DIS moms...HELP!

[LiLIrishChick63]

my son is 4 months old. i LOVE him so much, he is the cutest little thing ever! BUT HE DOESN'T LIKE TO NAP!! and it makes him MISERABLE all day!

he wakes up in the morning in a great mood and then it goes downhill as the day goes on.

i have tried EVERYTHING. i've tried rocking him, i've tried walking with him, he won't fall asleep in his bouncer, he won't fall asleep in his swing, SOMETIMES he falls asleep during a car ride. the only sure thing is if i put him in a carrier and walk around with him. but...i'm not able to do the car ride or carrier all the time. and even so, as soon as i put him down he wakes up crying and i can't get him to go back to sleep(which makes it fun for me to do a bathroom run or get a bite to eat, lemme tell you!).

i've tried faking him out and pretending it's nighttime...i'll wash his face and swaddle him and give him a bottle and make the room dark. he'll fall asleep for about 20 minutes and then wake up...miserable.

the thing is, he's GREAT at night. we give him a bath, swaddle him, i nurse him(i'm only nursing twice a day now, everything else is formula because i had a low supply of breast milk and it was a mess...i still have to give him a few oz of formula after i nurse him too) and then he falls asleep and sleeps all night.

i've even tried the "Cry it out" thing and he will just cry and cry and cry...he'll get tired but he won't fall asleep, if anything he just gets more frustrated that he's tired.


a little background, he DOES have acid reflux and has been on medication for it since he was 2 months old. my mother thinks that he might be having a reaction to the meds, i guess it can cause agitation and confusion so i'm going to talk to his doctor about that tomorrow. i mean, he DID nap a lot better before he was on the meds, even with the reflux.

i'm at my wits end here. he cries all day because he's tired, i KNOW he's tired, but he just won't fall asleep. and i know i hear everyone telling me "if you need some time, get away from the baby and have someone else watch him for a bit" well...my in-laws work full-time, DH works 12 hours a day, and my parents...well...wouldn't know what to do with a baby anymore if one smacked them in the face. so it's just me, and i need to figure out what to do to get this kid to sleep.

he doesn't even sleep after he gets his shots! everyone i've talked to said that their babies get sleepy for a day or two after shots...mine is even more crankier and won't sleep during the day even more!

i mean, when he's in a good mood, he's a GREAT baby! i love seeing him smiling and laughing...but it doesn't seem to happen a lot lately.

HELP!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I've been having the same problem with my 5 week old. We were gifted the 4Moms Mamaroo and it has a car ride setting that works when nothing else will. We also use the newborn napper attachment on our pack and play, and turn the vibration on.

 

[keltiesmom]

Hugs mama. It's hard having a hard sleeper, I found great success with the baby whisperer book. It helped me to identify what kind of babies I've had and what makes them tick. It's not been perfect for us but it made a huge difference for our 1st DD. I don't believe in cry it out for my family but I know the tables are split on that one. Good luck, I hope you can find what works.

 

[JennyKS]

Well you got me beat. Mine is 3 1/2 months and doesn't nap well and still doesn't sleep thru the night still. When mine gets cranky I tie a balloon on his leg and he will sit there and kick that thing in awe for an hour. I've started giving him a little cereal hoping to fill his tummy at night, what a mess that is! Oh the joys of babies! I just want one good night sleep!

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

I've been having the same problem with my 5 week old. We were gifted the 4Moms Mamaroo and it has a car ride setting that works when nothing else will. We also use the newborn napper attachment on our pack and play, and turn the vibration on.

We used to use the infant napper but he's since outgrown it I loved that thing!

 

[aprilchem]

I would highly recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weisbluth. I've used it to sleep-train all 3 of my kids and its a godsend. My pediatrician recommended it to me, and I'm so glad she did - in my opinion it really works.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

Hugs mama. It's hard having a hard sleeper, I found great success with the baby whisperer book. It helped me to identify what kind of babies I've had and what makes them tick. It's not been perfect for us but it made a huge difference for our 1st DD. I don't believe in cry it out for my family but I know the tables are split on that one. Good luck, I hope you can find what works.

I'd love to read that book....but I never have time since he doesn't nap! He also gets bored so quick, 10 minutes of any kind of playtime and he's over it.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

Well you got me beat. Mine is 3 1/2 months and doesn't nap well and still doesn't sleep thru the night still. When mine gets cranky I tie a balloon on his leg and he will sit there and kick that thing in awe for an hour. I've started giving him a little cereal hoping to fill his tummy at night, what a mess that is! Oh the joys of babies! I just want one good night sleep!

