I have to start by saying that Asher is a great night sleeper. At 4 weeks old he started having longer periods of night sleep and now, at 8 weeks old, he sleeps 7 hours straight at night. He'll usually go down in his crib around 10 and sleep until 5. A quick breakfast and he's back to sleep until 7 or 8.
It's wonderful!
However.
This little bugger refuses, absolutely refuses to sleep in his crib during the day! He'll nap for hours and hours if I hold him, but the minute I lay him down he's wide awake and screaming. The thing is that I know he isn't hungry or wet, just wanting to be held.
No, Mommy! Don't put me down! Please!
And who can blame him? I'm pretty cozy to snuggle against, if I do say so myself. :o)
Plus, it's really hard to say no to this face.
At first this wasn't a problem. I love holding him and was happy to help him sleep. But now it's getting to the point where I can't get anything else done during the day. My life has been reduced to nursing, changing diapers, and sitting on the couch. Not the worst life, but not exactly sustainable for the long run.
So now we're nap training. Except that I have no idea what I'm doing. The sleep book that I've been reading says that babies don't have the neurological ability to soothe themselves consistently until they are 4 months old. That's why crying it out becomes a "reasonable" solution at 4 months.
If this keeps up until he's 4 months old I probably won't mind leaving him to cry for awhile. Anything to have baby-free hands for an hour! But my goal is to avoid that and nip this in the bud now!
So...I need help! Does anyone have any advice??
To recap:
Asher is a great night crib sleeper and a terrible day crib sleeper. I don't want to let him cry it out because he doesn't yet have the neurological ability to soothe himself to sleep.
Should I just keep putting him down and soothing him back to sleep everytime he wakes up crying?
If anyone has a better idea I'd love to hear it!!
Hadlea is the same way! She will not sleep in her cradle for a nap! She is sleeping from around 11PM to 7-8AM, eats and then back to sleep in her cradle until 11AM. After that, it is no more cradle for her! She will not sleep in her crib or play pen either...the only thing that works is her swing. She is not a very good 'napper' either. She might take 2 or 3 20-30minute naps throughout the day, but that is it! But I will take that since she sleeps so well at night! :) So what about trying the swing? Works for us, but I don't know about that sweet little boy! He is getting so big and is SO adorable! I love his little smile!
ReplyDeleteI was just going to write a post about this today, but about night sleeping! The gist: stay nearby and soothe him (don't let him cry - you're 100% right about them not being capable of self-soothing yet) - keep putting his pacifier back (if he takes one), rub his belly if that's soothing for him, etc. It may take a while for him to get to sleep to where he'll stay asleep, but it'll save you so much time in the long run, it's worth it.
ReplyDeleteIf that won't work, I've recently been told to let them fall asleep anywhere they sleep deeply and can be moved from without waking (for Ava, it's her carseat) and then once they're deeply asleep, move them to their crib. Worth a try!
:) Sera was the same way...so I totally know the whole...ahem, sitting on the couch is getting old thing (as precious and wonderful as it is to hold a sleeping baby). :) We tried the bouncy, vibraty seat and her swing...the bouncy, vibraty seat (not the technical name...haha) seemed to work best for Sera. Good luck! :)
ReplyDeletePS-He's ADORABLE! :)