HELP - 2 month old that refuses to sleep

[Acey]

My 2 month old refuses to sleep during the day unless we're in the car seat and driving around.  She cries falling asleep for only 5 minutes until its time to feed her again.  To even get her to sleep for 5 minutes we have to hold her.  I have tried pat/shh, did it this morning for nearly 45 minutes and she closes her eyes then opens them crying.  Is it true there are some babies that just won't sleep during the day?  I'm at my end.  People keep advising that I should just let her cry, which I am not going to do. 

[anna*]

Hi there, welcome to the boards. How long is she awake in the morning before you try for her first nap? Do you think she's uncomfortable when you lay her down? 45 mins of shush-pat is not bad for a first try, you need to stick at it though, they do start to become better at settling themselves if you stay consistent with s/p.

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

I think Anna was getting at this as well but do you think she's in pain?  Does she have any symptoms of reflux?  Check out this link:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0

Often when they're this little if you keep thinking 'it shouldn't be this hard' it may be something else like reflux. 

[ZacsMumme]

Agree with Kate, esp if you are getting a pain cry about 20 mins into a nap

[Acey]

OP here.  Thanks for your thoughts on reflux/gas.  DD is on prevacid and zantac.  After she eats we keep her upright for at least 20 minutes.  We first try to put her down for a nap about an hour after she wakes up.  Usually the first nap of the day is a success.  It's from late morning on that things get crazy.  We've been doing pat/shh for nearly a week and she just keeps crying off and on.  We've learned to distinguish the pain cry as she first started having reflux symptoms at 4 weeks.  Right now we have the reflux/gas under control.  She cries to keep herself awake.  As soon as she feels herself falling off to sleep she starts to cry again.  Today she slept a total of 3 hours since the morning.  The pediatrician told me she will outgrow this stage and until then we just need to hold her.

[ZacsMumme]

She cries to keep herself awake.

If she is crying when trying to sleep it is her way of telling you something is wrong. It may well be she is tired but wants to be held because she cant settle herself right now, or it could be she is OT and cant shut out the stimulation.

Is her cot elevated? Do you use white noise and a dark room to help shut out the stimulation? Dummies are also really great for reflux babies and help with keeping the milk in the tum, minimizing crying (which gives them more wind/gas) and helping them settle to sleep.

How far apart are you giving the prevacid and zantac doses and what is the dosage she is on?

You will have some days where you just have to hold her....esp bad reflux days...BTDT and it is hard, but it does get better

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Hugs.  Reflux is so tough.  

What I did instead of shh/pat (which seemed to rile up my DD) was that I gradually moved towards putting her down awake.  I did this really, really slowly, though, over a period of a few weeks.  I started by putting her down when she was basically asleep.  Then I put her down when she was just almost asleep, etc etc.  I had to (and still have to often) stroke her forehead and shh once she's in the crib.  I continued with this until she was used to being put down and now I can lay her down awake.  Just another perspective!

[ZacsMumme]

And a good one Kate I think we used to do a similar thing with rocking and patting the bottom, then eventually finishing off in the cot with the patting, slowly removing the rocking and time in our arms etc. It all feels so long ago, when really it wasn't! See your mind will block it all out later hun!