How on earth can I do a sleep routine...

[gingerninja85]

... our little one screams every night?

Our little girl is nearly 3 months old (11 weeks plus 5 days) and I'm really struggling to get any sort of sleep routine nailed.

I've read so much about the best things to do. Ideal bed time around 7-8pm, all the lovely bonding winding down things we can do together, white noise, blackout blinds etc. I'm also desperately trying to get her naps sorted as I know this can help but every night around 6ish until shes asleep we have the screaming abdabs. Which means beyond changing her nappy and clothes theres not an awful lot we can do. The process of trying to calm her down generally ends in sleep anyway so we cant do anything else after. Shes also gone from giving us a nice 6 hour block of sleep to 2/3 hourly blocks. I definitely cant put her down drowsy as she gets so angry so we're rocking her to sleep and having to wait until shes in a deep sleep before we put her down. I feel like I'm not helping her but her cries escalate so quickly theres not much else I can do!
Nap-wise it's a similar story, I try to use the huckleberry app and were always a good 1 hour late and her naps only last 20 mins if they're not pram naps. This afternoon she was awake for 5 hours and then only had a 20 min nap at 6pm and I've only just got her in her cot now.
What can I do? Anyone in the same boat? I'm absolutely knackered (and I bet my blabbering makes no sense when I read it back) as she woke up at 4am this morning and didnt go back down until I took her for a walk at 7am. Help!

I've got a little boy, same age (12 weeks last Friday!). It sounds like she's overtired hence the screaming. Babies that age don't know how to join sleep cycles so it's not unusual for them to catnap unless it's a Pram or car nap. Upon advise from a sleep consultant (we used her for our DD1 too!), we do two cot cat naps in the morning. This is to enable a good habit of sleeping in the cot. The next two naps which are longer are done in the pram or car.
It's just become our things now. It's bloody tiring so I understand it's hard and we have our older DD to sort post nursery on weekdays and all day during the weekend. She can't walk that much so it ends up being a solo walk. I realise it's a pain but I can see the important in those long motion naps first because I'm teaching son how to nap longer, using motion as an aid, but also it's avoids the awful overtired bedtimes!

I basically can't give you a magic solution. Just to encourage you to do those pram naps cos they help!

Sorry for the terrible typos and grammatical errors! Hopefully you get the gist.

Agree with pp she’s over tired.
You need to nail the day time naps.
I used to have to take my LO on a pram walk nap everyday so I knew he would have enough and in the end it cleared my head and also sorted me out!
I also had to rock for other naps and nighttime like you till he was out for the count. Whilst it’s hard and long and tiring once she’s in a good sleep pattern the rocking will gradually decrease.
Does your DP help? How does she settle for him?
Sometimes a new pair of hands can do the trick if getting worked up so much

It'll be hated here but I did Gina Ford, for twins, it saved my sanity having a routine.

@princessbananahammock252 thanks for your reply. Its exhausting isnt it. My problem is I've got bad knees so all my walks are taking their toll on them. Mind you, I'd rather have more sleep than pain free knees right now!

@PinkCookie11How long did you make your pram walks? I think apps like Huckleberry just add to the nap anxiety as I feel bad every time we miss the goal lol. DP is great with nappy changes and more admin type baby care but is a little useless with getting her to sleep. I feel bad asking as he works so hard but perhaps I should pass over some of the sleep stuff to him, god knows I could do with a break and I know he wants to help me, just doesnt know how

@idontlikealdi each to their own, we all do what's best for us. No judgement here :)

No one has explained to me how Gina Ford works in practice.

“Put baby down for his nap at 10 am for 45 minutes” well sure Gina I can do that but he won’t sleep!

I think it’s normal, OP, we are always behind the huckleberry app but being aware of ds’s wake windows have helped. He is more 2 and a half hours than 2. But it just helps keep a rhythm and order to the day

Would this save your poor knees at all?
www.amazon.co.uk/Rockit-portable-rocker-stroller-pushchair/dp/B076KP7HKW?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

At the most hour and half and least an hour. Mind I wasn’t always walking, I’d walk to the park and round etc I would sit for abit and if he moved even an inch I would get up and walk again 😂
Yeah I would stop using it, go off awake windows.
I would deffo get your DH to help, if you nail the day time naps he works on night time I think it would be a lot of pressure off you.

Mine are way past the baby stage but both of them went through a stage of evening screaming at about 12-16 weeks. It's a thing. It does pass quickly, although it feels like it lasts forever! Don't worry about the routine for now, just take each day as it comes.