Lol the balloon thing sounds cute. Mine is over a specific playtime after 10 minutes, then its on to the next thing.

I hope you get some sleep, soon! To be honest, HE gets sleep but I don't lol I check on him a lot, plus he's sort of a restless sleeper and moves around a lot and it wakes me up when he does it.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

I would highly recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weisbluth. I've used it to sleep-train all 3 of my kids and its a godsend. My pediatrician recommended it to me, and I'm so glad she did - in my opinion it really works.

Thank you, I'm going to have to check that out....whenever I get a chance to read! Lol but I'll have to check it out for sure

 

[RNMOM]

My little monsters are 26 and 28 now. My oldest had reflux and I used to let him nap in my snugli. I always used it with him facing me so his head would be on my chest. I could feed him his bottle and rock with him and he would drift off. He was able to keep the milk down much better and finally put on weight. The best part of this method was that I was able to sit in the rocker and relax at the same time. I could manage to get up and do things but tried not to.

I agree that the meds might be the culprit. Let us know what the doctor says.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

My little monsters are 26 and 28 now. My oldest had reflux and I used to let him nap in my snugli. I always used it with him facing me so his head would be on my chest. I could feed him his bottle and rock with him and he would drift off. He was able to keep the milk down much better and finally put on weight. The best part of this method was that I was able to sit in the rocker and relax at the same time. I could manage to get up and do things but tried not to.

I agree that the meds might be the culprit. Let us know what the doctor says.

I have a carrier but I can't wear it at all times. Plus he's getting pretty heavy and it kills my neck(that I already have a herniated disc in) if I wear it too long. I need to be able to put him down sometime.

 

[HeatherC]

When mine were babies, I did a couple things..

with my oldest DD, I had to run the vacumn cleaner or very loud fan. Only then would she sleep. Sounds crazy, I know.

With my son he had a bouncy seat that he would only sleep in if it was on the highest setting. He needed the constant motion.

My youngest would only sleep in her car seat....no bassinet, bouncy seat or anything else. And she needed the tv on to look at.

I remember those days! EXHAUSTING!

I wish you all the best and congratulations on your new little bundle. Hoping one of these may help you out!

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

My reflux baby would only nap in a papasan swing set on side to side swing not front to back & would only nap for about 45 min. All of my kids gave up napping by 6 months. Some kids are just wired that way.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[mtemm]

at 4 months my DS11 was a fabulous nighttime sleeper, horrible napper. My sister recommended Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I got it, I started reading it...would chuck it across the room when I got to the part about any crying at all. Then I would pick it up again and read more. I decided to go with it and 3 or 4 days later he was napping beautifully. Those few days were awful, don't get me wrong, but they were worth it for both of us in the end.

I think understanding sleep needs, which the book really emphasizes, really helped me.

good luck!!!!

 

[Jewel3k]

More suggestions.

Strap him into the infant car seat and let him sleep in it in his room.

Bring his stroller inside the house and push him around in it. I couldn't wear a carrier or sling for very long either.

Just give up on being clean, eating and going to the bathroom and snuggle the little dude while he sleeps.

Just remember this too shall pass.

 

[Christine]

My DD was a horrible napper. My maternity leave sounds like yours!! I was tired in the daytime. If I even got her to have a 40 minute nap, I considered myself really lucky. And she usually didn't do that until about 3PM (after getting up at 6AM). She didn't sleep all that great at night either but she did go down much easier for some reason.

She was just one of those kids that was hard to settle and not the best sleeper. I was jealous of my friends and mad all the time!!!!

Her baby swing was the only thing that would really work. But the time she was 3 months old, I was off maternity leave and went back to work so I never really was able to work it out on my own. She eventually started napping, somewhat at daycare, but nothing spectacular.

 

[mom2boys77]

Just wanted to say you are not alone! My dd is almost 9 months old and naps are a joke in my house. She will fall asleep and the minute I try to put her down she's wide awake. I end up holding her in order to get maybe 30-40 mins out of her. She is still nursing and nurses to sleep. Never would take a pacifier so she uses me as one. Bedtime is another disaster. She would not take a bottle so all feedings have been on me. I was so exhausted that I took her in bed with me. Now I don't know how to get her out! I am exhausted. She sleeps great in bed with us but I do not. I am constantly checking her. I want her out but don't know what to do. Op I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope it gets better for you.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

When mine were babies, I did a couple things..

with my oldest DD, I had to run the vacumn cleaner or very loud fan. Only then would she sleep. Sounds crazy, I know.

