8 week old baby naps

[Kp1122]

My 8 week old will only have naps on my being rocked or in his pram but then is woken really easily and will scream and will refuse to go back to sleep. So is only napping for 2-3x 15-20 mins. How would you recommend him to have longer naps during the day?

Wow, yes that really is too little for a small baby 🥺 Swaddling, white noise? Have you winded him properly?

Does he sleep on you OP? It’s really normal for babies to need to be parented to sleep, so I’d say focus on whatever works! If he’ll only sleep on you then get yourself comfy on the sofa for as long as it takes 😁 or have you tried a sling/carrier? Being close to you and the motion may help him to stay asleep.

Thanks for replying I’ll look into a sling. I feel guilty on my other son if I can’t play with him as my 8 week old is asleep on me most of the day so I feel I need him to nap at least once or twice a day in his cot/chair/pram where I can give me other son all of my attention x

Go for a walk to the park baby will sleep in pushchair for an hour or so and you can focus on your oldest

I’ve had tried swaddling but he cries so much I end up taking him out of it, he does drift off to white noise but then even if he moves his arm it will wake him up again 😢

Hi there,

Hopefully some of this information is helpful for you...

0-3 month old babies require 14-17 hours of sleep per 24 hours.
4-5 naps on demand during the day.
Around 45 minutes of awake time in-between daytime naps.

Look out for these following sleep cues...

1. Your baby appears to stare in to the distance and loses interest in you and the activity you were doing.
2. Your baby becomes very still or has sudden jerking movements.
3. Yawning.
4. Pulling at own ears or face.

You need to respond to these cues quickly before your baby becomes over tired. An over tired baby is extremely difficult to get to sleep and stay asleep. This is because when a baby is overtired, the hormones of cortisol and adrenaline are released.

Hope you get a sleep routine sorted soon! Fee Xx

Thank you for that information I will certainly look out for those cues. Should I try making more noise whilst he naps? As he’s waking up from them really easy and if he wakes just leave him if he’s not crying?

You're so welcome :)
I would recommend using a white noise machine to cover up any noises you are making around the house. This will help your baby fall and stay asleep at the end of their sleep cycle. Your baby has 2 sleep cycles, active sleep and quiet sleep
(REM, Non- REM). Just like us, babies wake up in between sleep cycles. We don’t always notice this in our sleep, but it’s more obvious when your baby does it because they become noisy and tend to fuss, but we can mistake this as baby waking up. Therefore it’s important not to rush in and pick up your baby, because in actual fact you are the one waking them up. Then we start a cycle of them becoming extremely fussy because they haven’t had their required amount of sleep. Just for reference, know that a 3 year old has sleep cycles of around 60 minutes. An adult’s sleep cycle is around 90 minutes.
Hope this helps!
Fee Xx