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Daytime sleeping

Any tips for getting my boy to sleep by himself in the day?? He is great at night, he knows once he's in his sleeping bag it's time for bed, and is really good at settling himself after night feeds.

However, even when he is clearly tired and ready to sleep in the day he won't unless he is cuddled to sleep, and then if i put him down he wakes up and is either wide awake or we have to soothe him to sleep all over again.

Any advice welcome!

xxx

Replies

  • We had the exact same problem with our DS. He is now 18 weeks old and for the past month I've finally been successful in putting him down for daytime naps.



    I would cuddle him to sleep (that's the only way he would go to sleep) and then put him down in his crib. Initially he would wake up pretty much straight away but I would just stroke him and put his dummy back in and 'shush' him gently. I think babies have to lean how to fall asleep on their own, and they need the reassurance that you are not leaving them when they are going to sleep. My DS would hold my hand whilst he was falling asleep in his crib, and I think this was reassuring for him, and then when he's dropped off and I can take my hnd away fine. It might also be worth thinking of getting a comforter and stuffing it in your top for a while so that it smells of you and you can let him cuddle it when he is falling asleep.



    Around the 13/14 week mark he started to get into a 3 hourly routine and I think this has helped him to sleep on his own, as he knows when nap times are, and he doesn't try to fight it as much now.



  • hello



    my little one is 16 wks and she also fights her nap time in day. when got her to go off she would last about 15 mins and then wake up crying. A couple of times she has woken and i have put her dummy in and she has gone off again for longer.



    today she has been asleep since 1 ish and now almost 4 so need to wake her up for her feed! bet she doesn't sleep tonight now ooops...she is so grumpy in day though if won't sleep and or only has little disturbed naps so thought she must need the sleep.



    who knows what to do for the best ey? LOL

    love from first time mom
  • i dont know the answer to this either, my LO used to sleep all the time, now at 13 weeks hardly sleeps at all in the day! Does a 12 hour stretch at night but the most he'll do in the day is a quick doze in the car if we're going somewhere or 5 mins after a feed on me - and i question whether he's properly asleep.



    I dont know whether now he sleeps so long at night i should be making him sleep in the day. I dont think it affects his mood most of the time. He does rub his face and yawn etc so maybe i should be encouraging him to go off? The other thing is we're out and about a lot as im finding it hard to stay in at this stage - he takes some entertaining. This doesnt help with regular day sleeps i suppose but in a way, the car journeys and being pushed in the pram does allow for short naps where he wouldnt have them at home.



    My mum thinks when he's moving a bit more he'll have a nap in the day x
  • I spoke to the NCT lady about this at my bump and baby group because my 16 week old was the same - would only sleep on me and wake up when i put her down. Anyway, she said something which really made me think. She said to imagine that id fallen asleep in bed and then went to turn over, only to find that I was in the car. She asked me what I would do and I said that I would obviously wake up and find out why I was in the car. She then said that is exactly what my baby is doing. By letting her fall asleep on me and then putting her down, I was causing her to wake up when she stirred because she was shocked at her change of location. Instead she recommended trying controlled crying. Now, I have never let my daughter cry, the thought of it made me feel sick, but the method that the lady suggested sounded doable. Basically she said that when baby gets tired (or once baby has been awake for longer than 90 minutes if under 4 months or 120 minutes if under 7 months) wrap her in a blanket and give her a cuddle. Once her eyes start to drop put her down in her bed sleepy but awake. If she starts to cry (which my baby did!) stroke her head and shush her but dont pick her up. Once she starts to settle move away out of sight. If she starts to cry, time one minute before you go back to your baby and shush and soothe her (without picking her up) then repeat the process of moving away. Apparently it is an instinct for a baby to want to stay as close to its mum as possible for survival, so you have to teach the baby that even though mum has put her down, she isnt going to leave her. I did this with my daughter at 14 weeks and the first time it took 15 minutes for her to settle and then she fell asleep for 2 hours! Two weeks later she goes to sleep more or less straight away with minimal fussing, usually just a minute or two of winging rather than crying. She is much more settled too because she isnt tired anymore! I do sometimes pick her up is she goes in to full melt down mode because I cant listen to her cry, but as soon as she settles I put her back down. I have to say though, I think it has worked so well for us because Phoebe is over three months. My friend who used the Gina Ford method at 3 weeks with her baby had hours of crying before her baby fell into a routine and I think it may have been because she started a little young xx hth xx
  • wow that seems very much what i need to do...Liv is getting cross about 90 mins awake but i thought not been up for long enough so waited to 2 hrs..however by this point she is very cross!



    if we go out she rarely sleeps as nosey and cat naps in pram.... this does knock us out of sync and i have seen that she then gets over tired and screams place down as so tired! when we stay in for most of day she is better...i dont want to be couped up in house all day everyday though so will perservere to find an alternate way of her getting enough sleep.



    what time are you putting yours down for night? after bath and bottle etc? liv goes down for night after 8pm bottle? wonder if should be 6 or 7pm?
  • i agree with glitterbug and its worked for us quite well. i also let my baby nap on his tummy during the day when i can keep an eye on him or otherwise swaddle him. he startles himself awake with flailing otherwise. my son is nearly 16 weeks now and usually goes to sleep quite easily, both day and night. x
  • since writing my previous message ive had a breakthrough with henry, i put him down 1/2pm ish dependent what we're doing - with some quiet noise, not silence, but in his pram top or in cot, it seems to work. I think he needed to sleep in a safe place which he associates with sleep. He has also started taking a dummy in the last 24 hours! So he has a bf round this time, when he falls off the sleep he always has a 2 min power sleep so before he gets up he goes in cot/pram with dummy and he has a sleep for an hour or so. Its only an hour but it definately makes him sweeter in the afternoon. sometimes i have to put the dummy back in a couple of times. I have a horrible cold so its let me have an hour's rest too. Am also looking forward to getting a bit of housework done if this lasts! xx
  • O, This is just best for babies, but not for mums,

    what you say? I think as the baby have his day time sleep, he always sleep late at night.
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