6 week old won't nap any more

[zebedeethezebra]

My 6 week old bottle fed baby doesn't want to nap during the day. He barely naps for an hour all day. At night he will sleep for 12 hours but will wake 3 times during that period for food so its not as though he is getting so much sleep at night to make up for it.

At this rate he will have a brain the size of a pea.

Any tips on how to get him to nap more during the day?

PS - he doesn't even necessarily fall asleep when I take him for a walk!

Bump!

A 6 week old baby will sleep as much as s/he wants to, and wake as s/he wants to. As long as he's not constantly crying, he's doing OK.

(The growing brain need stimulation as well as sleep, maybe he's a budding genius? )

How are you doing now ZTZ? I have learnt from MN that all babies are different and some just don't nap.

My DS will only go 30 - 45 mins at a time at home, but does usually sleep in car seat or pram, so I try and get out with him a few times a week so he has longer naps on those days.

My friend said her son didn't sleep in the day, or much at night...

I think the key question is - is he happy? Mine gets overtired and grouchy so I do have to try to get him to sleep.

I use part Baby Whisperer shush pat method, just no patting as it is too stimulating for him and doesn't help. I also have to block out visual stimulation or he gets all wide eyed and looking around again.

Soo, once a day I make the effort to get him to nap in his moses basketI was doing it more often to start with, but it tried my patience! Luckily we have a swing which usually gets him to sleep without too much fuss, but again only for 30 mins)

I watch for signs of tiredness (he used to yawn, but now he just gets grizzly)

I put a nature sounds cd on, I swaddle him (he seemed to hate it at first, struggling against it, but I persisted and it helps, as flailing limbs keep him awake, then I hold him against me upright, and put my arm around the back of his head, so his head is in the crook of my arm and my arm blocks his eyes if he turns his head. I Shhh against his ear (Baby Whisperer website describes how to do this - like the sound of a tap running, right next to ear but not into it)

He hates the blocking his eyes and screams for about 3 minutes, but then quiets and closes his eyes. I then put him down in his bed and put my hand on his chest and say Shhh shhh if he opens his eyes.

In the early days I stayed with him for 40 mins a couple of times, and even now I sometimes stay with him for 20 mins as his eyes might open again a couple of times. Time consuming I know, especially when I only get about 45 mins of sleep out of it! But at least he is less grizzly then when he does wake.

If your DS seems happy and not getting overtired and grizzly/crying like mine, and is also sleeping well at night then I wouldn't worry about not napping.

Sometimes he gets off to sleep without the screaming, but not often...

Good luck - let me know how you are getting on

It is exhausting when your baby doesn't nap much during the day. I used to envy those with babies who slept all the time. My DS1 would have three 45 min naps a day from just a few weeks old until he went down to one nap a day when he'd sleep for an hour or hour and a half tops. It was very hard work. But he's now six and on the gifted and talented register he just needed constant entertaining when he was awake when he was a baby. I'm not sure if there is any truth in that thing that people say 'oooh if he / she doesn't sleep in the day they must be clever' though as I slept really well when I was a baby and of course I am a genius too