Aargh. Today was one of those days. Sprout went easily to sleep in his stroller when Papa took him out to the grocery store. His nap lasted one sleep cycle (for him: 40 minutes), as usual. About two & a half hours after he woke up, we tried to get him to go down for a nap again. Near an hour of screaming, patting & shushing later, he was still awake. In desperation, we tried the carrier. Papa walked around the block & returned with a sleeping Sprout. However, during the transfer from Beco to his crib, he started squawking again. Nooooo! By this point, he was due for another feeding again & latched on hungrily. As soon as he'd had some milk, he fell asleep at the breast. Realizing his diaper was due for a change, we tried to do that with a minimum of fuss. Not much luck--he was crying by the time his onesie was snapped up again. Oliver gave him his formula top-up & didn't go back to sleep. Sigh.
I've strapped him into the swing & after a few quiet renditions of "Mama's going to buy you a Mockingbird", he's calmed down, if not sleeping. Perhaps I can eat dinner while it's still hot.
A week ago, the naps were actually going well. We'd put him down in his crib & he'd fuss a bit, grumbling & protesting, but not always actually crying. After a little patting & shushing, he'd go to sleep. Not sure what's going on this week. It might be teething that's thrown him off, but he only shows signs of it once in a while. He's had the rosy cheeks sometimes for an hour or so. He gnaws on things whenever he can get them in his mouth. He's sometimes fairly drooly, but not today.
Tomorrow I think I'll try putting him down for his naps earlier. He might have gotten overtired & past that little window of opportunity today.
How's the napping going for all you mamas out there?
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I am going nuts with naps right now! My 4 month old used to nap about every 2 hours or so, never for super long (about 45 minutes) but it added up. Lately it is all I can do to get a total of 1.5-2 hours of naps in all day long. I don't know if it is teething or what but she does not want to go to sleep. Instead is horribly cranky and just screams and cries... the problem is she has NEVER fallen asleep outside of someone's arms... any ideas on how to do that? Would be lovely if I could put her down when I knew she was tired and she would just sleep but that seems like a far fetched dream at this point...
ReplyDeleteCourtney: Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever tried to put her to sleep in a swing? That's what I use with my little guy when I can't get him to sleep in his crib. It's sort of a crutch, but I figure I'll try to get him napping regularly, then I'll work on having him do it in the crib. The swing is an improvement on napping in my lap after falling asleep at the breast, as he was doing a month or so ago.
Oh, the swing....I know it well. Leta came out of the womb overtired and a carrier or swing was the only way she napped. I too used it to "teach" her to nap, because I found her constant overtired state just made it impossible for her to sleep. Poor baby. So, yes, it totally helps. Our next step was to transfer her from the swing to her crib as soon as she fell asleep. She first protested, but then (gradually) would sleep. We've had a good 2 months before she was really able to put herself to sleep. Meaning, we did sleep training at the end of her 5th month (she's 7 months now) and it just recently stuck.
ReplyDeleteI'm saying this, because I think our "spirited" type babies may take longer to sleep on their own than others. All the books say it takes a few DAYS....yeah right.
We are currently waiting for a sleep consultant's sleep plan ...but it's kinda too late as she has improved leaps and bounds. If you're interested, (I wish I did it sooner) her link is, www.hushababy.com, helen sands. She was recommended by a friend who has recommended her to 20 of his friends with glowing results.
Good luck! I feel your pain sista!