With my son he had a bouncy seat that he would only sleep in if it was on the highest setting. He needed the constant motion.

My youngest would only sleep in her car seat....no bassinet, bouncy seat or anything else. And she needed the tv on to look at.

I remember those days! EXHAUSTING!

I wish you all the best and congratulations on your new little bundle. Hoping one of these may help you out!

He won't even sleep in his bouncer, he gets bored with it in about 10-15 minutes and wants out lol

at 4 months my DS11 was a fabulous nighttime sleeper, horrible napper. My sister recommended Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I got it, I started reading it...would chuck it across the room when I got to the part about any crying at all. Then I would pick it up again and read more. I decided to go with it and 3 or 4 days later he was napping beautifully. Those few days were awful, don't get me wrong, but they were worth it for both of us in the end.

I think understanding sleep needs, which the book really emphasizes, really helped me.

good luck!!!!

Thank you. I'm going to pick that book up tomorrow for sure!

More suggestions.

Strap him into the infant car seat and let him sleep in it in his room.

Bring his stroller inside the house and push him around in it. I couldn't wear a carrier or sling for very long either.

Just give up on being clean, eating and going to the bathroom and snuggle the little dude while he sleeps.

Just remember this too shall pass.

He will only sleep in the car seat if we're in the car moving. Just sitting in it without going anywhere....he isn't fond of that lol

I'd love to bring the stroller in but my house is way too small to fit it

Lol eating I'm ok with skipping sometimes, showers I wait until DH gets home, but I can't do much about the bathroom if I need to go!

Just wanted to say you are not alone! My dd is almost 9 months old and naps are a joke in my house. She will fall asleep and the minute I try to put her down she's wide awake. I end up holding her in order to get maybe 30-40 mins out of her. She is still nursing and nurses to sleep. Never would take a pacifier so she uses me as one. Bedtime is another disaster. She would not take a bottle so all feedings have been on me. I was so exhausted that I took her in bed with me. Now I don't know how to get her out! I am exhausted. She sleeps great in bed with us but I do not. I am constantly checking her. I want her out but don't know what to do. Op I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope it gets better for you.

It's frustrating, isn't it? Sometimes at night if he wakes up I'll lay him in bed with me but I always put him back in his bassinet.

I hardly sleep, too. I'm either always checking on him, or I hear him constantly moving around(he's a very restless sleeper) and it keeps me awake.

 

[erincon23]

First, don't let your own needs for eating and peeing go by the wayside! He's not mobile yet, so if you know he's in a safe place (crib, packnplay), go ahead and do what you need to do. If he cries, he cries - I know it jars your nerves and you want to soothe him, but you need to take care of yourself.

Second, and related, don't get into the habit of personally entertaining him every minute. Starting at about this age, he needs to learn to entertain himself for little bits of time, getting to be bigger bits of time, or you'll have a toddler clinging to you screaming every minute of the day. And a 6-year-old who constantly says "I'M BORED!!!" The balloon tied on the foot is cute, but you HAVE to watch that like a hawk - not saying you shouldn't try it, just don't walk away from him if you do that - between the string and the possibility of the balloon popping, it's not something that can be done without you keeping both eyes on him.

Maybe with the reflux he just can't lay down comfortably? (I have acid reflux and laying down can be uncomfortable!)

If there's a local chapter of Mothers & More in your area (www.mothersandmore.org) or another moms group, you might want to check them out. A lot of these groups have meetings with and without babies, support, activities, etc. You didn't sound like you have a very extensive support system, and believe me, it made a HUGE difference in my life to be around other moms who were going through/had gone through the same things.

Don't worry, he'll get it, you'll get it, everyone will end up happy. Being a new mom is NOT easy.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

One day this weekend, try having someone else (DH, in laws, friend) work with him on napping for a few hours. He may be picking up on your tension and that makes the crying worse. He may also be pushing your buttons so you hold him.

I forgot to mention that my pediatrician told me that babies learn FAST how to get attention, like in the first few weeks. When I told him at our 2 week appointment that our daughter wouldn't nap without being held, he said that had to stop NOW. He said to try different techniques, but in the end, if all her needs are met and she's had sufficient cuddle time to leave her in her bouncer/pack n play/crib and let her cry, using my voice and reassuring touches to soothe her for a while. Most babies will learn to start to self soothe (there are always some that won't). It took an hour the first time, slowly decreasing. We still have to figure out where she wants to nap that day, but it has gotten better.

Let us know what your doctor says.