routine for a 9wk old ?

[yoda]

Hi,

My ds is a great sleeper at night (about 8-9hrs) and not so great during the day. He tends to either not bother at all, or catnaps for 10-20 mins after a feed, generally not until late in the day when he must be absolutely knackered !

I have tried him on the GF routine but it didn't really suit him and drove me nearly mad when i couldn't get him to do things, so i have basically let him dictate what he wants. At night (8-9pm) he has his feed & cuddle in his room and then straight into his cot where he generally (touch wood) settles himself, till about 5.30am - unfortunately he is then wide awake and doesn't want anymore sleep and is up till bedtime! During the day when i see that he is getting tired i take him upstairs and try to settle him but he just smiles at me wide awake I have tried letting him settle himself but he just cries and get so worked up that i can't bear it.

Any suggestions ? or should i just count myself lucky (as my hv said) and accept that this is the price i pay for having him sleep during the night. Plus, about what age should he start to lengthen his nightime sleep ?

Thanks for any tips, i'm really really thankful that he sleeps at night, it's just that its tiring during the day without any real breaks (many kudos to those of you with more than one though )

Interesting! Does he sleep during the day in a pushchair or in the car? Is there a proud grandparent or a friend who can take him for a walk to give you a break? I think if there's anything that sends him to sleep during the day you should try this to encourage him. I also think 9 weeks is a bit young to let him cry himself to sleep. Not had specific experience of this but when 7mo dd started getting upset at being settled during the day recently Granny did some singing to sleep or I gave her a little feed to settle her and now she's back to settling happily again.

I always put my baby to sleep asleep or as near as dammit _ i read somewhere that you should do this till 6 months.

Dont stress about a routine - mine (ds3)is still not established at 12 weeks - it will come
are you winding him well - could that make him wake up? mine often needs to be rocked back to sleep after a cry.

Last night he did 12 hours and will have one nap and a longer sleep in the day.

I agree about his night time sleep - you are very lucky. have you tried rocking him in his pram in the day>

i do the baby whisperer thing - look for yawns & then head for his cot. I'm also finding my singing voice - 'go to sleep you little baby' from 'Oh, brother where art thou' is the current fave. luckily the poor child seems to be tone deaf

What about a wind up swing? Some babies love them and they are okay from about 2 months. My children both hated the bouncing chair but loved the swing. It's higher up so they can see what you are doing, some babies don't even like the swinging, just being able to see around. My ds liked loud noised when he was tiny so if I reached the end of my tether I put him in a room with the hoover on or the mixer, 10 minutes later -fast asleep!
Both of mine dropped into a routine at about 3 or 4 months of thats any help.

I have to confess to having let mine cry from about 2 months if I thought they were tired, I would go and hang the washing out or someting quick and usually they would be asleep when I went back in.

You do need a break though I know how exhausting it is but don't worry as he gradually learns to do things (hold things etc) he WILL start to entertain himself.

Have you tried reading a book / newspaper out loud. My mum did this to mine and they were at peace for ages just listening to her voice. At least you might get a bit of rest.

Hope this helps.