my babies never nap during the day.

My two and a half month old boys never nap during the day.I looked in all my books and they say babies should nap.Does anyone has the sam problem?and how you cope with it ?

 

My two and a half month old boys never nap during the day.I looked in all my books and they say babies should nap.Does anyone has the sam problem?and how you cope with it ?

 

Mine are 12 weeks - and one of mine was doing that too. It lasted about 3 or 4 weeks. I was losing my mind too, never having a break during the day to breathe much less get anything done. I don't know if I fixed it or if she just started sleeping again on her own, but it's better now. Only thing I can say is I quit tring to get her to "nap". I started putting her in the cradle swing (the Fisher Price Natures Touch Cradle Swing - she REALLY likes it - both girls do, so I bought a second one on Wednesday so they could both be in them at the same time and I just put them in it and if they nap they nap - wether it's 15 minutes or 2 hours. I just be happy with whatever I get in the swings, I don't even try laying them down anymore until night. It has been SO much better. That was so tiring! Good luck!

 

What do you do to encourage them to nap? Mine wouldn't nap if I just put them in the crib at nap time and walked away. They'd stay awake and be crabby all day. (I'm baffled by this -- you would think that babies would be hardwired to sleep when they needed it!) But they will take solid naps if I "parent" them to sleep -- walk, rock, snuggle, swing, sling, etc. Of course, we would love it if they learned to just drift off after having been placed in the crib, but I think that's something you need to teach them how to do gradually.

Kim

 

Here's an article to help understand the need for sleep!

At this early age, you have to help them get to sleep by any means possible (except drugs and alcohol ) and they will learn to sleep. Use a swing or carry them or whatever you have to do to get them to sleep during the day. You can't go on like this!! The men in white jackets will be coming to take you away by the time they are sleeping through the night and you won't get to enjoy it.

Get a good book (HSHHC!) and do what you can!! Sounds very hard!!

 

One of my boys was like that. I tried everything. He'd fall asleep in a sling but as soon as I stopped moving he'd wake up screaming. He was NOT happy when he hadn't slept but wouldn't sleep. Finally I had it and had to put him down and walk away. After about 7 mins of crying he was out cold. He is just one who needs to cry to wind down a bit and by trying to soothe him I was actually making it worse. I also put him on his tummy to nap even though that's against the rules. But with naps I was always around so I felt ok with it. After about a week, he started going to sleep with less and less crying. Now he still crys sometimes, but I know it's helping him to let him cry a little. He rarely goes more than 10 mintues of crying before he goes to sleep.

He is soooo much happier now. And so am I.

 

To get our boy to take a decent nap he has to be in the swing. To get our girl to take a long nap she has to be on her tummy with a binkie. We have packnplay in living room and use that for naps. I only lay them in crib at night. They are 11 weeks and this has been the case for many weeks now.

Mary
Lindsey 2-18-04
Grant & Kelsey 9-18-06

 

We're having problems with their naps being shorter than they should be, but I can tell you one thing I do when I initially put them down. First I make sure they are somewhat sleepy, then swaddle. Pacifier if need be, then pat them on the chest while shooshing. I gradually decrease the patting (5 rythmic pats for say 1 minute, then 4, then 3, and so forth) until I feel they are asleep or about to be. The more they fuss the louder the shoosh and the faster the pat. Sometimes this takes 5 minutes, but it's well worth it even if they sleep for only 30 minutes, HTH.

 

Are they taking realy quick catnaps while eating??? I had a baby like that -- my first DS did it. Eventually by 5 months he started taking an actual morning nap, and then by 1 year old he moved it to afternoon and by the time he stopped napping at 3, he was taking 2-3 hour nap a day! Hold on there. Also you could CIO if you have to. Try it!

 

I had the same problem with the girls and although now they still aren't napping as much as I would like them to it's getting better. I have tried to really notice any tired signs and immediately try to soothe them till they are almost asleep and put them in their crib swaddled to nap. I found if I don't move quickly enough then they will get hyper and it is almost impossible to get them to nap. I will not let them cry on their own. Nefeli sometimes will cry but I would rather soothe her while she does. I try to do the same things I do at night for them to sleep so I try to avoid them sleeping in other rooms or on bouncies etc..