,behaviour change?

HearMyRoar Thu 07-Feb-13 21:51:31

Oh, it will change. It always changes, usually just when you think you've got it all worked out grin

Dd has had phases of napping only in the pram and phases of refusing to nap in the pram. She's had months where she will only nap a short amount and then for no reason at all suddenly swapped to napping for ages. The fun really starts when she is dropping a nap and teething at the same time, then all bets are off and anything could happen from one day to the next. Always like to keep you on your toes.

cleoowen Thu 07-Feb-13 21:59:38

Haha let the fun begin. I am feeling much more relaxed since posting so that's,good.

Mummybare not clueless about different cries. Beginning to distinguish between the,two. Noticed doing lots of protesting cries which,if ignored drops off to sleep. But do not ignore emotional cries where,he is getting distressed. It's a fine line to walk though.

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