baby sleeps through night but won't nap

[quidey]

Hello,

My 6weeks and a half baby sleeps through the night (from 9:45pm to 6-7:00 am) without waking up goes back to sleep for 1-2 hours and then during the day she does not want to nap. It is quite clear that she is really tired since as soon as she is in the stroller, car seat, baby carrier or in my arm she will fall asleep but she deosnt not want to sleep in her crib.

At night she fusses in her crib (which is in her room) for about 15 minutes at most and sleeps through the night. But during the day if I put her in her bed she will not sleep. I put her in her bed while she is semi-awake she falls asleep and after 5 minutes, she startles, wakes up and cry.

What can I do to make her sleep in her crib during the day? She is far from getting her 16 hours of sleep.

She is only getting 5 feedings a day since she sleeps through the night, but she eats well since she get between 680-800 ml (23-27 onces) of breast milk a day. (She is bottlefed since she had problems with breastfeeding but she only gets my milk that I pump.)

Thanks

[SnuggleBuggles]

Honestly at 6 weeks I wouldn't be pushing the crib nap thing. most babies don't take crib naps at that age. Don't let her lose sleep if she is not sleeping where you want her to.

For the first 4 months ds either slept in my lap after a feeding or in his bouncy chair. I was a little worried that he wouldn't take to his cribs for naps well, that I had a "bad" habit going. (he was sleeping in his crib at night.) But, it ensured he was getting enough sleep so that's what we did. It all worked out just fine. So many books will practically scare you into thinking you will never have a good sleeper if you break X or Y rule. (I nursed ds to sleep for 8-9 months, gradually it stopped working but he would go to sleep on his own after playing in his crib a while. All the books and friends told me that I was setting myself up for disaster. Well, I was just doing whatever was going to get us all sleep.)

Ds did not begin to take a real "crib" nap till right around 6 months. From talking to my friends this seems to be very much the norm.

The feedings have me a little worried because I know at that time ds was nursing 8-12 times a day. I guess if she is having good diapers (wet and bms) then you are ok but you may want to ask the more knowledgeable moms on the feeding board. I used to wake ds up before I went to bed to top him off and extend my sleep. You may want to try that too just so she gets another feeding in during the 24 hours.

At 6 weeks the goal is for everyone to be rested and healthy. I wouldn't worry about what ideal routine you want. Those things really will click into place around 4-6 months. :)

Beth

[Momof3Labs]

Many babies that age won't nap in the crib. Do you swaddle her?

[boolady]

but this is largely what I'm going through right now. My daughter is also 6 1/2 weeks, and I don't care if she naps in her crib or not, she just cannot settle down for a nap when she is clearly exhausted. She will catnap for 1/2 hour in the swing or bouncer or on my lap, but only after a lot of crying. A few weeks ago, she was really into the sling; now, not so much. She is obviously tired-- goes from being smiley and happy and alert to rubbing her eyes, crying, etc. How do I get her to learn how to wind down and nap a bit, wherever it may be? She sleeps in the carseat in the crib at night due to GERD, but won't even settle in the carseat during the day. Any ideas? I don't care about a schedule, I just feel bad that she's so restless when she's so obviously tired. TIA.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Will she fall asleep after a feeding?

Beth

[Momof3Labs]

How long does she stay up between naps? At that age, both of my boys were plenty tired after about 1.5hrs awake. She may just be overtired by the time you put her down. Try the 5 S's, a la Dr. Harvey Karp (Happiest Baby on the Block) - swinging, shushing, swaddling, sucking and side-lying position.

[boolady]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. We are doing Happiest Baby...it works sometimes. I think that you hit the nail on the head-- she gets overtired and can't handle it. 99 percent of the time she can't stand the pacifier, but when she will take it, noticeably calms down faster. She seems to be trying hard to find her thumb...I don't know if she's holding out for that or what! She will go down better after eating, but tends to get tired before she gets hungry again, so I don't know if it's good or bad to let her nurse for a few minutes when I know she's not really hungry, just for comfort. Is this a good idea or bad idea?

Of course, after I posted this today, she took 2 11/2 hour naps in my lap-- one late this afternoon, and one at about 7 tonight. I also think she may be going through the six week growth spurt, because yesterday and today she seems hungrier than normal, but what do I know? Thanks again for your help.

[kaycee14]

That sounds a lot like me DD at that age. It boiled down to her being over tired. Once I really started watching the clock and tracking her "tired" signs, I found that she couldn't be up for more than 1.5 hours without melting. And once she became "melty", she wouldn't nap for anything!

We worked hard to get her the needed sleep and it seemed to help. Of course, she was also getting older which changes everything, everyday! :)

I hate to tell you to "Hang in there"... but Hang in there! I wouldn't worry about where she naps or starting any "bad habits" at this point in the game.

Kathy
Mommy to a wonderful baby girl
http://b1.lilypie.com/IX8zm7.png

[eliasmom]

I realize that this response is pretty late, but just in case any moms out there are dealing with this problem right now I will share my experience with a baby who did not want to nap and who wanted NOTHING to do with her crib.

DD was a colicky little spitfire until 12 wks and had a lot of sleep issues related to that charming condition. My sister recommended that I read Weissbluth's book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" even before it was time to try his suggestions. The nice thing about his book, IMHO, is that he recognizes that there are different types of babies in terms of their adaptability to napping and sleeping in general and he specifically address preemies and post-colicky babies.
He is also big into the theory that a young baby cannot tolerate more than 1-2 hours of wakefulness. I found that DD HAD to be put down for a nap between 1.5 and 2 hrs after the time she woke up. I tried earlier and she was not ready to nap. Any later and she was like a crazed zombie who would not give in to the sleep.

She napped pretty well in the stroller (carseat plus frame- key for moving them inside if they seem sound asleep enough to tolerate stopping the motion) so we took A LOT of very long walks (good for dropping the baby weight). I worked really hard at getting her into the crib from the cradle between 3 and 4 months. We swaddled her in a Miracle Blanket and that was helpful. It took a long time, but it worked.

My best last bit of advice is to keep trying as your DC gets older. My baby who would only nap in the stroller now naps routinely in her crib on a fairly regular schedule.

HTH and hang in there. It will get better if you keep trying.

Sari
DD 7 months

[jniter]

Thanks for the post. My 6.5 wk old son is doing the same.

He can sleep from 9:30-3 or 4am, and goes down fine after night feedings without a fuss. will NOT nap in his crib. If I put him in the swing, he does his little whine while he battles to keep his eyes open to make sure I don't disappear on him. What worked to get him to nap one week won't work the next.

My speculation is that as the eysight gets better and they figure out what is day and night, they want to stay up and interact with you. But they can't and get wired from fatigue! I got Owen to nap in the baby bjorn. At least I had my hands free!

I just wonder how this will go when my husband is home alone with him starting next week! He may have to whip out the Bjorn since he's working from home.

OH...I was wondering...

Owen has started to figure out the "bedtime routine" and starts to wail before we put him down. I nursed him for over an hour, he was just suckling and NOT eating, and he kept fussing and fussing. We tried to calm him down so he wouldn't go to bed upset, but we finally couldn't take it anymore and just kissed him and put him down. Anyone else have this problem? He's been doing this for a few days.