Author Topic: No naps  (Read 1018 times)

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Offline Digimand

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No naps
« on: May 29, 2014, 23:08:31 pm »
I've been reading other posts on this site and am amazed at statements such as 'I'll try shortening the A time" as I have no idea how you convince the baby to have a nap at the appropriate time, or in my case for the baby to nap at all!

LO is 8wks old. She wakes at 7-7.30am, and I feed her straight away. As the early feed is in bed, she more often than not falls straight back to sleep when she's done, for another 2 hours.
Upon waking, I feed her again, then change her nappy, then she is awake. As far as I can remember she has never fallen asleep (unless in car / pram etc) so should I be trying to rock her an hour and 15 mins after the start of each feed?

It may be of note that she seems perfectly able to sleep through every feed, maybe this is why she doesn't nap? How do I separate the sleeping from the napping? At night, once she is in bed, she will sleep for 6 or 8 hours, but often is not asleep until 11pm or midnight, which is not helpful at all.

Sorry I'm sure you will all want more details, but I'm sat here at 00:07, desperately tired with a baby who just wants to cry and won't fall asleep. Please help!

Offline Lindsay27

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Re: No naps
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2014, 12:51:45 pm »
My LO was the same at this age and wouldn't nap unless out and about in the car, and what I realized was that he wasn't just magically going to learn to nap, I had to teach him and give him the right tools and opportunities to do so.

Do you have any wind/down routine, or have you followed the 4-S routine at all?  For us it was all about 'setting the stage' so to speak with taking him to a quite dark room, swaddling, and for us we did rock at first and then I weaned that later.  A times for 8 weeks are about 1hr 15 mins, so I would start the 4-S about 10mins before you actually want her to be asleep.

What does a good wind down consist of (Includes 4S ritual)

If she is waking at 7/7:30am I would try to start the day off from that point, giving her some A time after her morning feed and that could help to set the routine for the rest of the day.



Offline Digimand

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Re: No naps
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2014, 12:54:58 pm »
Okay, me again.

So today, whilst baby sleeps on me in sling, I have had time to read through the sleep section of BW as well as the three day magic part. I now have a clearer idea of what I need to do.

My question is this: should I teach my baby to self sooth at night first and then introduce daytime naps in crib afterwards? In the book, Tracy does it the opposite way round, naps first. My baby already sleeps pretty well at night, but I am guilty of feeding her to sleep in my bed and then transferring her to her crib.

I'm thinking it may be easier to work on bedtime soothing first?

Thanks for reading!

Offline Digimand

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Re: No naps
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2014, 13:00:58 pm »
Hi Lindsay

Thanks for the advice. I admit our bedtime routine is a bit patchy, we go upstairs to the quiet bedroom, shut blinds and cuddle in my bed! I've just read the 4s page you linked to so I shall try those things. Do you think I am right to tackle bedtime first and then use same ritual to introduce day naps?

Thanks

Offline Lindsay27

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Re: No naps
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2014, 13:04:24 pm »
I tend to lean more toward the idea that if you work on the days first, the nights will follow, but it is completely up to you what you want to tackle first. 

Don't worry too much right now about feeding to sleep at night, she is still little and most of us end up feeding to sleep for the BT feed.