To find getting baby down for 3 naps a day nauseating ?

[dontfollowmeimlosttoo]

6 month old baby - 3 naps a day. Needs these naps and he sleeps through the night great when I make sure he gets the naps. I am finding getting him down soul destroying ... it's usually around 2 hours after last wake up .., look out for eye rubbing yawning .. current method is rocking him in the pram in the living room . Sometimes it can only take a few pushes and he is off other times I am pushing for 30 minutes. It's embarrassing sometimes when I have anyone over obviously they go into another room but they know how long it's taking and I'm there sweating pushing away. Any tips for getting baby to nap in cot and to reduce the overall time it takes to get him to sleep? I just feel like I spend my whole day trying to get him to nap all for a good nights sleep and so he is alert and happy in awake time ( which he is but I have cried sometimes through frustration at just pushing pram back and fourth with him holding his feet messing around - it sounds like he isn't tired but he is ) any advice would be really appreciated

@hammeringinmyhead great tip il try it thank you

Baby's develop really quickly at this age. What worked at 5 months might have zero effect 4 weeks later.
Every 4 weeks there's a new routine/milestone. (First smile, supportibg head, sitting up, Rolling over - there's really only weeks between each).
My point being, it's been 2 hours since 5 months old, is probably old news for him, not relevant now. 40mins rocking....he's definitely not tired imo.
I'd definitely be stopping this routine.

@stucknoue he was demand breast fed for first 5 months now he is combi

@GreatOne ok thank you il try waiting 2.5 hours

If he needs rocking for half an hour to get to sleep he can't be that tired? Have you tried omitting the 3rd nap and perhaps bringing his bedtime forward a bit? What happen's if he doesn't het his three naps a day?

I feel you! What makes it worse is that he slept for 2 hours in his cot yesterday afternoon and it makes me out to be a liar to hubby!!! Little sod lol good job I love him. We had been swimming though.

One of mine dropped to two naps at about 7 months, it's maybe not that far round the corner for you. Also, regarding getting iff to sleep: I put both of mine down in the cot with white noise going and the room completely blacked out (you can use tinfoil) - I started that at 4 months and it made a huge difference.

Whatever you do with the naps, please don't feel thst you have to meet other people's expectations about having a mobile baby or going with the flow or whatever. Some babies are easier sleepers than others. Some people too. If a routine is getting you and your baby the sleep you need, don't feel like you have to change that or explain it. Those people are not going to come round your house at 2am and shush your baby back to sleep.

Like the PP, I just put all 3 of mine in their cot when they were tired at 4mo+ and they just whinged for 3 mins and then went to sleep (although it probably took 20 minutes or so the first few times).

If they were full-on crying, I'd go in, pat them for a bit and they would generally fall asleep.

Tiny babies can't fall asleep easily by themselves, but by 9mo they can.

I would try going longer between naps now see if that makes it easier. From about 6 months mine would easily go to 3 hours. Hard to keep up with their changing needs isn't it!!

@toomuchtooold that is so true , there is a class that is starting soon which will certainly clash with his nap MIL said oh I'm sure you can just work around it or nap at the class ... she made me feel OTT for sticking to the awake Time rule but like you say she won't be the one getting him back off to sleep in the night .

@Woodward12 it certainly is he was always 2 hours bang on . Strange as yesterday 2 hours after waking he went straight back down. Today it's taken 35 minutes but then we have family over who were talking and playing with him close to nap time 😴

Try for 5 minutes, if he doesn't fall asleep then get him up and try again in 30 minutes. Same end result as rocking for 35 minutes!

@stucknoue I did that for months just fed whenever and let him nap whenever ( which resulted in him having 3 poor cat naps and being awake all night ) it's only been since I have been strict in ensuring he has the 3-4 hours worth of naps that he sleeps 7-7

First child only slept on me or the buggy so I have tried really hard to establish a good routine with my 5m old. What I’ve found is that if I get the timing right, I put her in the cot and she sleeps like magic. Leave it too long and she cries and cries. I’m on a 2 hour schedule but I’ve found putting her down exactly 1h50 after wake up time gets her sleeping better than putting her down at the 2h point.

It’s great genuinely only first babies that get this level of indulgence. By the time you have to juggle nursery, toddler group and everything else subsequent babies get to sleep wherever they are. They tend to be calmer and easier because of this lower stress levels all around.
The sleeping through is probably unrelated to naps and more just developmental.

