How to get baby to nap during the day!!

[coopekid]

My 5 wk old DS will only take brief cat-naps during the day, either on me/ DH or sometimes when out in the buggy/ car seat but is not having full naps and will wake and scream if he is put down naps. DH goes back to work next week and I am abit concerned how on earth I am supposed to get anything done during the day on my own (e.g shower etc ) and would like to slowly introduce more of a routine to our days, also think DS is often fussy by the end of the day because he is so over-tired. We have tried naps in his crib in our room with black out blinds and white noise/ naps downstairs in his bassinet/ naps in the pushchair or baby carrier…nothing seems to be working for very long.

DS is sleeping in 2-4 hr bursts at night and will generally wake twice for feeds, going down at 9pm and waking around 7am. He is exclusively breastfed and feeds on demand.

Any positive advice for a sleep deprived FTM would be great!

You could try a rocker. Wrapped up cosy after a good feed. Try Gumtree. TV or radio on low in the background. No need to dim the lights.

Also wondering if his tummy is uncomfortable if you're putting him flat on his back. Upright in a rocker might help.

Mine would only reliably nap in the sling at that age - it saved my bacon being able to carry him in that.

DD1 had to be rocked to sleep in a buggy for every nap until she dropped them entirely at 20 months. This would only work with a Snoozeshade blackout and loud white noise playing. She went down fine in her cot at night, but would scream until she was sick if we tried a cot nap in the day.

DD2 is five weeks and looks like she’s going down the road of nap hating too. Currently a rocking buggy has to remain rocking at all times, so we’ve spent a LOT of time at the park. Sling while hoovering also has a 50/50 success rate. Bouncers etc sadly don’t work as she’s too interested in the world to close her eyes.

Fresh air does sometimes do the trick. Maybe a very swift and bumpy buggy or sling walk? Living rurally helps with this.

My boy is 12 weeks and needs rocked to sleep and then would only cat nap of placed down. He will sleep for a hour/ hour and a half if contact napping. The last few days we have turned a corner in that he still needs rocked to sleep but once down in his swing will stay asleep for a decent amount of time. I tend to work things around his wake widows tbh (showers, house work ect).

@Timeturnerplease have you seen the rockit that attaches onto the pram?might free you up?

Google 4th trimester. You may need to change your expectations for a while. Congratulations! Xxx

@Mrsmch123 We have a Rockit from my first - although generally a much more highly strung baby than this one, at least the Rockit worked to keep her asleep for naps.

DD2 immediately clocked the Rockit and will wake up and wail if she senses it is not a human rocking her.

I don’t understand my children. I’d be delighted if someone tried to make me go to sleep in the day,

As long as baby is safe in his bouncer or cot then you can take a shower it's really common for babies not to nap much during the day. Have you thought about giving a bottle at night to try and get a longer stretch of sleep

Waking up twice I think is good. My almost three month old DS wakes up more than that. He has short naps in the day and one long one in the afternoon. I usually take him for a walk and that helps him sleep. Sometimes he sleeps for a while after in the pram.

If he likes the pram fake him for a walk?!

Yep sling while you walk or do the jobs in the house or go for walk in the pram or a drive and carry car seat in, that kind of thing, just do the routine same everyday with whatever creates sleep.

Are you winding him enough? Ds needed more time to wind than I realised. Once I learned that I had to keep going until his legs went soft, his napping improved.

Congratulations on your new baby! They have tiny awake windows at that stage so it's probably worth trying to get him off for a nap earlier than you might think. Try to keep it light and noisy (within reason) during the day and dark and quiet at night to help him learn day from night. Sling really helped with DC2 (I had a stretchy one that was great for a new baby). A good vigorous walk did the trick for both of mine but probably not what you want at 5 weeks PP. And failing all that I'd get comfy on the sofa and watch Netflix while they dozed on me and I could reshush if they started to wake.

Bouncy chair or changing mat in bathroom for baby while you have a shower. I'd often leave mine with DH of an evening and go for a super long shower or a bath though.

Every single nap for my little one was on me for the first 6 months after feed or rocking

Sling is your saviour! Also get realistic, you are holding them most of the time at that age. I was on my own all day from 1 week with dd1 and 3 days with dd2 (and yes with autistic dd1 with me in the process of being diagnosed) and I just put them down in a safe place if I needed to do things, sometimes they cried but I had no choice, neither napped alone and we coslept for sanity

He’s tiny, nap routines don’t really kick in until we’ll after 12 weeks in my experience even then it can be hit and miss and they can still be short for some babies.

Pop him in a sling and see if that helps. You can then get on with jobs. For showers, pop him in a bouncy chair, you can put him in the bathroom so you can see him then. It’s fine for him to only cat nap at this stage and is comply normal, although sometimes hard. Nighttime sleep for a breastfed baby of that age sounds completely normal. You’re doing well and you’ll find new ways of managing jobs etc as you grow to know your baby.