Non-napping newborn
Anyone else have a newborn that doesn't nap/naps badly??
M is 3 weeks old and i struggle to get him to nap frequently during the day. His 'first' feed of the day happens around 7-8am and it's not unusual for him to still be awake (and majorly grumpy!) at 2.30p, despite having had multiple feeds in that time!! Often he will then crash and have a epic nap - yesterday he crashed at 1.30pm and slept till nearly 4pm. Also annoyingly is that when he does nap he will only nap on me.....nightmare not having my hands free for 3hrs, plus it meant I couldn't nap. I'm knackered! He sleeps well in his Moses basket/crib at night, and goes back down straight away after his feeds when we're in bed. We have a Ewan the sheep but this only seems to have any affect at night
I've had some success with getting him to nap after taking him for a walk as he falls asleep in the buggy almost instantly but he has some sort of homing device which means as soon as we walk in the door he's awake again, so unless I fancy being out for hours it's a 15min cat nap at best! And I don't want to have to go out after every feed just to get him to sleep for 5 mins!!
Today he's been awake since 5 (it's now 8.30) and showing no signs of attempting to sleep at all
any thoughts!?
Replies
JJ we have a similar situation here. Putting him in the carrier and bouncing helps, so at least i can do chores and a walk in the pram like you said. After a feed in the day Henry prefers to be upright, so is more likely to let me put him down in his bouncer chair than moses/poddle pod. But will still often wake x
At least I'm not the only one Lolol
Sleep when baby sleeps they say......only helpful if your baby sleeps Lolol!
On the upside his night time sleeping is *touch wood* good, last night went in 4hr stretches. Just wish for abit more sleeping during the day as now have ductal and nipple thrush so my poor nipples need a rest!!
She only really sleeps with me at the moment, so I've taken to going to bed with her. We have a king size so I'm able to lie down beside her and sleep. Today she fell asleep while I was making a cuppa, but that's the first time she's ever fallen asleep alone. I'm going to test out our slings this weekend in the hope of getting some stuff done, she's a Velcro baby so I really can't put her down. I find myself not minding at all though, soon enough she won't need my cuddles 24/7 and I'll be devastated.
JJ that sounds exactly like my baby ....and he is 5 months old & showing no sign of changing! I keep meaning to get to a sling library.
This was S for the first four months! In fact, something popped up on my time hop last week which was a picture of a cup of tea that I posted to celebrate the first time he settled without me a year ago!
As a rule, I found out he could probably only go 1.5 hours before he was too overtired to settle and would get really worked up. I spent many hours walking him in the pram and just resigned myself to that being what I needed to do.
If you need your hands free, definitely get a sling. The close caboo saved my sanity - I could make a cuppa! Saffron is so right though, they won't need you to do it forever and now S will only sleep if he's allowed to settle himself and I find myself missing it sometimes!
In the first few months neither of mine would fall asleep on their own unless the were in the car or pram. With my first I didn't know about the 1.5 hour/2hour rule till she was 3 months old so she was getting so overtired she was never going to settle properly.
I then started to put her down 2 hours from when she last woke with the noise of the Hoover as that seemed to settle her. She would then nap really well in her basket.
My second would not nap in her basket during the day at all so for the first 5 months I'd rock her to sleep using the two hour rule and she'd sleep on me. Not ideal. at 5.5 months I started to put her down to fall asleep by herself and after a week or so she got it and self soothes beutifully now. xx
How are we getting on with the non-napping babies ladies? Touch wood things are improving here although I don't. Expect it to last lol
MrsB that's interesting re: 2hr rule.......thing is that M usually wants a feed as soon as he wakes which can take up to an hour to do, and then he usually wants feeding 2.5hrs later.....so if I put him down 2hrs from when he last woke and he did actually fall asleep then bed prob sleep through a feed (he tends to sleep for 2hrs ish when he is actually asleep) and we are only just achieving the minimum 8 feeds a day based on his demand feeding......is he too young to try this sort of approach? Do I need to try when he's older and going longer between feeds?
at 14 months old maya still has two naps a day
and if we're home Isla (3 yrs) will have a nap a lunchtime
x
I was told that if baby is back up to birthweight and no issues etc then just feed them when they ask for it, no need to wake them to feed. Seth was terrible for refusing to nap then falling asleep when he latched on, waking up as soon as I'd put him down then repeating the cycle again.
I would let him sleep and try not to worry about missing a feed. He will let you know if he's hungry! X
MrsB M still has two naps, that's great. Seth has one in the afternoon now - it's a long one but I'm shattered by the time it comes round!
Hi popcorn!
I love that she still naps in the morning as it gives me an hour or so to play with isla on her own. She can go without it and remains quite happy but if we're out the minute we get in the car to come home she'll fall asleep which can then affect her going down in the afternoon. I'm such a strong believer that the more they sleep the better sleeper they are. Both mine sleep through from 7-6.30.
Isla dropped her morning nap at around 18 months so I'm hoping maya will make it till then too xx
JJ - just to say, I've never heard about the 8 feeds a day rule. I don't wake O at all to feed, I haven't since she was born, apart from the very first night in hospital. She always wakes when hungry, and I stick by the two hour rule for sleeping too...although I had no idea it was a rule, I've just discovered that she gets overtired and can't settle if she is awake too long.
Thanks ladies. I haven't been waking for feeds for the last 1.5 weeks or so (Since he regained his birth weight) He just spends a lot of time awake lol will give the 2hr rule a try from tomorrow!
The 8 feeds a day thing came from the infant feeding advisors at our hospital. the majority of days he achieves 8 with no issue, there have been the odd 6 feed days but I've never noticed that till the next day when looking at the stats on my app (geek alert lol) as I have just been feeding when he asks for it. hes getting chubbier so obviously not a problem lol
JJ i dont think it is a 2hr cycle rule. I just think it is that once they are awake, you try not to let them stay awake longer than 1.5/2hrs... Is that right? X
Yes I think you're right....This motherhood malarkey addles my brain!
Yep, once she wakes up, if she's still awake 1.5hrs later I start trying to get her to sleep. I have no idea how many times O feeds, just whenever she grunts to be fed
Up 2lbs from birth weight today though so it's obviously working!
Lol little chubster lol