OK I know it is just a phase but how long does it last???

[MuddlingThru]

DS2 (7 weeks) sleeps pretty well at night so for that I am grateful. However daytime is a different story. Every time he drops off for a nap he wakes about 10 mins (if I am lucky) later. Pick him up give him a cuddle and a pat and he drops back off. 10 mins later awake again. This can go on for a couple of hours (with a feed somewhere in the middle usually). He can settle himself at the start of a nap (although doesn't always) so in theory should re-settle when he 'wakes' 10 mins later. It is driving me nuts. I feel sorry for my other 2 kids as I try and give them 1 on 1 attention when he is napping and it ends up that I keep having to abandon what I am doing with them. I know it will settle at some point I would just like to have an idea of when. Neither of my other 2 were like this, ds1 was always difficult to settle but then did 45 mins, dd did 30 min naps and woke up refreshed.

So tell me... if your dc was like this when did it get better?

I'm still reeling from the 'sleeps pretty well at night' at 7 weeks!

For me 10 months. You will probably have a better experience though.

Your other kids will understand, it's only a few months.

Just realised I posted this in parenting, meant to post in sleep. Ooops!
By pretty well I mean that he wakes , feeds, goes back to sleep (most of the time). Feeds fairly frequently (max 3 hrs between feeds) but at least doesn't just stay awake just for fun.

When he wakes after 10 mins have you tried not going in to cuddle him back to sleep? Why not let him stay awake and maybe he will be tired enough to sleep better a bit later on? With my children they didnt sleep in their bedrooms in the day but downstairs somewhere.I think this helped them establish the difference between daytime naps and nighttime sleep.

He is downstairs with me and the kids during the day - I usually pop his moses basket in the dining room just to take the edge off their noise levels. Sometime he is clearly unhappy the moment he wakes and really wants to go back to sleep. Other times I have done as you have suggested but within 10 mins he is unhappy and ready to go for a nap but again just wakes 10 mins later.

How would you feel about getting a soft wrap sling to carry him in during the day? It would leave your hands free to deal with the other kids (and if you are BFing and you're smart you can get him to feed in it and everything!) and chances are he would sleep better in there.

I would have been lost without mine and I don't even have other kids to deal with

Ds1 was a bit like this, he only slept for a good length of time in the day if he was being cuddled. Do you have a sling? He might sleep in that while you played with the older ones.

I do regularly have him in the sling (pre-school run both there and back) and as you say he does sleep so much better there. However I do want him to be able to sleep in the moses basket (and later his cot) so feel it is worth perservering for part of the day.
To be honest I am not expecting there to be a magic solution other than time. I know that with my other dc that they just suddenly seemed to get the whole nap thing, as if it were a developmental step. I just wanted to be able to psyche myself up for how long this stage goes on for - it seems so much more manageable when you know there is an end in sight.

Also I am getting some jealousy issues with ds1 so really want to be able to put ds2 down and give ds1 some time all to himself.

I agree with perservering and avoiding the sling. You could end up making a rod for your own back. Thats what my wonderful HV told me after the birth of my twins. Had to be srtict with them or I would have gone mad!Think you are doing all the right things. Probs just have to keep perservering as you say.

Just thought, what about putting the moses basket upstairs? Do you think he may be a light sleeper and it might help if he was in a quieter place?

Also, my ds2 used to sleep quite well in rocky chair in day time. I didn't want to leave him unsupervised in it, so I would keep him downstairs with me and if he started to stir I could rock it slightly. Once he was older he slept fine in a cot in day time, so it hadn't become an unbreakable habit.

Thanks for all the comments - sorry but I had to go to bed (with a 7 week old tho I am sure you understand).
Coochy - whilst he is asleep for that 10mins very little the other 2 do seems to disturb him. Also the other 2 are only 1 and 3 so don't want to be continually disappearing upstairs - they get along fine a lot of the time but things can happen quickly when they do decide to squabble over a toy.
Jollydo - that's not such a bad idea, my concern was that it isn't flat like a cot and the recommendation is for them to be flat on their back to avoid pressure on the spine.
As I say I know it is only a phase I was just wondering how long the phase lasted - depending on how long it lasted might change my mind as to what course of action to take.

You can get bouncy chairs that recline now. Mine used to like sleeping in those too.

I know what you mean about the lying flat thing. Our chair didn't go totally flat, but I decided that as long as he didn't spend too long in it I would carry on as he slept so well in it! I put him on his back when he was awake, or carried him, so he wasn't in that position then aswell. And at night he slept ok in his cot.

He spends most of his awake time at home in the rocker chair - it makes him more visible to ds1 and dd so they are less likely to accidentally trip over him and it is quite a rugged chair so can withstand their 'affectionate' attention. Hence my reluctance for him to spend his naps in it as well.