Physically fighting sleep at nap/bt

[delecto]

My 9 week old is having a heck of a time settling for sleep, even physically resisting it by arching and thrashing about. She's textbook (mostly), no reflux and sleeps well at night. But getting her to sleep for naps and at BT is tough.

A few weeks ago, we started rocking and singing her to sleep. Although not great in the long run, it cut down on crying and took only 10 minutes. But in the last several days, it doesn't seem to work anymore. I've tried shshing, shh/pat, singing, humming, walking, jiggling, putting her in her crib, etc.  Sometimes one or two or three work. Other times, it's just such a battle. The longer it takes, the more OT she gets.

We do a wind down - diaper, swaddle, sing a bit, white noise, then start rocking or whatever. It's at that point she often starts crying, arching, thrashing her head about, and/or 'climbing' with her legs. If I put her down, she either lays there wide wake or starts crying frantically (not a mantra or "I'm trying to settle" cry).

Her A time is generally 60-75 min.

I'd hoped to get her to self-settle with ssh/pat but at this point, I'll settle for whatever will stop the thrashing/arching/fighting. Any ideas? I'm really starting to dread each nap time..day after day after day...

Update: the physical resistance continues - screaming, arching, wiggling. Truly at a loss... 
Update #2: now she'll wake 5 min after being put down, but will sleep 45-60 if held. It's just getting worse!

[ZacsMumme]

Lots of hugs.
Could it be a GS? - there's usually  one between 8-10 weeks I think and it causes a bit of sleep disruption

If you have had the same As for a while you could try a longer one and see if it helps. If not then you know it's not UT and maybe she needs a change in WD before sleep? - does she have a paci? Swaddled? Are nights ok?

[Kellyjs]

Just jumping in because we had something similar around this age I think. It turned out that DD liked a shorter WD and the longer I held her the worse it got. We only discovered it when DH put her down for a nap and in true male style, just plonked her into bed!

It might be a little UT as Sara said also, but just thought I'd share what I found out. Even now, DD arches and thrashes about when I try and read her a quick story as she just wants to get into bed!! Hth x

[Cvbaby2014]

To make you feel better, I am in exactly the same boat... my LO is 11 weeks and has been like this from early on.  He hates going down for a nap.

Sometimes he is a lot better, but to be honest we don't know why.  I like to think it is because I have started winding down at the perfect time, but this perfect time changes for every nap and daily...so it doesn't always work.  He will always fight a little, just sometimes for 5 minutes instead of 20 minutes.

Keeping his awake time short before winding down (less than 1hr 15) does help...but like I say there is no guarantee.
Also - I think my LO is overstimulated easily, so more recently we have been trying to block out all light, even the smallest crack... and I think this helps too, especially during the wind down.

I am hoping he can self settle soon, he seems to be better at self settling during naps (after he has been helped to get down) and at night (he only wakes twice to feed).

[delecto]

Ladies - thank you! Sometimes just knowing I'm not alone is hugely helpful. All of my friends' kids are apparently perfect sleepers! I appreciate the support!

So let's see. This weekend, DH took most of the naps and BT and had fewer issues. Have me a much-needed break. He found that walking around her room with a gentle shh/pat worked with minimal fuss.  I tried twice with reasonable success. This AM? Nope! Took 45 minutes (and sadly some crying on both our parts) to get to sleep. I had to just out her down in her crib for a bit and step out of the room. Ugh.

Anyways. I've also tried setting her in the crib with minimal WD/APing - no luck. Seems wide awake and eventually starts crying. Then I think she gets over tired and becomes more difficult to get to sleep.

She's swaddled, no paci. Nights are great - she goes from BT til about 3-5am. I've watched her wake up a bit and go back to sleep in the night.

I'm going to try and push her A times just a bit - maybe she's UT.

At this point, I don't think I have it in me to go to shh/pat cold-turkey. It's like I need a few successful days first. But...maybe I should? How long would I do that at nap time before giving in to APing so she gets some amount of sleep?

[Kellyjs]

Problem is hun, if she knows you'll give in eventually and apop, she'll keep on going!! Start as you mean to go on was Tracy's mantra and I believe it too.

I think if you go push the A times slightly you may find she goes to sleep easier. Let us know how it goes x

[ljc1977]

I suddenly started having the same issues with my 11 week old, and like an earlier poster said I am suspecting she doesn't like the wind down! I used to do a short wind down, then after 45 min naps i started doing a longer one and she's getting worse and worse to put down! So, back to the old style of wandering about a bit and then putting down...For shh pat i don't shh i use white noise...if she's really crying i put it on very loud and once she stops scrying i decrease volume bit by bit till asleep....works for the most part!