At 4m I was in a similar situation. DD would only sleep if rocked in her moses basket. Obviously at that point, my back was starting to get sore and I couldn't keep doing it.

Started pick up/put down method in her cot. She now sleeps 2 naps a day (one longer nap, one short one) and sleeps 7-7, all in her cot.

It's tough but sometimes you need to accept you'll have a bad few days and try to make the situation better in the long run.

Have you tried dropping a nap? DD was getting tricky to put down for another nap and I realised she needed to drop one and it helped tremendously. Worth a try? Your child might sleep longer in the other naps to make up for it.

Try a dummy? Mine went down for naps in a few mins and I always put it down to that.

Also don't worry about what other people think if it's taking a while and you have a visitor. You and your baby come first. Wish I'd realised this sooner. Be kind to yourself and do what works for you.

I wouldn’t get in the habit of rocking baby to sleep in the pram. Baby’s form habits fast!
My first I held to sleep and it was an absolute nightmare! Ended up having to go cold turkey on this when she was nearly 2 and it was a week of hell.
With my 18mo I got him used to being put down awake in his cot for naps and bedtime about this age. It is a bit of a process but they get used to it after a week. Helps if they have a comforter like a dummy, muslin or blankey Teddy

I have a feeling he is coming out of the four month sleep regression and very soon will settle into two naps. That's my guess, anyway. I'd be looking soon to try to put him in a cot with a bit of shushing if he doesn't settle on his own, so that you have an established pattern for all naps and to allow you a break! It does get easier OP, though I remember the difficulty of this stage with DD - every nap had to happen outside, in a sling, moving. It was terrible and I thought it would never end, but it did.

To avoid making, Hush, hush,” sounds I bought a MyHummy bear. Worked wonders. Your baby’s naps won’t last forever. Good luck.

At six months he maybe just needs two good naps and one could just be a short one. If you go out somewhere after his first sleep, let him have a snooze in buggy or car seat then proper nap when you get home. Sounds like your so tied to his nap times. I'm on dd3 now and she has just had to fit in from being tiny, she's very chilled and just goes with the flow.

Both of mine also slept through from early on but it has been linked to good naps. O can deal with any rubbish in the day while they sleep at night. I’m not good with sleep deprivation so I prioritise naps even if it makes me seem quite rigid. It is a relatively short period of time and so much easier when they drop to one. 3 /4 naps really is the most restrictive phase. It does get better even if it feels quite hard now.

I've always found the shortest wake up window to be first nap of day. So my 6 month old naps 1h 30 to 1h 45 mins after she wakes up for the day, for up to 2 hours. I just feed her to sleep through. Then she can go a bit more than 2 hrs awake now, I generally try for 2hrs 15- 2 hrs 30. If it's taking him that long to fall asleep I'd leave it a bit longer to try. For me variety was key at this age as 3 naps is tough. So first nap I'd feed to sleep in bed, second nap was generally out and about in sling or buggy and third nap could be a cuddle on the sofa. Stopped it being so boring and she got enough sleep overall.

I found this helpful gives u a right idea work for mine for the first year.
But babies make their own rules so it really is just a guide dont stress yourself out over it.
He maybe just transitioning from 3 to 2 naps
Hope this helps

I've found DS wants a different amount of nap time each day. I used to worry that if he didn't get his long naps he wouldn't sleep at night, but he does now (8 months) and sometimes I just put him to bed an hour earlier. I didn't want to get tied to the house like some of my friends whose babies will only nap in the quiet and dark in their cots, so I let him nap on me, in the pram in the car and if we're at home once asleep he goes in his cot. I now put him in his cot while I shower and nine times out of ten he goes to sleep, the odd time I get out of the shower and he's awake I give him a cuddle and he falls asleep quickly. Also think about if he needs really long naps , not all babies are the same. SIL was shocked that DS has two naps morning and afternoon 45-60 minutes usually, and often one around lunchtime 30 minutes or so and usually while out and about. DN has two hours morning and afternoon. Both sleep around 11 hours overnight. I also do feed, nap a little while after, play after nap until hungry, repeat rather than trying to get my very active crawling, climbing baby to go from tearing around to then sleep. He's mainly BF but has the odd bottle now.