HELP- Desperately need advice...

[rachelle26]

Hello... I have what I think is an odd issue.

My LO does not sleep in his car seat.  Therefore when trying to run errands or go anywhere he will usually miss his nap time and then we have an over tired baby that is so hard to put down.  Unless we can run our errands in the quick 23-30 min he has wake time, then they don't get done or we have to deal with a very fussy baby the rest of the afternoon.  Any suggestions?? I've actually never heard of a baby not liking to sleep in the car... he doesn't mind his car seat and isn't fussy, he just stays wide awake or will doze off for maybe 15-20 min but definitely not enough.  We are finding ourselves prisoners in our home or unable to run errands as a family (so my husband and I have a little time together).  Any thoughts???

The other issue is his naps... I've read so much about nap issues and 45 naps and being there with them for 20 minutes, etc.  The issue I have is my LO used to go down well for a nap (he's now 7 weeks old) and now he is fighting it and spend 45 min or so getting him down and then for him to only sleep for 30-45 min.  and then he's overtired.  We're trying to wind him down earlier and only allowing him to be awake for 45 minutes in total with feeding, diaper change and wind down... he's very drowsy when we put him down but then he stirs and jolts often (and we have him swaddled) when he wakes from this he cannot put himself back to sleep... for the past week or so we have been doing the p/sh method as well as being in there with him to help him get through his jolts/sleep stages... but it doesn't seem to be helping... how do we know when he's in a deep sleep and can safely leave the room?  Is there anything more we can be doing?? I keep hearing it will get better but this is so difficult as I find that I spend my entire day and weekend just trying to put him to sleep but then he never truly sleeps... so we have an overtired baby during the day. 

He sleeps very well at nighttime it's just the days that are bad...

Here is his "schedule/routine" for the most part what we try to follow...
He's a BF baby and is 7 weeks old...

7am wake & E (although he keeps waking closer to 6-6:30)
7:20-7:45 activity
7:45 windown nap
9:30-9:45 Wake(although sleep has been off/on since 7:45)
10:00 feed
10:20-10:45 Activity
11:00am S
1:00F (same process as above happens through out the day)
4:00F
6:00 F
7:30 Bedtime routine
8:00 F  (put down for bed after feeding)
10:00-10:30 Dream Feed
2:00-2:30 wakes to eat... Feed
between 6-7 wakes to eat again...

any thoughts or feedback on these 2 issues would sincerely help a new mom who is struggling and finding it hard to even eat her own breakfast and lunch let alone anything else.  :?

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hi there,

My lo is just under 5 months now, and I had to laugh a little when I read your car seat problem. That's an issue we've had to deal with as well. He's not crazy about being the car period or the car for that matter. We had problems taking him out much at all until about a month or so ago - the car would start such a riot and he was very easily overstimulated as well. Anyway, I was also shocked that I had a baby who wasn't into the car seat. Now we make sure that he gets out each day even if it's just for a few minutes, and that's helped a LOT - now he does ok but has to be absolutely dead tired to actually sleep in the car.

What I suggest you try is taking your lo out each day for a short trip so that he becomes accustomed to being in the car, in his car seat and out in the world. Don't necessarily run errands - just go get a cup of coffee or walk around in a store, something like that. And for now, until he's a bit older and can stay awake longer, run your errands alone. I know it really cuts back on your family time but this was the only thing that worked for us in those early weeks. This way, everyone gets what they need - lo gets some time out but not too much, and you get done what needs to be done. As much as you don't want to, some togetherness time just needs to be sacrificed in the beginning sometimes. Please don't take that in a harsh way, I don't intend that at all - but 7 weeks is still very young and he still has a lot of learning to do with sleep.

I can't really offer any advice as far as the naps go -we've been fighting our own demons with that since mine was born! But believe me, all of this does get better. I also didn't get to do much eating or showering at first, but that truly does improve. I know that at the time it feels like it never will, but hang in there, it sounds like you're doing a great job of teaching your lo to sort things out.