Another sleep question . . .

i know there's a similar post on this topic, but my boys are much younger, so I started a new topic.

Ok, so Kellen and Colby are 2.5 mos old. They sleep fairly well at night - from 10p to 6:30a with one feeding sometime in between. In the mornings, when they are well rested, they are happy, smiley, wonderful babies.

But as the day drags on . . . Kellen refuses to nap. Colby naps off an on thru the day but Kellen will fall asleep, then startle himself awake. He rarely sleeps for more than 5-10 minutes at a time. By 5p, he is SO obviously exhausted that he can only cry cry cry. He seems absolutely miserable but even then, he will NOT nap! He won't sleep again until he's had a late bottle (usually between 9-10p) - then he'll go down pretty much for the night. And in the morning, it starts all over again.

Has anyone else had their very young baby do something like this? Any idea what could be causing it? Or how I could get the poor baby to just take a substantial nap? I think he'd feel a lot better if he did.

HELP!

 

My girls are 6 weeks, so a little younger then your babies, and just starting to sleep better at night, so Im not quite in the same boat as you, but I did want to say that they both (one more then the other) will startle themselves awake with their arms sometimes during napping. If it happens more than a couple times in a row I swaddle them and it usually does the trick. GL!

 

My guys are 7 weeks old, and I must agree with the PP. They actually still spend several hours per day swaddled. They will not sleep at all if not swaddled (due to startling with their arms), and one of mine gets very easily over-stimulated so he needs to be swaddled sometimes even when awake in order to feel secure and be calm/happy. My boys were 3 weeks premature, so as far as I understand it's okay to still do this as long as it makes them happy. We still get in a good amount of non-swaddled playtime. If this doesn't help, I hope you can find something that will! Good Luck! :hug99:

 

It was around that age, that I started to put them down at 6 pm for the night ... my life saver! Also try to put them down within 2 hours of wakefulness (preferably in a crib in a dark place)

 

Like pp, I think swaddling would help, that keeps them from flailing their arms and legs. Also maybe try wedges and put him on his side, that seemed to help the girls when they had trouble sleeping and I've heard that sleeping on their backs can sometimes make them feel unstable, like they are going to fall?

 

I agree with Sofiesmom.

 

My boys (and DD too when she was that age) would never nap for long unless swaddled. When they are swaddled, they will take a 2 hour nap. When not swaddled, they'll catnap. Also, if they get overstimulated or are awake longer than 2 hour intervals, they can get overtired, making it even more difficult for them to self soothe and fall asleep.

 

Swaddling seems to have worked - thanks All!