MY BABY IS NAPPING!!!!

[HJ's Mom]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!! I just bought the Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems as my 3 month old wasn't napping in his crib well and tossed and turned all night..up for comfort I thought. He snacked all day long..just in a couple of days he is napping 1-2 hours at a time in his crib, eating 4-6 ounces at one time and had a better night's sleep, although going through a growth spurt up once between 11 and 5. I can see this is what I have been looking for! He was being overstimulated during the day and not sleeping enough at one time!!!

[mamaof2]

congratulations...feels good doesn't it?  Don't you just want to tell every mom you see to try it all out??!

[HJ's Mom]

Yes, I want to tell everyone! I feel so much better about things. The "cry it out method" is not part of my philosophy, so I didn't quite know what to do. HJ is different from my other 2 kids (they are 21 and 18 years of age!) and they slept all night from 6 weeks and 4 months of age, so this one is a very different personality! It's fun parenting a baby again though!!!!

[leif's mom]

Hello!  How nice to see your post as I have a 3 month old who is having a terrible time napping!  I'm very careful to watch his sleepy signs and not let him stay up for more than an hour before his first nap and for more than 2 hours later in the day.  But he still usually fights his naps and every time it is a struggle to get him to sleep - I usually have to rock him.  And then right on the dot he will wake after 30 minutes and only if I pick him up and bounce him a little can I get him to go back to sleep, and this too, comes with struggle and crying.  (Putting his paci back in, etc. usually doesn't work)   It is all EXTREMELY frustrating and I feel like I spend my whole day getting him to sleep a decent amount! 

I have Tracy's second book on order, which it sounds like has more details to help with these kinds of sleep issues and helping him to learn to get back to sleep without my help.  You give me hope that perhaps it could work!!

It's interesting that you mention overstimulation as both my mom and husband thought that could be part of the problem, although  I try not overstimulate him too much.  Can you tell me more about what you were doing and how you thought it affected your babe?

Thanks so much!

[HJ's Mom]

Hi! I only have a sec, as Hayden will wake up very soon...I just started this, so it is all very new to me. In order to get him down, I need to be very aware of his very first sign of fatigue..usually he yawns or rubs his eyes (only briefly), so you need to be really in tune. I take him quickly to the crib and swaddle him..only the bottom part of his body, as he moves his hands and fingers alot now. He does struggle a bit (sometimes) and I stay with him..I sometimes have to touch his legs to help him to calm down..I have used a pacifier as well (not sure it's part of the plan). Yesterday it took almost exactly 20 minutes for him to fall alseep and today it took about 5-15 mins each time. My husband missed his early signs once today and he was very difficult to put down. We will see..I think the key is to just stay with them to help them through and they will get it on their own eventually. Patience, I guess. The second book is much more detailed, so you may want to wait and read it. I hope this helps. Keep in touch and good luck. (he is going through a growth spurt this week too, so that adds to it!)

[HJ's Mom]

PS - as for the overstimulation question you had..I was keeping him awake too long at one time..he's a very interested little guy and has been interacting with people since he was 3 weeks old, so it was easy to be talking to him and him to us..taking him from mobile to toy to swing, etc, thinking he needed to be stimulated to be happy, but come to find out, he was tired!

[leif's mom]

That was a quick response - thanks!  I hope to get the book by Monday and I will wait until I read it, especially since we're going away for the weekend.  I am desperate for a more concrete plan of action because I've tried everything short of letting him cry it out which I just can't bear to do. (And I've read all the sleep books!)

How long does your son sleep for when he finally goes down for a nap?  As I mentioned I'm also struggling with getting him to sleep longer than 30 minutes at a time.

And can I ask another question about the overstimulation...besides watching for his sleep signs carefully and not letting him stay up too long (which I've been careful to do) have you stopped letting him look at his mobile for too long a period of time and things like that?  What do you do differently now? - because I'm doing the same things you were doing!

Thanks for your help!

[HJ's Mom]

I still let him look at his mobile, but when he gets fussy about it, I remove him and just let him take in the natural surroundings of the home and yard. I don't put him in an overstimulated environment right away again. It's seems to be working. By the way, he slept for 71/2 hours at one time Friday night (which is absolutely amazing!) and last night only 5 hours at one time, but yesterday was a very, very hot day and he didn't do all that well with his naps later in the day. Can't blame him..I was grumpy too from the heat! overall, I think once we get the real hang of this, it's going to be good for all of us!

[Matthew's Mommy]

Awesome!!

Do you mind if I refer other parents to this post?  I'm sure it will help them feel hopeful!

[leif's mom]

Thanks for the reply...and can you tell me if you used PUPD with your son to achieve all this success?  I just read another post about someone with a 3 month old and she said she tried PUPD and it didn't work at all but she did use pat/shush and it worked great.  I am suspecting that pat/shush wouldn't work that well for my son and so I'm wondering which method you used?

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond!

[HJ's Mom]

Hahahahaha..I'm laughing at my son and I today! We were doing sooo great and then the heat hit yesterday really badly..couldn't swaddle him, so we were up alot during the night and I didn't push things with him. He is "wild child" today..snacking and napping about 30 mins at a time. I just put him down again, so hopefully we can get back on track! It's cooler today, so we should be able to. I cannot stop laughing about it though. He's just sooo out of control! He knows it too, I swear!
Anyway, I haven't had to to PD/PU, as he has been going to sleep with just a little help with me gently touching his legs and being there. I'm sure once he realizes he can change things up, he will. He loves the swaddling right now, so it's been working quite well.
Anyway, going to grab a quick cup of coffee before the "wild child" awakens!
"Talk" soon!

[kyemickaj]

This has been a great post for a new mum to read...  Thanks ladies!

I'm having a little trouble with my 7 week old "napping" during the day and then being very grumpy by the afternoon from being overtired and then not sleeping well at night.

I also think that I have been making the mistake of overstimulating him and this is why he is not settling at night!  He seems to sleep for about half an hour to an hour at a time and then by late afternoon is a nightmare to put down.  He will then sleep for about 5-6 hours because he's exhausted himself (I think).  I wish he would sleep those hours during the night.

Thanks for the tips, any more you have to offer would be greatly appreciated.  I also have my book on order and am patiently waiting for it to arrive...

Thanks again,
AJ's Mummy

[HJ's Mom]

My little guy is starting to get back on track. I had to do PU/PD this morning and it worked, eventually.
It sounds like your little one may have the days and nights mixed up with a 5-6 hour nap. Not sure what to do about that..I'll have to read up on it.

[Meg's Mom]

Hi Ladies

I have been following your post - as you can see you will have some good days and bad days.  Just when you think you got it, they change!  Darn...  :wink:

Anyway, i wanted to point out regarding pu/pd...i believe your LOs are under 4mos?  If so, Tracy does not recommend using this techn. - so stick w/ shh/pat.  She says it is too stimulating for the babies under 4mos.

For AJs Mummy - Tracy talks about what to do for day and night mix up in the new book.  If you don't have it let me know.  Also there is a new announcement w/ great ideas/help on teaching your newborn to sleep.  Have a read - 1st on on this forum.

[HJ's Mom]

That's a good point about PU/PD. I does work for us though so I will keep doing it. I only had to pick him up once this evening. The shhhing really bugs him (he's a touchy baby).