Naps and P.U.P.D method

[huber_mom]

Hi There,
I would like some advice on whether I am doing the P.U.P.D method right and advice on other nap related issues I'm having.
My 3 month old cannot fall asleep on his own, he always cries for me when he gets drowsy.
Due to reflux we always walked and swayed him to fall asleep, but now he is getting too heavy and I can't keep up anymore.
I tried it the way the book describes, but my little boy really doesn't like it.
Having him over my shoulder patting his back wakes him rather than puts him to sleep (this may be my fault as this is how I carry and pat him after he wakes up, so he may be associating it to wake time?)
The last 3 days I've been doing it with him laying in my arms and patting his diaper, it's the only way he starts getting drowsy.
I then put him in the cot drowsy, he always opens his eyes, but then I softly pat his diaper until he closes his eyes and then I stop to try have him fall asleep without my assistance, I keep standing by him so he sees me if he opens his eyes again.
Will this teach him to fall asleep on his own?
He has been fighting his nap times and when I get him to fall asleep he only sleeps for 30 minutes.
Before when I was swaying him to sleep he would sleep 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
Am i doing something wrong?

[weaver]

Sleep and the reflux baby.

Have a look here ^^

As he has reflux you need to adjust what you do. PU/PD is not going to work as it may aggravate his reflux and, as you say, patting his back may not be comfy for him either.  BW is about listening to your baby, so you can freely adapt to what you and he need. 

What you're doing (the diaper patting) sounds perfect to me.  It *is* teaching him to sleep independently, he's learning to just lie in the cot and go to sleep, and he feels reassured and happy there. So that's great! It won't happen overnight, but keep doing it and experiment with gradually reducing the time you spend patting (you can try stopping patting earlier and just having your hand on him, and work up to just putting him in the cot and keeping your hand on him). 

30 mins can mean OT, so maybe start winding-down for nap earlier if it's now taking longer to get him to sleep

[katie80]

Completely agree with the above. ^^^ You've done a great job figuring out what works for him! It's normal for them to fight a bit as well when you start a new method, but that will get better.

Have you tried going back in at 30min when he wakes and patting him again? He may start to resettle for you as he gets used to that settling technique. Or, you could try going in a bit before he wakes and holding your hand on him or patting him through that time.

[huber_mom]

I have tried going in and patting after he's woken up, but he does fight it and fuss terribly.
Sometimes it's even more like a game to him and he smiles at me.
Today has been bad, because he had vaccinations and is running a bit of a fever.
I'll try going in a bit earlier, that might work!
Thank you so much both of you!
I'll maybe start unwinding twenty minutes earlier, because it does take him quite some time to fall asleep in the cot!

[huber_mom]

Mommies, I've hit a new snag.
I think my 3 month old is throwing tantrums... 
When I start the standing shush pat, he starts screaming and kicking and scratching me.
He then all of a sudden wants to latch again so he's nuzzeling me, if he sees he's not getting any he starts chewing on his fingers.
It takes me 45 minutes to get him asleep from start to finish.
Is this normal?
It's almost as if he knows I'm going to try make him fall asleep in his cot.
Once we over the need for sucking, he then cries every time I put him in the cot, but gets quite when I pick him up.
Am I trying too soon to sleep train him?
He'll be 4 months on the 26th