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daytime naps

My little one is so grumpy. She won't sleep and if she does its with alot of hard work and not for very long. Shes 3 months old. Ive tried putting her in her cot and she just screams ive tried puttingher in hercot once shes fallen asleep for her to go longer she wakes.Ive tried letting her nap in various places downstairs nothing works. She then cant take her bottle as shes so tired and grumpy and just screams all day even at baby groups etc.

Please help

Michelle

Replies

  • Does she sleep well at night?

    Have you tried putting her in her buggy? My brother would only sleep in his buggy during the day when he was a baby.

    Or white noise? My boys love it if I shush loudly when theyre tired.

    Do you have a naptime routine so she knows when its time for sleep? I do a similar routine to my bedtime routine (our bath is in the morning so we dont have that in our bedtime routine) of nappy change, story, lights out in sleeping bags in cot.

    Does she have a dummy? This can sometimes help to relax little ones.

    Do you swaddle her? If shes waking from her naps that she does have because shes waking herself swaddling during the day might help. I stopped swaddling at night but still swaddled during the day for a while.

    Cant think of anything else at the moment but will have a think.

    HTH

    Gemma, Ryan and Alfie 21+2
  • You poor thing, that must be really hard on you. Have you ruled out medical issues like reflux? It might help to talk to your GP if not and she is still really upset all day.

    Otherwise I can't really add to what Gemma has said. I definitely found that using a dummy to calm my LO down before a nap really helped. I take it out when he's drowsy or half asleep and he just drifts off. If he's really fractious I also pat his back while saying "shhhh" which seems to work too - I got that from the Baby Whisperer!

    The timing of the naps is quite important too - after you've fed and changed her, let her play on a mat or something while you watch her. At the first signs of sleepiness (yawning or rubbing her eyes) take her into her room, which should be as dark as possible and just sit quietly with her with no stimulation for a couple of mins (with a dummy if she's upset) before putting her in her cot.

    If you miss that "sleep window" then they get overtired and it is much harder to get them off to sleep.

    I also second the swaddle - my LO usually fights the swaddle but he definitely sleeps longer and better with it than without it. Otherwise he wakes himself up by hitting himself in the face etc. I highly recommend the Miracle Blanket which you can get from Mothercare, it's fantastic.

    Good luck!!
  • I too third the miracle blanket.....I have only just got my LO to sleep in the cot for his naps. He's nearly outgrowing his moses so thought I'd bite the bullet last week. I would put him in a sleeping bag and he fought and fought it.....once I put him in his miracle blanket (which we use at night) he stopped fighting and fell straight to sleep and now goes down without a fuss. Have you tried swaddling? A lot of babies like the snug feeling of it - also helps the startle reflex prevent them fromw aking up. Like CharlotteB has suggested, after feed and play watch for the sleepy signs. Once you spot them start winding them down as overstimulation can make it harder to settle your LO's. I take my LO up to his nursery where I tell him it's nap time. I change his nappy, put him into a sleepsuit, play his lullaby CD and walk around the room to him softly speaking with him telling his it;s nap time and after a nap he'll feel so much more refreshed. I recommend the babywhisperer.com website for useful tips and advice. One good tip I found was being aware of how much activity to give your LO for their age. For babies of 2 months, they generally can't stay awake for more than 1hr15 - 20 mins until they become overtired. That is from the moment they open their eyes to when they next fall asleep so bearing this in mind I realised that I was overstimulating my LO and not putting him down for naps when I should be resulting in a very grumpy baby. He sleeps SOOOO much better now I understand him better. I must admit it didn't happen straightaway. I had to do a helluva lot of shush patting to get him off to begin with but he now knows that his nursery is for sleeping. He is put down awake each time.

    Definately visit the www.babywhisperer.com website - it's really helped my LO!

    Gi and Thomas 10 weeks & 4 days xx
  • Hi i know this is going to sound strange but Lizzie (9weeks) will not go to sleep in moses basket befroe 8pm downstairs but sleeps from 10pm in her swinging crib upstairs next to our bed but in the day time the only place she will sleep is on the floor! I lie her on her changing mat with a cover over it so its not cold or sticky and she will lie there looking around and drift off to sleep even if there are things going on around her. another place i have found she will fall asleep is in her swinging chair in front of washing machine (she comes into kitchen with me in it if I have lots to do in there,lol) if she falls asleep in her swining chair i take her pout after 5 mins and place her on floor in lounge as its safer in my opion as her back is straight then.
    Also like others have said I make sure she is warm, not hot but not cold, and she definatly sleeps better x
  • I used to have such a problem with my LO when she was about that age. Used to have to hold her while she drifted off to sleep, warm a blanket on my legs, wrap the blanket around her and after she had been asleep for 15 minutes, oh so carefully place her into he pram I had downstairs in the room next to me and she would maybe sleep for 30 minutes. It was like a military operation and if she woke up at any point during that procedure, I had to go back and sit with her asleep in my arms for 15 minutes. The day she took to a dummy was like magic, she went to sleep in my arms without crying at all, and then after a while of doing that I put her in the pram awake and kept going to put the dummy in and after about half an hour she went to sleep and I haven't looked back. She is 6 months now and goes into the cot awake and eventually goes to sleep after cooing and laughing. It has taken a fair bit of perseverance to get to this, and sometimes for her afternoon nap she is too overtired to go to sleep and I every now and then have her fall asleep in my arms instead but generally she has now got to napping quite well on her own x
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