12 week old cries before every nap during the day

[Moomma]

My DS has been screaming himself to sleep for naps since he was six weeks old - now twelve weeks. He doesn't show any signs of being tired before the screaming starts, and even if you pick him up from where he's playing or are actually holding him BEFORE the crying, he still does it. He obviously wants and needs to go to sleep, but his response to tiredness during the day is to cry! He's got better about going to sleep at night after feeds and rarely does more than a little grumbling, but having half an hour of shouting before every nap during the day is making me despair... and it can't be nice for him either. Any tips on how to get him into a lovely naptime routine? I would pat and shush but he can't hear me over the screaming, and it doesn't seem to matter if he's being held or rocked (though walking works, as does putting him in the pram).

I know he's young; I'm not very very worried about it, but I'd love to get it sorted out for him.

My sisters dd does same (8 weeks). We think it's just her way of winding down and letting out her frustratiion. My sis just holds her and lets her get on with it really. Nothing she does helps but she doesn't want to leaver IYSWIM? Do you think he could be overtired? Often babies who get overtired have trouble winding down so cry themselves to sleep? Have you actively tried putting him to sleep before the crying starts? Just a suggestion... it didn't work for my sister so she's just getting on with it and hoping it's a phase which I am sure it is !

My dd used to do this, but only cried for about 5 mins before a sleep. My ds (now 6 months) cried for ages before going to sleep. I second the thought that it could be over tiredness - my son is much worse when he's overtired. He is much better now - I think it improved a few weeks ago, but he does sometimes still scream himeself off to sleep.

Sorry - no real tips, but i'm sure it will improve as he gets older

my ds would scream too, it's very distressing, especially when your tired! I would put the radio on loud with white noise and that worked a treat. It freaked me out how well it worked actually...a kind of witchcraft lol he really hated being put down too, so when he did go down he made his objections known.

on the plus side, at least your baby has daytime naps - my 14-week-old never sleeps during the day unless he's out in his buggy!!

He didn't nap today - poor little thing just fed and cried for most of the day. I totally agree that he gets overtired, but there's literally no opportunity to get him settled before he cries. He goes from giggles to tears in a split second and sometimes even laughs while he's crying. If you interrupt his play to start to wrap him up for sleep, that sets him off crying. I think he just hates going to sleep. Otherwise he is very cheerful and interested in everything. Maybe he's just a little bit too alert for his own good.

I tried white noise today - I enjoyed the sound of heavy rain, but I don't think he could hear it over the screams!

Hairdryer works for us - 18 weeks DS also typically screams before dropping off to sleep. I now do a little nap routine - draw curtains, swaddle, little lullaby and pop him to bed, then switch on the hairdryer, blowing gently (from the other side of the room) on his face and on his mobile, which starts moving around. This stops the crying immediately (provided he isn't overtired). Once he calmed down, i replace the actual hairdryer by a recorded sound of hairdyer (mp 3 file on my laptop - I think it is a bit more energy efficent). I the leave this on continuously for his nap. He has gone from 30-mins catnaps to 2.5 hour naps now

He has a different cry for hunger - he will feed, though, but more in an 'I'm not happy - will this make it better?' way. It's just his routine. Feed, giggle and play, cry, sleep. If he's hungry he won't get close to sleep; he just cries (for the ten seconds it takes to extract boob from top). If he's tired, he'll take breaks to stare into space or even drop off for a minute or two.