Santosha - I forgot to say that DD2's sleep got better when I made a concerted effort to give her a routine - not a strict routine, more always being home when she should have been napping rather than being out and about. From memory, it got better after a few days so I reckon if you can commit to a week of a concerted effort that might be the go. Doesn't seem so bad if you just give yourself a certain time period.
Yeah, thanks Fiona. I've been wondering about that too. I just found the early weeks so tough that I got out as much as possible seeking support and company - don't think the little guy had a chance to find any sort of routine even if he wanted one!
I like the idea of just trialling it for a week. Seems survivable that way!
wow i couldntve written this better myself a while ago,had exactly the same thing,someone gave me that book about routine and sleeping and alot i just cant do but one thing that helped me was i wasnt letting DS have enough wake time so i followed her routine just for that like left him up say ok well im all over the place but he was sleeping say 7pm to 7am(waking in between not all night ofcourse)and then i was putting him back to bed thinking he needed it and then hed have a good sleep after id fought,rocked,patted etc but then all arvo would cat nap and be cranky etc so instead i let him up from 7am for say 2 hours then put him back to bed at 9am like the books says and he slept 2 hours!!then it said let them up 2 hours again and then back down and so i did it and he slept another 2 to 3 hours!!so since then hes been great i was so paranoid about him going back to sleep i spent all day trying to get him down and back to sleep and then i read maybe there not actually tired enough for a big sleep just a catnap but mine always needed more,so now i wear him out lol,from 7am after his feed me and DD put him on his tummy and play with him and that till 9am then we know he has a nice ssleep so we can do stuff together etc,i couldnt get my head round it but it worked for us,saying that he will still only cat nap out so maybe he just likes his cot now,and ive just posted on here that hes wakingall night its not to do with more sleep in the day tho as hes only 4 months and ive done the bigger sleeps for a while now where as this new thing is only 2 weeks or so...oh the joys!!
my DS didn't grow out of it till he was 15-ish months and down to 1 nap. DD has gone through phases of cat napping and longer sleeps.
Do you wear him at all? Perhaps a sling/carrier would help him to sleep longer
Been there! From 4-10 months our little girl slept for 30 minutes at a time, except for 3 times in that whole 6 months, where she went for an hour. It frustrated me to tears (and beyond!)
And then, at 10 months, just after we moved house, and just as she was becoming mobile, we started getting hour long naps. I didn't know what to do with myself! All of a sudden I had time to do not only my housework, but even some hobbies! I don't know whether it was the house move (we went from a corner block to a much quieter location) or that she started tummy sleeping at night, which was helping her to sleep right through, or if she was exhausting herself with her new mobility. But it got better.
The downside, though (what? There's a down side??) is that now I have to work my life around her day sleeps. Back in the day I could put her down any time, knowing we'd never be more than half an hour late to anything! Small price to pay, though, for a well-rested baby and a productive craft corner
It will get better. I second the suggestion of babywearing, or feeding to sleep, or whatever it takes to just roll with it.
Ahhh... my DS is not unique then!? Thanks for sharing ladies. Although madB, I'm not so sure I liked your sharing. 15 months??!
Does exactly the same thing when worn. And at already over 8kgs at 4 months and my shonky back, I'm almost relieved that this is not the solution - I'd break!
Today I just rolled with it. Combined a few strategies from above... let him stay awake until he was really tired rather than settle 'at the first sign of tiredness' like you're told which meant he passed out pretty easily - just rocked him in the pram... wish he'd still feed to sleep, little menace! And didn't bother with even trying to resettle except once while DD was asleep and he seemed drowsy enough to go with it.
Overall he had very slightly less sleep than usual but still went down tonight with the same degree of resistance and I certainly found that I was less stressed which in turn helps DD.
I remember a few months before DS was born someone asked me what I had learned from DD's babyhood that I hoped to apply this time around. My reply was "don't fight the baby". As in, don't try to resist what the baby naturally wants / does or you both end up unhappy and nobody 'wins'. Somewhere along the line I forgot this and had started to 'fight' again. Thanks all... letting go now.
I was going to reply along those lines, but didn't want to depress you! I had a revelation when my DS 1 was about 4 months. He slept for 40 minutes, to the minute exactly. No matter how much rocking or shhhing etc could get him back to sleep.
So I just realised that he wasn't going to have any more sleep and that was that. Life was so much easier then.
FWIW, he grew out of it himself around 8 months when he moved to two sleeps a day.
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its not to do with more sleep in the day tho as hes only 4 months and ive done the bigger sleeps for a while now where as this new thing is only 2 weeks or so...oh the joys!!
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