First Nap of the Day

Cooper always naps, usually about 2 times a day for 2 - 3 hours at a time. His first nap is usually about 2 hours or so after he gets up, I can see him getting tired so I feed him a bottle and then rock him a little until he's sleepy then lay him down. 2nd nap is about the afternoon, again I wait until he's fussy (that's how I know he's tired...and he rubs his eyes0) and then lay him down usually after something to eat or he goes to sleep. I find that he naps better if I lay him down in his crib, in a seperate room. I think we wake him up with noise and just being near him. I also find that if I lay him down or start the nap right when I think he's starting to get tired he goes down easier than if I wait until he's over tired and fussy. If your baby isn't sleeping well at night it may be because he is overtired, most babies need 15 hours at least of sleep a day, so that is with nights and naps combined. I would suggest starting a routine and keep on it. That is when Cooper thrives is when he is on a routine. If he goes to daycare be sure that they are on the same routine also. Also - at nights if he is fussy from 8 pm - 10 pm (like Cooper was) something I wish we would have done sooner would be to actually move his bed time to 8pm. He sleeps WAY better and sleeps the whole night, plus he gets more sleep and wakes up on his own in the morning, so I know he's getting enough sleep at night KWIM? GOOD LUCK!

If I am right you have posted before that he has colic? My youngest son had really bad colic for about 8 weeks which meant he never would sleep. He would sleep maybe for about an hour if he was held. Otherwise he NEVER slept. About the time he was 3 months old he began a regular schedule and would actually take a morning nap for about 2 hours and an afternoon nap for an hour. But I would have him in bed by 6 or 6:30 pm and would sleep until about 5 or 6 am. I didn't think that I would ever get to sleep again. But he has loved to sleep and take naps once he got thru the worse part of his colic. He is 3 now and still loves his afternoon nap. It was not easy for me to get thru no sleep or baby not sleeping but want to give you encouragement that it does get better. You take care!

At that age, I tried to always put them down for a nap about two hours after the last time they woke up. I just swaddled and laid them down, often after something to eat. Rarely did I let them fall asleep in my arms and stay there, unless we were at church or eating out. Roo sometimes resisted but would relax not long after he was in his bed. Roo took three naps until he was 14 months this way. He's down to one 2 - 3 hours nap now and he and his sister (3 1/2) sleep at the same time.

We are not on a strict schedule. She is a very awake baby. Usually she can fall asleep when I wear her.

So since I posted, Ethan has gone down easily about two hours after he wakes up. He usually sleeps about an hour...hurray! I can also get him down once in the afternoon. His colic is better but the hours of 5 to 7 are his bad times, we call it the scudgies. I always plan something to distract him, a bath, a bottle a drive but as soon as we are done he is possessed by his evil twin again. We had a GREAT three days and then yesterday a loooong day out. I was so uptight that he would not get a nap (he did sleep in the car a bit) and last night he slept about 12 hours. For some reason I've been unusually tired the last few days. Today during the scudgies I just couldn't do it. Normally I rock him pretty fast in the glider and hold a pacifier in his mouth until he stops screaming and falls asleep. It takes only about 5 minutes and I was so proud of myself. But today I just couldn't hack it even for five minutes. He was screaming like crazy and DH is away for three days ...I just wanted to close the door and hide. Instead I took him for a drive, came back, gave him a bottle and he fell asleep. But he's sleeping SO SO SO fitfully right now. I feel I didn't keep him calm enough and messed up his sleep schedule. I also feel like a nervous first time mom and he might pick up on it. I've also had a chronic cough which he has gotten used to but I feel like it's not as relaxed as we would both like! I know babies cry but I just hate when he's uncomfortable!!!!! I like the routine we had last week. I'm not accepting long day invitations until we have a few weeks to settle into this pattern which happened naturally and is really good for him AND me! But he's still kind of a challenge to get down at night. Naps I get good signals though!

I would agree with focusing on a schedule for awhile and not straying from it until E is set in the schedule. As much as I am a social person, with both my kids, we became quite reclusive. And still, I protect the afternoon nap time fiercely because we all (including me!) cope better when they've had their naps from 1-3. Some people don't agree that changing your life for the baby is right. But especially with children who are struggling like E (and my Roo) it is important to get them on a schedule. Even now at 3 1/2 and 16 months, both my kids do so much better when sleep and eating schedules are kept. It is just a reality of our lives.

Well the good news is Ethan sleeps looong nights, 10,11 even 12 hours and only wakes up once. His first wake up is usually pretty late, 3 or 4. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get him down. He wakes up again at 6,7 once 8 o'clock. So that's a big chunk of his sleep but he stopped his daytime naps again. He wont' sit in his carseat, swing or anything really. He only wants to be held. His mobile is good for about 20 minutes maybe twice a day. So I end up spending the entire day trying to relax him enough for a nap. He has meltdowns when I try to rock him it's just hard but I know it will get better. Plus when he's old enough I'm going to do the Ferber (Farber?) method. I know it's controversial but I think if the baby is old enough and settled into his sleep rythm it's ok (just my non expert feelings). Blessed, I just want to say, with all due respect that to say I envy you would be a huge understatement!!!! So I guess my final question is: When baby won' nap do you carry on your day or do you stay put and try to get him to sleep. I am going to do everything possible to get that boy into one of my slings...he needs it and I need it!:boot:

At what age do you try to start them on a schedule?We are 2 weeks....do we have a long wait? akr

Oh honey, I would wait until at least 3 months old. And, think routine, not schedule. To me, routine is more flexible. Schedule tells me I would have to pay more attention to it than to the needs of my baby. Hang on, mama, it will get better!!!

stormster, if I remember right, your baby cries alot...like all the time alot. So did mine. He was placed with us at 8 weeks and cried night and day...after two weeks of constantly holding him and rocking him and feeding him (all while he cried) I finally broke down and took him to the doctors office in tears. I took a week off and let my husband take care of him...then I decided if this was going to work that I needed to let him cry. It broke my heart but in the afternoon I laid him down and went outside for an hour. Yeah, I am a horrible mom...but guess what it didn't kill him. And after a month he started to grow out of his colic and fuss. He takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap on most days now and if he only sleeps for a little while he is now content in my arms. (which never happened when he was little) He is now 6 months. One thing I did notice was once we started him on cereal he did seem less cranky. And we cradle him alot too which I think babies need.