Hi ladies
just wondering if anyone has gone through the same thing and whether this is the 4 month sleep regression?
haby has been quite fussy around daytime naps for quite some time now, seems to get really over tired, but things are getting worse. Baby will be exactly 4 months on Thurs.
she fights her naps so bad. I watch wake windows as well as sleepy cues and always start trying to get her down but she will fight the nap instantly. So I think ok maybe she’s under tired so I sit with her for a bit and start reading to her, then try again, but again she fights it. It takes ages to get her down in the day and I’m sure she only falls asleep out of sheer exhaustion. I’ve tired a nap routine in the sense of, when she’s tired taking her up into the bedroom that’s blacked out, lullaby’s on as she likes them, reading or singing to her, and then starting to rock, but it just wasn’t working.
I used to walk her in the pram to get her down but she’s even been fighting that the last two days and actually stayed awake for the full hour I went walking yesterday.
today she stayed awake for 3 hours before finally falling asleep with some rocking and singing - bearing in mind I did try multiple times to get her down as well as took her for a walk but nothing was working even though she was clearly tired as was screaming. Obviously the longer it goes on and the longer she refuses the more tired and over tired she gets and then the harder it becomes!
I do a lot of rocking, patting, shushing, singing. I also try other methods, pat shush, laying in her own crib stroking face (just in case she didn’t like being rocked anymore)
her bed time sleep used to be amazing, she’d have her last bottle fall straight to sleep and then stay asleep until her next bottle. Now it’s a full on battle to get her down - an hour or so of rocking, she wants bottle, then doesn’t want bottle, wants rocking then doesn’t.
I just feel a bit at my wits end. When she does go down for naps she only really sleeps for about half an hour or so. I get longer from her when I contact nap so I just do that all the time but all I’ve been told is to start putting her down now as regressions is when they form habits, so I’m getting concerned that holding her is going to make things worse for us both in the long run (as will the rocking etc) but I need her to sleep so I just do what I can at the minute to help her.
on top of all this I think she’s teething as she keeps rubbing her bottom gums? She chews hands a lot too but she does this when she’s tired as well.
I really do feel like Im going severely wrong somewhere and also feel bad because hate when she gets in such a state especially when I’m trying everything I can. read all the baby books on sleep cues and wake windows etc but none of it works for her…
if anyone is still reading then thanks lol, and hopefully I can get some advice! …. X