Day Sleeps

[Abbys Mum]

Hi There,

My DS is almost 9 weeks old and we seem to be having trouble getting him to sleep more than 30-40 minutes at a time during the day unless he sleeps in my arms then he will sleep for up to 3 hours or more.

He can settle himself to sleep but when he wakes 30-40 minutes later I can not get him to settle back to sleep no mater how long and hard I try (unless he sleeps in my arms then he will sleep a further 2-3 hours). I have tried the techniques on this site but he just wont go back to sleep.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Was anyone elses baby like this? Did they eventually sort themselves out?

I also have a 2 year old DD who is craving my attention as it seems I spend my whole day trying to get DS to sleep and stay asleep or I am holding him for hours at a time.

Also he sleeps well during the night usually only waking for 1 maybe 2 feeds.

Thanks in advance

[Hoody]

Honestly i have no real advice. My DD2 is 6 months and for the first 3 i really struggled i too have a 2 yo so am hearing you on them wanting attention too. With my DD once she hit 3-4 months she really settled and now i cant believe how good she is iykwim. I just thought i'd pop in and tell you- your doing a great job and things will settle down. I did find that wearing my DD in a sling was a great help when i couldnt put her down and my 2yo needed me to.

[~Trish~]

It's so frustrating isn't it?! They do grow out of it, but who knows when! My 7 month old still has trouble sleeping past the first sleep cycle some days. We still have good and bad days. My first DS was 6 months old when he sorted himself out.

A trick that I found worked with DS2 - He sleeps in 40 minute cycles so I would go in a couple of minutes before his cycle was about to finish and watch him. As soon as he stirred (not cried, he would do a little sigh and a stretch) I would pat him on his tummy (I kind of ducked down so he couldn't see me LOL) for around 60 seconds, then I would leave. Sometimes went back to sleep, sometimes he wouldn't. The first time I tried it he slept a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes so I was pretty happy!

Just know it is really common. Babies go into lighter sleep at around 40 minutes into their nap and sometimes need help settling back to sleep. I know how much harder it is with two kids!

Best of luck

[Abbys Mum]

Thanks for that, I'm glad I'm not alone.

[Ezz]

oops posted twice!

[Ezz]

It really does get better!! I worked on getting DS to self-settle from the time he was 3 weeks old, but he really only "got it" consistently when he was 3 months old. I set up a sleep routine (wrapping, dummy, soft music, dim light, etc) & I encouraged him to self-settle. I would give him the dummy & pat him until he was calm, then walk out of the room. I would go back in if he cried & do the patting/dummy thing again. I kept doing this until he fell asleep (then would do it again in 40 mins to re-settle him if he woke up). You need to persevere with it - they do get it eventually. Partly I think it's just a developmental thing though - they won't do it until they are ready (but they won't do it at all if you don't teach them the skills - but that's just my opinion & experience ).

Have a look here and here to see the threads about my DS.