5 1/2 wk old crying through naps

[courts]

Help! I have a 5 1/2 wk old who will not take naps in his crib during the day. He will cry and cry. I will pick him up every five to ten minutes. Sometimes he gets quiet for 30 min. but wakes up crying again. He is sleeping well at night but I'm putting him down asleep at night. He would love to sleep in my arms if I would let him. For his first 2 wks of life he slept on me. We did BW with his older brother and it worked great. I just want to pull my hair out and cry myself. How long do I let him cry? What am I doing wrong. I am doing the feed wake sleep cycle religiously. I never want to put him down asleep during the day because I want him to learn to self soothe but it seems to be backfiring on me.
Courtney

[carly-g]

Hey Courtney,
I have a 5 1/2 week old son also, and we are working on independent sleep, too!  I have been continuing to rock him before naps, but when I put him in the crib, I pat him and move him around a little so that he barely wakes up.  That way he drifts back off aware that he is not on me.  I started doing this with his morning nap only, but am now doing it for all the naps.  Today, I was able to rock him just until his eyes started to 'droop', and then put him down .... and it actually worked!  There are probably better methods out there- I'm a first time mom & am kind of winging it- but this worked for us.  My son is a little touchy, and I can't change anything in one step.  I have to gradually adjust, or he just melts down.  He is finally happy on the changing table ... we're still working on the bath!  Good luck, I just wouldn't sacrifice all the naps.  Maybe just start with one, and work your way up.  There is no deadline for perfect sleep.  Just work on it as your son is comfortable. 

Carly

[twosweetiepies]

Hi gals,
My little one is 12 weeks and we were having the same issues several weeks ago.  I tried EASY as with her older brother, but it just seemed so much harder this time around. 

Well, i had been reading that the napping doesn't start to really get together til around 12 weeks, and sure enough, after weeks of rocking, walking, holding, etc., she has been napping so much better this week, I couldn't believe it. 

So, hang in there.  I thought all that rocking, etc. would turn into a prop with her,but last few days, I put her down for naps after a little bit of walking around the room and cuddling, and she goes down without a peep. 

[lawnseed]

Hello!

All good advice

One thing I found with my dd2 was that i had forgotten how little activity tiny ones need before they need to go to sleep again - with us it was only 45 minutes with 15 of those being wind down and 15 feeding (quick feeder!)

If you really want your LO to settle in their crib, it is possible using shush-pat in a very dark room and a good twenty minutes of your time, but with no.2 that isn't always possible! There are two ways to go I think (or that's what I've seen!)

Either you just keep your baby on EASY with the S being in a sling or rocked in a pram nearby, and work on independent sleep from 12 weeks when it does seem to get easier

 or you explain to your eldest (how old??) that it is time for you to put your new baby to sleep and you make sure that he is safe (eg gate on stairs, all doors shut but his room and the room with baby in) so he can potter and play. The idea behind this is that they both have to get used to each other and different demands on your time and noise etc!!

There's some really helpful advice on the stickies at the top of the mums of two boards.

You will get there though!! What I found helpful was thinking of BW as a direction in which to head rather than a goal to attain every day:)

HTH, Huge Hugs and WELCOME to the boards

Lornax

[courts]

Thank you so much. Nathaniel is now napping much better, not perfect, but better. He is able to sleep in his crib and not on me, YEA!!

[lawnseed]

That's so good to hear!!! Well done you guys:)

Out of interest, what did you do (or don't you know!!! sometimes I don't )

Perfect napping would be bliss maybe in heaven