Please help! Repost of 6 wk old won't nap

[KathrynK]

It seems that the afternoon problems are overtiredness which accumulates through the day. If this is still happening after you follow Deb's great advice, then I would suggest shortening all her Awake times. 1hr30 is really the absolute max for a lo of this age, and she might be better off with 1hr15 or even 1hr only. That means if she takes 30mins to get to sleep, then it's literally up, feed, nappy change then back to bed for some shh/pat. Bear in mind that the more overtired she gets the longer she will take to get to sleep, so this is why it's taking longer as her day goes on. If she gets to the point of being totally overtired she will be so wired she physically cannot get herself to sleep- this is what's happening around 4pm onwards.
I know it seems like life is just feeding & sleep training, but that's what happens at this age. The most valuable thing you can do for your dd is teach her independent sleep and it sounds like you are totally on the right lines. 
Let us know how you get on xx

[deckchariot]

thanks for the support and encouragement - her first nap was 2 hours, and we're 1 hr into nap #2...of course, this is generally the easy part of the day, but at least I'm hopeful.  I'm keeping a log of how long it takes her to fall asleep, as I had not been considering that as part of her awake time.  For nap #1, total awake time (feeding, 4S, and time to fall asleep) was 1 hr. 5 min, for nap #2, it was just 1 hr.  I want to watch that as we head into afternoons, I think that's where we're running into problems, so we'll see.....

[debo620]

oh thats great news!

[deckchariot]

I have much good news to report!  Abby took 3 great 2 hour naps!  Then she took a 1 hr cat nap (I had just about given up getting her to sleep, she kept waking every 5 min, so called in dh for relief, and by the time he came upstairs, she was asleep!).  We were able to eat dinner together for the first time since my mother went home

unfortunately, we're now having trouble getting her to sleep for the night - with the new schedule, her bedtime is about an hour earlier, so my guess is that's going to be an adjustment.  But we're sticking with it....

thanks for you help and encouragement, the suggestions seem to be working - at least today was a vast improvement!!!!!

[KathrynK]

that's great news! good for you!
Keep at it- bear in mind not every day will be a good day, and sometimes there are just no rational explanations as to why you have a bad sleep day. But remember every day is a new one and you can start again!
let us know how  it goes xx

[Ben Mommy]

Isn't 6/7 weeks a little young to expect them to fall asleep on their own? I was under the impression after reading the BW book that they need you there until they are in a deep sleep still at this age.  I have a 14 week old DS and he still needs us to help him to sleep.  Also my friend has a 71/2 month old who just started being able to leave him after the 4S ritual and he can fall asleep on their own.
It takes us about 20-40 min. of consoling and calming after bedtime ritual and once he's in the crib.   
Just wanted to clarify...not sure if I am remembering correctly from reading....

[KathrynK]

every baby is different so it varies massively. Some learn independent sleep very quickly, others it can take months.

[deckchariot]

Day 2 of our "new" routine, and Abby seems to be getting the hang of it.  We do stay there until she hits deep sleep (usually about 20 min after her eyes close), but we're not shh/patting the whole time (5-10 min, and then if she stirs, to keep her asleep).  She napped again in the afternoon, so that's great. Still working on the bedtime moving earlier, but at least we're  seeing progress with naps!

[KathrynK]

that's great news! good for you x