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3 month old will not nap!

2 replies

paperclips · 06/01/2013 18:49

My DS is 14 weeks old, he is getting more and more overtired as the day goes on. I can only usually get him to sleep by feeding him as he falls asleep on the breast. But as soon as I try to put him down he wakes up crying within 15 minutes. The only time he has slept longer in the day was after his jabs when he did 1.5 hours. And he'll sometimes go longer if he's being held, but I can't hold him constantly.

At night he's a little star, although it takes over an hour of feeding in a dark room, he finally is asleep enough to put down around 9.30. He'll wake once or twice for a feed, without crying, after a lovely 5-6 hour stretch but falls back to sleep and can be put down straight away. He's done with sleeping around 8am. But in the daytime its totally different.

I've tried putting him in his sleeping bag, white noise, dark room he just won't sleep longer than 30-40 minutes.

Everyone comments what an alert, curious baby he is and I think that's part of the problem, he's so interested in looking at everything he gets overstimulated.

Any tips or experiences anyone? He's a gorgeous smiley chatty boy when he's in a good mood its awful seeing him all grumpy rubbing his eyes, not knowing what to do with himself.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
DeGlitterBug · 06/01/2013 18:53

Sounds totally and utterly normal to me. Have you tried letting him nap in a sling? I have 4 DCs and the last 3 have required near-constant holding when under 6 months. Lots of babies do Smile, but they all grow out of it eventually.

He spent his whole life inside you 24/7, now he's on the outside and can't tell where you begin and he ends. Then you expect him to be happy laying on an inanimate (if comfy) flat surface rather than a person. When you look at it fron his perspective...

Also, at 3 months, 30-40mins sounds like an absolutely normal nap. They only get longer as they get older, or sometimes mine have in a sling when I'm walking constantly.

It will pass.

Nancy54 · 06/01/2013 19:52

i've got 14 week old twins who aren't great nappers either so i'm watching with interest for any useful tips. they like to be held too but it's difficult to hold both for long periods!

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