Spend longer getting 2 month old to nap than he spends actually sleeping

[Lew1993]

DS is 10 weeks old and since he’s been 5 weeks he is a terrible day napper. We don’t have really bad problems on an evening at bedtime, he generally sleeps from about 9:30-4:30, up for food then back to sleep til about 8. But it’s just his day naps, I feel like I’m going mad. I can sometimes spend nearly an hour trying to get him to sleep for him to only nap for 30 mins and wake up crying as he’s still tired but no matter how much we try to get him back to sleep he won’t.

I’m consistent on putting him down in his cot in a darkened room, the same lullaby music playing, stroking his head and “shushing”, he sometimes has his dummy. Always make sure I try settle him down before he’s been awake for longer than 1hr 30 mins as that’s apparently when they start to get overtired. No matter what we do, even if he does fall asleep on me he still wakes up after 30 mins.

It’s getting exhausting everyday, especially with a 2 year old too that I feel guilty about as he’s having to be left to play a lot on his own while I’m sorted babba out.

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions or is it just something hopefully he will grow out of as I feel like I’m going mad

Maybe he needs to be awake for a bit longer to get properly tired? Generally if it takes a long time to settle for a nap I found it was time to move that nap a bit later.

He's still really little and the routine may not be right for him. Look for his tired cues such as yawning and playing with his ears and then try putting him down. You'll quickly notice a pattern. My DS is 14 weeks and this approach suits him and I have a rough idea of when his naps will be.

Can he nap in his bouncy chair in the living room with you?

Agree with PP about him still being really little. My DS didn't nap for longer than 30 min until about a week ago and he's about to turn 6 months. Nothing I did would get him to nap longer!

Don't worry about the time they 'should' be awake for and just go with your baby. Look for cues like yawning etc and go with that the best you can.

TinselTimes - when I’ve left him longer before it’s been a complete nightmare where he starts screaming the place down

He’s only ever really fallen asleep in his bouncy chair a couple of times and even then he starts getting really grumpy beforehand and has a meltdown before he finally switches off, can’t understand it!

Thanks for the replies, I try really hard to watch for his cues to tell me he’s tired with the yawning and rubbing his eyes but even then after he sleeps he’ll still wake up 30 mins later very unsettled. I know he’s only young yet it just feels like when you’ve been battling with a very cryey baby for 5 weeks it almost feels like he’s older than he is!!

Ditch the routine - enjoy your baby ! He’ll fall into a pattern of his own if you let him and just be guided by his cues. Xxx

At the age he is is try rocking, putting him in a sling, walk with the pram or feed to sleep. Seriously please don’t worry about routines and self soothing - it’s all a bit of a nonsense! Xx

Lumpy76 thank you, I do quite often end up rocking him to sleep then feel a bit stuck as soon as I move him he’s up and awake, I absolutely love having a cuddle with him but with a 2 year old too it’s impossible to do so all the time. Also I take him out in the pram nearly everyday at some point, sometimes he goes to sleep and sometimes he just screams. I also did invest in a sling, it worked once and after that no joy I will try not to be so bothered about routines though, I think that’s what ends up stressing me out more. Thanks xxx

I had this problem when I wanted DD to start napping properly. I read up on sleep cycles and how babies wake in the lighter sleep cycle until they get used to sleeping longer or something like that! Basically around 5 minutes before she would usually wake I would start gentle rocking of the crib and white noise and do this for around 5/10minutes. She visibly settled down into a deep sleep again and I left the room. Only every did it once in a nap cycle. Eventually it was unnecessary.