2 month old will NOT nap..fights sleep during day but STTN since 5 weeks..HELP!

[mrsjerome]

We dont do EASY mainly because since she is all out fighting sleep..not just taking a bit to go to sleep but all out fighting sleep until she passes out exhausted for 4 hours or so...its impossible because she wakes up..eats..plays and then fights naps until it would be time for her to eat again and then she wants to eat and not go to sleep and then we start it all over and its just completely stressing me out these past few weeks.. like today she got up at 8:30..and played a bit because her dad was up already and just turned on the mobile so she was in her crib looking at it..then I fed her around 8:45 when I got up...played in her activity yard and then ATTEMPTED a nap at around 9:30 because she was showing sleepy signs...well she fought it the second I put on her swaddle blanket and picked up a book to read to her she knew it was sleep time and was having none of that..screamed her head off..then calmed down..screamed..then calm...then finally was drowsy enough that I tried shush pat in her crib and she was having none of it..calming down none with patting or shushing and even with the sound machine going too...so I got her up...held her a bit again and tried to read again she cried...fought it...then calmed..back in crib and fought it again but finally fell asleep for maybe 20 minutes or so...then was up again..and by this time it was time to eat around 11:30 or so..so I fed her she was drowsy and I was exhausted of the fighting so tried to put her down in her swing while she was pretty out of it and she was not having that either...so this same patter has gone on allllll day..since she got up..and she has slept a total of 90 mins if even that...from 8:30am and its now 4pm..I really dont know what to do anymore...I just sat down to eat for the first time today the last time she fell asleep for 10 minutes and of course she was up right in the middle of me eating...

she is NOT happy or ok with this sleeping as she is cranky..and tired...and I just dont know what to do anymore...sush pat for 90 minutes seems pointless...and she cant self soothe yet either so trying to let her cry or fuss until she goes to bed is also pointless...even sleeping in my arms its like she practically (and literally) had one eye open the whole time and was soo tense and just ready to scream when I moved...

please help me!

[clairebear79]

Hiya hun

(((hugs))) I do remember naps starting to get harder at this stage.  They do naturally have a developmental stage from 3-6 months where you may get quite a lot of short naps, & then once they get to 6 months they get longer again.

However, reading this I am wondering if she maybe wasn't quite ready to sleep when you first tried to put her down for her nap. My LO did scream when he was OT at that age, but he always screamed more when he wasn't tired enough.  And then b/c she fought going down for so long, she actually got past the point when she was ready to sleep & then wound up OT, hence the 20min naps.  4hrs A is a really long time for a LO of her age to stay awake.

So....I know you said she was giving sleepy signs at 9.30am today but that was just an hour after her wakeup.  Is that her usual first A time?  Does she usually sleep in til 8.30am in the morning?  How long had she slept overnight?  If she'd had a decent night's sleep, she might handle a wee bit more - perhaps try gently extending that A time by 5mins every few days until its 1h 15-20 - that's the average A time for her age as per the following link:

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64158.msg476652#msg476652

Just thinking a wee bit more A might help get her down for that first nap, and once you've nailed that one, the rest should all fall into place.  Of course if extending A doesn't help & she cries even more, then you go completely the other way & shorten her A times right up.  HTH.xx

[mrsjerome]

so Im trying to soon to get her to sleep..I was just trying to be careful and not let her get overstimulated..she went to bed around 11pm last night and then was up at 2:30 to eat and then slept till 8:30..but normally she sleeps all night from 9:30 or 10 till atleast 7

[clairebear79]

so Im trying to soon to get her to sleep..I was just trying to be careful and not let her get overstimulated.

I don't know this for sure, it was just a hunch based on your first post.

I actually have a different question now after reading your last post.  Is it usual for her to be up from 7am all the way through to 9.30 or 10pm before going to bed for the night?  Or does she go to bed at 7pm & then wake at 9.30/10 for a feed?

As if she is up 7am-10pm with only a couple of short naps during the day thats a really long day for her.  At that age my LO would go to go to bed at 7pm, wake once or twice in the night for a feed & sleep through until 7-8am & he is a low sleep needs LO.

If you let me know the answer to that first it might change my response!  If that was the case, you might find if you gradually bring bedtime earlier she might actually sleep longer at night.  And this in turn will help her settle for naps better.  You might not even need to increase A time at all.

However, if she is getting close to a 12hr night, then I'd def try the extra A first.  If I'm totally wrong & you get a 30min or less nap, then you need to go the opposite way & shorten her A's.  I do seem to remember that when my DS was that age, the average A times were pretty accurate for him. 

Good luck.xx

[mrsjerome]

she goes to bed around 9 or 9:30pm now....it used to be 11pm but we have moved it forward and she gets up anywhere between 6am or 8am for her first feed and then back to sleep usually..and then she'll sleep another 2 or so hours and then be up to eat with activity time and then a nap...yesterday she napped about 3-4 times and the minimum was 1 hour so she did soo much better but she almost seemed like those last few days of no naps had finally caught up with her haha...but we'll see how she does today...