We have a one-month-old, a two-year-old, and a four-year-old, all "Spirited" boys. The baby sleeps fine at night (thank God), but we have a lot of trouble getting him to stay asleep during the day, especially with the older kids running around and with errands that need to be done. This morning, my wife spent forty-five minutes shush-patting the baby in a darkened room, and then came downstairs to find that the big brothers had totally trashed the living room and kitchen...and after all that effort, the baby was awake again half an hour later!
Other techniques we've used:
- Let the baby take a nap on mom's lap after nursing. This sometimes works, but we don't want it to turn into a habit.
- Carry the baby in a front carrier while chasing after the older kids. He doesn't really nap in this environment--he takes an occasional catnap and spends a lot of time with a sort of zombie-like tired expression--when he's not crying.
Note that the baby can't be swaddled while either of these alternative techniques are being used, and if we put him down unswaddled, he will wake up within twenty minutes, if not five. (His arm movements are so forceful that we have to use a "SwaddleMe"--a cloth-and-Velcro contraption that we nickname the "baby straitjacket"--to keep him swaddled for sleep. And if he's really in a crank, he breaks out of that, too.)
What else can we try?
