Streaming over tired baby but will only cat nap!

[KKeeble]

my baby has got in the habit of just cat napping in the day and ends up steaming really hard between feeds because she's so tired! In the day I feed her every 3 hours so 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm and then feed at 7pm and put in her cot for the night. She can't seem to just drift off by herself, she gets over tired so ends up streaming her head off! It takes me about 15/20 mins to calm her by rocking her in my arms. She then will sleep for about 20 minutes and wake up. This happens in between every feed and whether I put her in her cot, in the car, pram or holding her.

Any suggestions on how to make her have longer naps so she doesn't get over tired gratefully received!!!

[DoodleAlley]

I have no tips but I am in the same position except that dd is snack breastfeeding because she is so tired despite trying all the tricks in the book.

DS fed every three hours and napped so I've no experience of this and it's exhausting. She seems to be such a light sleeper even though she is shattered, until evening when she collapses

[DoodleAlley]

Guess its just you and me kkeeble!

[KKeeble]

Guess it is :( that's not fair is it!!! ;) lets just pray it gets better hey!

[MrsWooster]

Are you sure it's not reflux? That 20 mins THEN wake sounds a bit like dd who's a changed woman since getting ranitidine...

[TotallyBursar]

Second the reflux suggestion.

If you have a bit more success keeping baby upright after winding (settling them on your shoulder or chest rather the popping them down) then raising the head end of the Moses basket/pram/crib may help. Reflux is horrible for them & medication can ease their distress very quickly.
You may not have other signs depending on the severity but it's definitely something to consider.

Also some babies need to suck for comfort - if you have no strong objection to dummies it may be worth a try. But it's suspiciously refluxy to me.
It's horrible & I well remember it but it does get better. For us omeprazole, ranitidine & gaviscon did the trick until her stomach matured. Without it we would have both gone loopy.

[KKeeble]

She's never been sick after feeds though, I put gripe water in her milk which helps with getting her wind up. Yesterday I prop her up twice so she was 45degree angle and she still woke up after 20 mins. And she sleeps fine on her back at night for long periods. But I will try today and see if it helps. Thanks

[BotBotticelli]

How old is your DC? My DS has always been a catnapper (usually having four 30 minute naps a day) but just before he turned 5 months we had a horrible couple of weeks where he went down to napping for just 20 mins and it was hideous! He stopped after a week or two and went back to 30 mins which I think is the best I am gonna get

Could your LO be overtired? Have ou tried getting LO down for a nap 90 mins after she wakes from her last one? When 90 minutes has elapsed, stick her in the buggy/car/cot or rock her - whatever works, and see if that leads to a loner sleep?

[DairyStar]

Have you tried a Swaddle? My dd wakes after 20 mins without one as her startle reflex wakes her up. I also keep her upright for at least 20 mins after a feed, and keep her Moses basket at a slight angle. I swear by the swaddle though, we have a miracle blanket.

[jaggythistle]

How old is she?

Have you tried feeding earlier than 3 hours in case she is just hungry?

[helebear]

My 8 week old dd is similar, she seems to find it very difficult to 'switch off' and a) go to sleep b) stay asleep. I've found she settles better if I take her into a dark room with nothing to distract/ stimulate her and that white noise works wonders. She'll literally drop off as soon as I turn it on (if she's not massively overtired already and having a mega meltdown) & will go into a deeper sleep if I either leave it on a timer to fade out or just leave it on. It's meant to sound similar to the sounds in the womb. Personally I find the noise really grating but dp says it makes him relaxed & sleepy and its worked with both my DC.

If you've ruled out relux & wind and you want to try it you can buy white noise apps or CDs or just de tune a radio.

I've also found that I have to keep an eye on her & whisk her into bed as soon as she yawns otherwise she goes into overtired meltdown. Dc1 used to just nod off to sleep when she was tired and its been a bit of a shock with this baby to realise not all babies do that & some need more help to go to sleep!

[helebear]

Also, do you have a sling? I don't get on with swaddling (but have a friend who swears by it) but have a wrap sling which dd2 always falls asleep in as it has a similar effect.

[MillionPramMiles]

My dd was like that, she would only sleep for 20-35 mins at a time. Within 30 mins of waking up she'd be a screaming overtired mess again but wouldn't sleep without another feed. At my lowest point she was 'snacking' every hour, taking in too much foremilk and had terrible wind.

I tried a sling and she did sleep for longer (I used a fabric wrap sling), I gave her a dummy and could pop it back in when she woke but this only worked for a few weeks and it didn't give me a break.
I also started topping up with formula at the lunchtime feed. This also helped but only for a few weeks.
I went for lots of short walks with the pram throughout the day, giving her the dummy (aiming to be home by her 30 min waking point otherwise she'd scream blue murder).

In the end though what really helped was that as she got older she could cope with less sleep so while she was grisly, she didn't go into meltdown. Moving onto solids and formula and starting to crawl all helped. Finally, she does longer naps as she's physically exhausted.
(Except at nursery where she still does 30 mins).