Hi Kim
I'll leave the napping tips to Jo (I was never the best at extending naps TBH) but wanted to pop on and offer some support for you as the first few weeks of EASY are definitely the hardest. It DOES get easier to get out and about as your lo gets older - A times get longer, feeds get stretched a bit further apart, and naps get to be fewer in number but (hopefully!) longer and all that makes it much easier to go about life
Here's an FAQ with some tips for you, not sure if you saw it but thought I would share the link just in case you haven't:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63056.0tay has given you some good advice:
3- everyday have at least one of the big naps in his own cot (which is usually the afternoon one - 2 hrs). And make sure to keep extending his naptime with pat/shush if he's unsettled
We always tried to do that too. At your lo's young age it is easiest to get out during S time (so she can sleep in the carseat/stroller/sling/etc) but I always tried to get at least one nap per day in the crib. Sometimes it worked well, others not so much, but again it did get easier as ds got older.
4- if we're driving somewhere that's going to take more than 45 min we try to fit it that it's on his S time
We always did that too. In fact, even if it was only 20-30m away I would tend to let him nap in the car, grab myself a coffee, and drive about to let him get a good nap in. That saved my sanity on more than one occasion!
I tried to plan grocery shopping during nap time too - I would drive around until he fell asleep, then click his carseat into the stroller and get my shopping done. 9 times out of 10 it worked perfectly!
I do disagree with one thing though (sorry tay
):
DS is 17 weeks and I've found that it's easier to keep to the routine if it's my activity rather than his.
TBH, I think that that contradicts the principles of bw: giving your lo a consistent, predictable routine and following their cues. A consistent routine is not a schedule (we're not watching the clock for feed time and nap time, for example), but providing a consistent pattern of eat, activity, sleep based on your lo's hungry cues, sleepy cues, and age-appropriate A times. To me, basing your lo's day around your planned activities and classes (especially those that are offered at contradicting times) isn't really a routine, kwim? There are times when it's necessary to shuffle things around (a doctor's appointment for example, or a school run if you have 2 los) but with my ds I selected activities that were available during his normal A times. If it wasn't available at the right time, I didn't do it. And if he'd had a bad night or a bad nap (meaning that I was going to have to reduce his A time to prevent OT), or was going through a growth spurt and wanting to constantly feed, then I sometimes had to change my plans. Some of my friends that also had babies accused me of running my life around my ds as I would cancel plans, or schedule coffees and play dates around his naps and feed times. Those same friends though would complain about their lo crying through a play date, while I rarely had troubles with ds.
I hope that made sense? (((hugs))) It is tough to get out at this young age but it can be done, and it does get so, so much easier when they're older.
As a side note, I noticed that you said your lo is feeding every couple of hours? Have you tried to stretch that out at all? That could be causing your short naps too - snacking, rather than taking full feeds, can cause sleep troubles as their tummies are never really *full*, kwim? Do you have a post in bfing at all?
