how to get 3 1/2 month old to nap during day?????????????

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at wits end and again lost my rag today

little one will sleep if in pram/car seat but i can't always get out of house

so today fed him first thing this morning then gets grouchy ready for nap but WILL NOT GO TO SLEEP...
no matter what i do

when had mil over he gets tired out with play and so can get him to nap for 20 min pretty easily

but today no mil (i did play with him but not to exhaustion) and thus i can't get him to nap and so had to feed him again!!!! this seems to help to make him sleepy - thus ruining my almost basic feeding schedule was trying to get...a feed after another 1 1/2 is not my cup of tea now he is 3 months old - getting tired - he is feeding every two hourly (bottle) as it is....

he will sleep now for his 20 min that i snack fed him

but any tips on getting 3 1/2 month old to nap in day???

DESPERATE

ps he seems to always roll on his back when lie him down and hates it (moro falling sensation?)- but we have battled hard since his birth and at least he now can "almost" sleep on it..

but i can't hold him in my arms and i can't feed him every time he needs to nap - nor go out in car every time

so how do i do it when stuck at home?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

help

Swaddle him so that he doesn't jump and flail his arms about, then place him on his back in his crib/cot, darken the room and leave him to drop off. If he cries, go in to him, gentle pick him up and sooth him, then put him back down in his cot. Keep doing this until he gets the hint. It'll get easier each time you do it.

HTH.

to strong to swaddle since 8 weeks...

tried that!

also was he not sleeping cuz hungry or cuz needs sleep

i mean he took 110ml and then yes got sleepy but he did take 110ml

so now am confused!!!

i fed well in morning (170ml) but maybe he should have had more????

Does he have a favourite cuddly toy or even a muslin to play with whilst he drifts off?

I'm sure someone with better advice will be along shortly.

you dont have to go out the house to get them to sleep in the buggy. put them in the buggy and push it back and forward in whatever room you choose and you may find your lo goes to sleep. My sister always got her lo's to sleep in front of cbeebies in her living room - it got to the stage she didnt even have to move the buggy about, they just went in the buggy and went to sleep.

agree re swaddling and putting him down much earlier than you think
short nap times can be a sign of an over tired baby as they aren't settling into at least one sleep cycle, which is about 45 mins long
even at 3 months, it doesn't take much to over stimulate a baby and then they are much harder to settle
feed, burp, nappy change, bit of awake time and then swaddle and into bed/moses basket

alterntaively, would he sleep in a sling?

if he is finishing his bottles at each feed then increase them by 1 oz

Have you got a bouncy chair? When mine was younger he would only nap in pram but gradually started to drop off in the bouncy chair (with a dummy and a fair amount of jiggling and shushing).

Also, timing is absolutely key, at this age mine could only be awake for 90 mins.

At this age my ds could manage a maximum of 2 hours before needing a sleep (sometimes a bit less) so I would aim to have your lo ready for a nap approx 2 hours after he last woke up. Being up too long leads to overtiredness and makes it even harder for them to settle.

awake for only 90 mins?

blimey!!!

my lo is very!!! alert....but then again i rarely needed sleep as
a kid and now as an adult so maybe he has got this form me

he sleeps when out but when at home he prob sleeps 20 min day and 20 min afternoon only

then broken hours during night - doesn't sleep through but will sleep on off 10 hours

he also feeds very eratically - so i prepare max in bottle - 240 plus 8 scoops - sometimes finishes it all sometimes only has half

so cant use advise re increasing feed since it is at its max already!!!!!!!

I really do agree with the others that he probably needs more sleep during the day. Believe it or not this will also help his sleep at night.

Just try putting him down after 90 minutes or so for a couple of day - you may well be amazed. If you are not, then you've not lost anything.

when babies get tired they get 'wired' - big wide eyes, lots of erratic movements, etc so your lo looking alert is probably a sign of overtiredness rather than not needing a lot of sleep. It doesnt sound like he has a lot of sleep in 24 hours.

at that age i spent many a session pushing db around in circles in her buggy in the middle of the living room. Boy did i get dizzy! This was around the same time as I hatched my idea for a running machine big enough to push a buggy (and slow enough to walk on obviously). Anyway, when we was asleep I'd push her into the kitchen and leave her to it. Had to do this for a couple of months, from 6mos she started going to sleep in her cot.

I also followed the 2-hr rule - awake for no longer than 2hrs before trying for another nap.

now that is a first..yes mine does have big eyes and erratic movements

but i was told that was normal from hv

mind you they are all uselss in my opinion

but even when he sleeps in pram etc his demeanour is the same???

now am worried!

how muich should lo be sleeping?

anyone??

i also was told and read that babies sleep as much as they need

some need less some need more

i wasn't worried about amount just worried about getting him to sleep - then once asleep i would let him dictate amount

here we go - awake after 20 mins

crying next door

go to go....

