I Need Help - Long Vent

My boys are three months old and we have major sleep issues. The nighttime routine is going great, they usually go down in between 6-7pm, will wake up between 2-3am, will wake again around 5am and then it's pretty much "begin the day time" around 6am.

The problem has to do with daytime sleeping. It seems as if they want to stay awake all day!! They will sleep for about 10 minutes at a time and then be up for about 3-4 hours. Sometimes they will go down for about 30 minutes, but that's if I'm lucky. I know they should not be awake this much at their age. We have even tried to let them cry in their crib for about 5 minutes to see if they will cry themselves to sleep and that doesn't work either. I just end up with a very red, angry baby. It seems as though nothing works. We just have to listen to them cry all day. What is the average amount of time they should be awake in between naps? How long should their naps be? Any ideas on how to get them down when they are constantly fighting to go their sleep?

Also, they are starting to move around in the crib and there has been several times I have come into the room and one of them has been pinned to the side by the other one's body. This doesn't factor into the daytime sleeping problem because we will put one on our bed and the other in the crib. This effects their nighttime sleeping. What is a good way to separate them in the same crib as going out and buying another one isn't an option for another few weeks?

Thanks in advance.
Stacy

 

Stacy,

Our girls are the same during the day. I can get about 30 minutes in the swing. What works best for us is putting them in their car seats and driving around until the fall asleep. I then just bring the seats in and let the sleep. I have gotten over an hour that way. Besides the swing and the car seat - our girls are major cat nappers! Five mintues here - 10 there

 

I hate to say it, but my babies were the same way until about 4-5 months, when they started to take longer naps more regularly.{{{HUGS}}}

 

Do you have a pnp that one baby could sleep in while the other sleeps in the crib? It is a hard age.

 

My girls are catnappers in the day too. We swaddle at night, but weren't in the day. I've found if I swaddle them and put them down with a pacifier, they'll go to sleep and sleep for a longer nap.

 

Ours do the same thing, I found that if I put them to bed or in the swing or bouncy to late for a nap, it was even more hopeless. As soon as i see some sign of sleepyness I try to put them to sleep. They do not necesarily sleep longer, but they do nap more often. Sometimes there is only an hour in between naps, which I find to short, but it does not seem to affect their nighttime sleeping.

 

I have this issue with my boy - he's an awful napper during the day. I've noticed he gets overtired and then acts hungry. If I give in and give him the ounce he wants, he goes right to sleep. Obviously this is not something i want to encourage.

Sometimes when I let him cry it out he will fall asleep.

I've also noticed if I catch him at the right time and put him down, he will sleep for longer stretches.

But I feel your pain!

 

Yup, same here too. Sometimes we'll get in a good hour but usually one awake while the other is asleep so no break for me!
My DD1 was a terrible napper too. She completely stopped her naps before she was two. That was awful!

 

Yup, ours are the same way. They used to take nice long morning naps (2-3 hours) and then shorter catnaps the rest of the day ... that went out the window. Now it seems they've traded in an earlier bedtime for naps that are shorter ... they seem like they can only take about an hour and a half of being up before needing a nap but the nap is only about 20-30 minutes, if that ... I just follow thier lead and figure they know what they are doing and what they need, hopefully they will settle into a better routine soon. Like you, their nighttime routine is settling in nicely but he day is still all screwy. I miss being able to nap when they do!!!