I am a bit stressed and jittery from constant nap battle - share your tips PLEASE!

[PeckaRolloverAgain]

DD1 and DS were both those contented, chilled, good sleepers, great feeders etc

DD2 however ISN'T and Im having a hard job adjusting to her needs.

She is a very sensitive baby and is very prone to becoming overtired and very miserable - what she needs is MORE SLEEP one thing I cant get her to do is SLEEP!!!!

If i could just get her napping decent naps im ssure she would be loads better.

she is quite good at nnight but daytime is a write off - if i get her to sleep her eyes ping open 20 minutes later and no amount of anything gets her back. She wakes up still knackered, red watery eyes, yawning, crying etc and so the cycle starts.

There has to be a missing link somewhere that Im not doing that might just help her!!!!!!!

[mumof2pixies]

I dont have any answers, but Im sending you my moral support!! Mine is the same during the day, but also sleeps badly at night! More sleep equals more sleep...easier said than done!

[PeckaRolloverAgain]

Thats why im getting stressed as her previously really good night sleep is going backwards and im sure its because she is so overtired

we both are

both have wide open, staring red eyes hah

[gingerninja]

Stop punishing yourself , you said yourself that you had two that slept so it's obviously not something you're doing or not doing.

I think in my not very vast experience that some children are just rubbish sleepers. My DD was a 30 minute napper. You could set your clock by her. Then, at 8 months she just started to nap for longer. Don't know why. I've given up looking for explanations to her lack of sleep and stopped questioning myself.

Have you tried a sling? My DD would sleep for hours if she was cuddled up with me but I'm guessing if you've got two others it's not as easy as plonking yourself on the sofa and cuddling up so a sling may be an option. Other than that I've no doubt that you've tried everything. But from a fellow non sleeper, it does get better.

[NewDKmum]

Hi PRA,
I have a great nap time tip if I should say so myself
I am Danish and in Denmark - as strongly recommended by GPs, MWs og HVs - all babies from newborn to app. 2½ years nap outside in their prams. Tugged up nice and warmly they are put outside when showing signs of tiredness. No rocking or walking - they will very soon associate the fresh air and nature noises with napping for hours - almost guaranteed! You really should give it a try...

[Habbibu]

Have to agree with the outside thing - NOT, I might add, Claire Verity fashion, but cosily tucked up, near to hand, (just outside back door for us) attended quickly when crying. DD first self-settled when at my mum's, outside, and gazing at the trees. I kept looking at my watch in amazement at how long she slept!

[PeckaRolloverAgain]

once she getss in a state ofovertiredness, nothing helps

might try the outdoors thing before she gets into meltdown

[PorridgeBrain]

Pecka, how old is your LO? I also have a very sensitive baby and had exactly the same probs with daytime naps but great at night (although not atm {hmm]). She just got better with age and by 5 months was sleeping a lot better although she'll still often only have 45 mins at LTN and wake up tired but can cope with it better the older she gets.

One thing that did work better for me was to put her in her sleeping bag for her naps and try to replicate as much of the night time routine as possible. I guess she then recognised it was sleep time. Also trying to get her down before she gets overtired is crucial. But as for trying to get them to sleep longer I'm afraid I never really cracked that although I think a sleeping bag helped a bit. Sometimes I got her up and put her back down 20 mins later when she clearly wasn't happy at being up and that sometimes worked but not always. I find my LO will often have a long nap in the morning but no chance at lunchtime even if she only had a short nap in the morning.

Hope it gets better for you soon..

[puffling]

How old is she?

[PeckaRolloverAgain]

She is 13 weeks.

Its so frustrating as on the days when I crack it she is like a different baby! Drinks more milk, sleeps well at night, totaly content and happy in between feeds.

On the days I dont, however, cries most of the day, wakes up at night and only drinks tiny bit of milk.

Good job they are so bloody cute!

[puffling]

She will definitely improve. By 6 months, she'll manage 2hrs at a time or more. We had the same problem as you and dd gradually slept more. One thing that helped was a dummy. DD was a very sucky baby and we found it really relaxed her at the end of a bottle or when trying to put her down for a nap. She weaned herself off the dummy at 5 months once it became too small for her mouth! Another thing you could try is going in a few mins before you expect her to wake and half wake her. This might encourage her to sleep past the time she'd naturally wake. We also had the room blacked out.
I'd recommend the babywhisperer website which is free and has boards specifically devoted to naps. The moderators provide excellent advice.