Getting baby out to sleep debt? Any advice?

[Sleepisforwho]

does anyone have experience of how to get baby out of an over tired cycle /sleep debt?

DS is 6 months next week and has been a pure pain with naps since day one. He refuses in every form: pram naps on walks, carrier naps, rocking, and me just laying him down (which he has never done but worth a try!) he does of course nod but quickly wakes up after 15 mins or so as if to say ‘I’ve been caught napping oops!’

Huckleberry app doesn’t work which was my last resort! sadly after nearly 6 months it’s safe to say I’m all rocked and walked out! I did ask the question in my baby group today and was told by all 5 mums that their babies settle themselves in their cot and have 3 naps a day… oh and they have done this since 8 weeks or so! safe to say I couldn’t quite relate to them and the conversation quickly dried up (I was quite envious too so was quick to get out of there 😳).

One of my friends had a baby at the same time as me. She lives a little way away so we don’t see each other often, but we chat via WhatsApp a lot. From her messages it seems as though she is having the best and easiest time. My lovely husband has to remind me that I share with her all the bits I find hard as I need the support, she perhaps shares all her highlights. I wonder if your Mums’ group is a little bit like that too.

I can definitely tell you that I have been there wondering why everyone else seems to be able to do this easily and I can’t. But, remember all babies are different!

Does your baby seem tired and cranky during the day? I ask because short naps are normal for lots of babies and unless he seems to be struggling, he might be perfectly fine with a 30 minute cat nap.

Does he ever feed to sleep? Lots of people do that to get naps in.

What’s he like at bedtime?

@Reb1986 Thanks for replying!
yeah that’s a good point! 3 are second time mums so they’re pretty confident with everything too.

sadly he does get cranky. When he wakes it seems like he’s more tired and then we’re in a cycle bottle, play, then try to get down for a sleep all day. With lots of crying in between.

oddly, he stopped feeding to sleep around two months, which has definitely made things harder.

He’s found his voice too, so loves to sit there all day shouting and screaming and has found the ability to pull himself into the sitting position so gets very upset when he’s moved into any other position!

Nighttime, sleep is actually pretty good goes down between 7 and 8 pm and wakes around 5 am but able to get back with me until about 7 am

That is a great night! You know he’s getting lots of quality sleep right there.

Do you have any kind of routine for before bed?

When I get my son to nap in his bed during the day, I use an abridged version of that routine. Does your son accept a pacifier? I think that is really helpful for chilling my son out. I give him it about ten minutes before I want to start putting him down. I think for a while I was trying to get him to transition too quickly from play to sleep and he didn’t like it.

My son had a nursing strike and now I’m nervous to offer him a feed at the end of a wake window. I feed him while he’s still sleepy/waking up. I do find sometimes when he wakes from a shorter nap in his bed, he’ll then fall asleep eating. Does that ever happen for you?

I feel you for those moments when they cry and you have no idea why because it’s so sudden! We had that yesterday twice. I didn’t get until it happened the second time that he was really gassy. Then I could do a massage and bicycles. Need to add that to my checklist! It’s usually gas at the moment.

All that aside, I think the big message is that you have been doing a great job with him. People tend not to share their struggles. I definitely have moments of shrieking etc! I think it’s normal and down to different baby’s temperament.