Napping

[Fifilottie]

My DD is only 9 weeks but was 4 weeks early ..Shehas started to get into the habit of only getting off to sleep for naps if in a baby carrier...not sure how this all started!!! I do this only in the daytime but at night simply spend hours just trying and retrying to get her off..you know how it is. Should I be worried about getting her addicted to the baby carrier technique or am I just faffing and worrying???..should I use it at night??any advice for a first time mum......also what about napping routines etc...DD seems to change hers every day, also when she does sleep it can be for ages. Should I wake her for a feed after three hours? Cheers guys!

I really wouldn't worry about getting her addicted to any particular technique at such a young age.......I think you just have to do what you need to to get them to sleep tbh. There are all sorts of sleep training techniques out there that you could employ to get her to sleep in a cot if you wanted to go down that road (try googling 'shush pat' and 'pick up put down'). The only thing I can recommend from personal experience is to implement some kind of bedtime routine fairly early on so that she learns to differentiate night from day (Maybe a bath and then a last feed in a quiet dark room etc etc).

As for napping routines, I think your DD is too young yet for any kind of lasting routine to develop. I can't remember what age my DD1 was when we got to the point of regular nap times but I have a feeling it was probably 4 or 5 months (maybe even 6). DD2 is coming up to 12 weeks and we certainly don't have any kind of regular pattern emerging yet!

As for waking for feeds, I would say it's not medically necessary unless there is a problem with weight gain. I tend to not let DD2 go for longer than 3 hours between feeds because I want her to eat lots in the day and sleep better at night! However, that's personal preference and I'm not saying it's what you should do if you would rather leave her to sleep.

HTH XX

hi there,

Yeah you are right I shouldn't be worrying too much about day time naps as long as she gets a few hours here or there...mind you I'm with you on making sure she wakes for g plenty of day feeds to make sure she(or me) gets a good nights sleep. I always wake her at mid night for a bottle of EBM and she tends to sleep til 6...so hope she will keep to this.....Just got her down, yes..thanks again

Yes, at 9 weeks (and only 5 on her adjusted age) I would just be happy that you've found a way of getting her to sleep during the day! Don't worry about routines - you'll find as she gets to 12 weeks or more that she forms a natural pattern - probably about 5 sleeps a day. (This site is good on what to expect when :www.babysleepsite.com/category/newborns/ )
You don't need to wake her up for feeds any more if her weight gain is good. Are you breastfeeding? I always found that was the easiest way to get dd off during the night.

My best advice is don't try to get any young baby to sleep. Allow them to sleep and wake when they want to. At night, when they get so sleepy they are about to go off, put them in their night time sleep place.

I have let DC4 totally guide me. The only interruptions have been me having to go out for school run or appointments sand she self-adjusts her pattern accordingly.

She had no set pattern at all and now at 9 months I find she naturally falls asleep not long after the morning school run and again about 2pm and then goes to bed at 8pm without me having to try.

It has taken 4 babies and scores of babies I have done sleep training with to discover this non-technique.

Agree with hobbgoblin! You can't make a baby sleep if it isn't going to!

Cheers all, Feel better about going with her nap routine, carrier or not, rather than following all these "books" and their "advice"

I am breast feeding and always feed her just before bedtime. If there is anytime in between feeding and sleep time she simply starts eating her hands and demands a comfort suck as she isn't really hungry and it can get her off to the land of dreams. That's good for now but there is this big thing about making sure they don't associate feeding with getting to sleep isn't there? But But but it works so am doing that for now

Actually took a look at that baby sleep website and it seems that I was doing the right thing by putting DD in the carrier...she loves it and I advise it to anyone with a newborn that is having trouble napping or being soothed etc...