7 week old no daytime naps! Any ideas?

[bexleigh]

Recently our 7 week old PFB has stopped napping most days. He'll do micro naps in our arms but will not sleep in his Moses basket despite seeming sleepy. He won't always cry but will be awake kicking, staring and cooing.

Other days he'll sometimes sleep for 2 hour stretches during the day but the last few days he'll be up all day from around 10am - 9pm without a proper nap! He's a very alert and curious baby so sometimes I wonder if he just doesn't want to miss out on anything. Or could it just be the hot weather? He does get grumpy but has not been especially angry or crying lots.

Any ideas? Does it matter that he's not napping, apart from the inconvenience of him needing almost constant attention?

I would say it does matter if he doesn't nap - babies need a lot of sleep for growth/development. Will he sleep on you? In a sling/pram? Swings are often excellent for babies who need movement to sleep. I would aim to get him back to sleep within 90 minutes-2 hours of waking.

How are you feeding him? I only ask because I was mystified as to how my DD was managing on (I thought) no naps until I registered all the snoozy breastfeeding sessions we were having- she'd have her feed and then doze with occasional micro-sucks for a while after. Once I noticed this (and after a good 8 weeks of allowing her to go for it to get my supply up nicely) I started putting her in her moses basket a bit after the proper feed ended. Et voila; naps!

Well, 30-40 minute catnaps but still, she's taking four or five of them a day now.

I think you're right - they do need their sleep. Maybe it's over tiredness preventing him from settling in the basket.

He loves to sleep on me and he loves movement... He sleeps well in the sling and baby carrier but it's been so hot I can't comfortably carry him for very long! He falls asleep in the bouncy chair sometimes but you're not supposed to let them sleep in those. The thing he loves most is being held while we sit and bounce on the gym ball I used during the pregnancy.

I guess I'm just going to have to let him nap on me whenever he won't settle.

Most small babies don't like sleeping in cots/baskets tbh!

Oh yes hedgehogging, I hadn't thought of that...' We're breastfeeding and he does do his sleepy suckling for ages sometimes!

I'd say he's getting sneaky nappage in there so

Apart from feeds whenever DD gets grumpy at all now I'm starting to pop her up on my shoulder and shush/pat/sway the bejesus out of her. She's usually asleep within 10 mins!

You might be missing the sleepiness cues meaning when you put him down he's already overtired.

Overall though I would say if he's sleeping well at night try not to worry to much. As pp said, try to keep him awake when feeding, lots of fresh air, and he will settle.

Many new babies have a natural cycle of sorts during the day, not so much a routine, but for example a 45 minute period of alertness after a feed before starting to get sleepy.

Early cues to look out for include heavy eyes, gaze wandering off, rubbing head / eyes / ears or a yawn. If baby starts to get agitated or cry then you've missed the early cues.

You can also use an app like baby connect to note sleep times and look for patterns through the day. Good luck

My lo used to nap badly during the day. I found it was particularly bad in hot weather so you might be right about that.

I now put her outside in her pram for naps. You can usually catch a breeze where we are, and maybe that helps her keep cool? Don't know, but I think they do need to nap quite a bit during the say. Your lo might get better at it as she grows up.