My baby won't take naps

[flyingbeet]

I was wondering if anyone could help me out. My baby just turned two months old but is always catnapping during the day. She sleeps for 15-20 minutes and is up again and wanting to be put down to sleep before her wake window is finished. Even when I keep her up and put her to sleep after her wake window finishes she still wakes up after 10-15 minutes and acts all happy and will not show signs of being sleepy when I try put her back to sleep but then is fussy again after a while. I try swaddling, swaying, shushing, drawing the curtains and white noise. I'm not sure why she wakes up so early. The only trick that works for her is if I lay with her and she is continuously on the breast sucking during her nap. It's exhausting and overstimulating because I want to just have a cup of tea alone sometimes. I'll be so grateful for any advice you have 🫶🫶

At that age I'm not sure that wake windows are a useful notion, as they're still in newborn sleep mode.

This won't be good to hear, but the sleep suckling is normal! My son spent two (spaced out) days latched for 9h in a row, awake and asleep alternately. He never got the hang of being out down to nap.

I'm afraid my advice is the cliched "enjoy the snuggles and box sets". My routine at that stage was a daily walk for one nap and a daily telly binge for the others.

All these phases pass.

No advice. But solidarity, this v much like my 7 week old except 1 or 2 times a week she actually has a proper longer nap which will continue if I put her down. It's exhausting isn't it, especially the hours of being at the breast. It will be over before we know it

I don’t think wake windows are that helpful as an idea until 5 months or so.

Do you have one of those bouncers or rocking chairs? (So you put baby in it and baby gets rocked)? Those were life savers at this stage! You may find a cheap one on Facebook marketplace or something.

otherwise, you could try using a baby sling? It won’t help if you feel touched out, but you will get your hands back which is sometimes all you need!

Yeah wake windows have never really worked for us - I just roughly have them in mind but I follow babies lead (now 7 months)

unfortunately cat napping however can be normal although usually one cycle (45 mins) . My little boy always did that on the dot but longer if I contact napping untill around 5 months when naps started to extend and now he can do long naps everyday!

It is tough at first but it changes so quickly by the day when they are so small.
I felt so much better when I just went with the flow!

Only way mine would and will take naps is on me so I sit on the bed and let her sleep on me she is almost 15 weeks. She has started self soothing at night in the last 2 days so hoping I can get her to naps by herself soon .

Wake windows didn't become a thing for us that early on. Miguel take a couple more months to find a rhythm.