I think the average is about 14/15 hours per 24 hours with 2-4 hours being during the day

Now, this sounds like ds at this age. He went heywire at 3mths!
I was keen to help him find his own routine/follow his sleep clues. He didn't seem to have any. He ended up sleeping probably about the same amount as your lo, and was equally hard to settle - we did a lot of snacking to sleep

In retrospect (and with the example of dd) he defn wasn't getting enough sleep. Once he started sleeping more often, he started sleeping longer too (20 mins is half way through a sleep cycle - you may also find he often sleeps 40 mins or so) Overtiredness is apareently really, really common cause for sleep problems in los.

I would try settling him to sleep after 90 mins or so. Don't worry for a while HOW you get him to sleep, just get him used to a rough structure to his day. I'm NOT a clockwatcher, but a rough structure can help at around this age, ime. Perhaps think about aiming 3 naps (morning, early pm, quick cat nap late pm)

HTH!

Now, this sounds like ds at this age. He went heywire at 3mths!
I was keen to help him find his own routine/follow his sleep clues. He didn't seem to have any. He ended up sleeping probably about the same amount as your lo, and was equally hard to settle - we did a lot of snacking to sleep

In retrospect (and with the example of dd) he defn wasn't getting enough sleep. Once he started sleeping more often, he started sleeping longer too (20 mins is half way through a sleep cycle - you may also find he often sleeps 40 mins or so) Overtiredness is apareently really, really common cause for sleep problems in los.

I would try settling him to sleep after 90 mins or so. Don't worry for a while HOW you get him to sleep, just get him used to a rough structure to his day. I'm NOT a clockwatcher, but a rough structure can help at around this age, ime. Perhaps think about aiming 3 naps (morning, early pm, quick cat nap late pm)

HTH!

Does he have a dummy? It can help if he likes sucking to sleep rahter than actually feeding.

Go out and buy 'The Baby Whisperer solves all your problems' by Tracy Hogg.

It was a lifesaver for me and many of my friends and has some really good ideas to get babies to sleep.

Sounds just like DS. What worked for us was lying on our (kingsize and low) bed with him and soothing him to sleep. Then lying next to him for a week and soothing him back to sleep when he woke up. He only fell off the bed once. You're basically putting him to sleep in your arms but you don' have to put him down. DS went from only napping for 30 mins max to 2hrs. Bliss!! He's slept on out bed ever since and now has just moved for naps to a toddler bed.

I think the two hour awake rule is a pretty good one. If you do first feed at 7.00 ish then nap at 9.00 for an hour. Feed again around 10.00/10.30, nap at 12.00/12.30 for 2 hours, feed again at 2.30/3.00 ish, short nap around 4.00/ 4.30 then feed at 6.30 and bed by 7.( then any night feeds) I would try and get the 12.00 nap to almost always be in a cot as this is the sleep they usually always have right up until toddlers( after lunch iyswim) It might not work at first but just persevere. Put them down awake- dummy can be good, if swaddling doesnt work you could try tummy sleeping!! Contoversial I know but both of mine would only sleep on tummy- 1 with reflux/ colic and 1 who just turned over at 2 months! Keep going back to settle them but dont get them up to play, just soothe them quietly , no talking etc Even if they have no sleep the first time you do it do same routine day after day till they catch on! Make room as dark as poss and maybe play a cot musical thingy so they learn to associate that with going to sleep. I dont know what I would do if I didnt have this break every day, it becomes invaluable so worth persevering. Still young at 3 months though so dont sweat too much, it should work itself out if you try and stick to a plan. Good luck. My dd2 was screaming colicky nightmare for 3 months and now at 6 months sleeps 3 hours total in day and 12 hours at night- Like a baby in fact

my dc2 is 3 months and we have a rough routine now
7am wake and feed
around 8.30 nap - could be 45mins to 1.5 hours
10am feed
short nap if out
1pm feed nap soon after
can be up to 2.5 hours ( occassionally more!)
4pm feed
5/5.30 ish cat nap 20 mins or so
6.30 bath, long feed
7/7.30 ish bed
it is true that the more well rested they are the better they sleep, my friend had same thing saying her baby was alert but he was sooo over tired but she needed to work it out herself

afternoon sleep is worth preserving with your life, keeps me sane as dc1 still has 1.5 hours at age 2.5!

wow that is so different to my lo!!