SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

ANY advice is greatly appreciated.


This is day 3 that she is just fighting and fighting napping. yesterday she was up at 5:30am...all the way until midnight on only a 2 hr nap!! Today, she's been up since 8am and its now 6:15pm...and she only napped for a little while in the car.

What can I do? What's going on with her? She is obviously tired and her eyes start closing but then she fights it.

She doesn't want to be held or sit in the bouncy seat or lay in her bassinet.

I dont know what to do.

Message edited 5/14/2006 7:12:51 PM.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Have you tried a swing yet? That worked for my daughter.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Do you swaddle her??

Ryan would only sleep swaddled and or in his carseat- for the 1st 2 months!

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Will she sleep in her carrier?

ETA- put her in her carrier, and put the carrier on top of the dryer for a min. (with you standing close by of course)

She should fall asleep

Now this isnt a perm. fix- but it will help you get a break....

Message edited 5/14/2006 8:27:39 PM.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

I don't have any advice, but I wanted to tell you that I was there when Katherine was a newborn. I used to think, "aren't babies supposed to sleep all day long?!?" My daughter NEVER napped; if anything, it was 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there.

Now, she is a GREAT napper. She takes two naps of about 90 minutes--totally unlike her newborn self! So, things can and do change.



PS...Once I started swaddling for naps and putting her in her own crib, things got better (she was probably a couple of months old then though)...so I guess I do have some advice.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Do you use a pacifier? I am all for doing without it -- but some babies just need it. Also I think you have to just keep trying things until you find what works. Some babies prefer the carseat, bouncie, swing, crib, every baby is different. It is exhausting in the beginning and so frustrating but I hope you find what works for you guys soon!

Melissa

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

My only other suggestion is the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD/Book. It has some great suggestions.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

I highly recommend getting The Baby Whisperer book. It's all about the E.A.S.Y. method & it really worked well for Alex (and me ). It gives you a guideline to start getting baby on some sort of "routine".
Good Luck!

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

She may be overtired by the time you try to get her to nap. Overtired really is a no nap kind of equation.

If you are desperate, I would try running a vaccuum to get her to sleep. Or you could just take a walk or drive with her.

Infants tend to need to nap within two hours of waking, just to give you a "reference" and then every kid is different.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

The last week + she has been eating and then napping for 3-4 hrs, then waking to eat again. But the last couple of days, she eats and stays awake...getting more tired as the day goes on and refusing to sleep.

She's also starting to exhibit signs of colic.

So now I really dont know what to do.

We use a passifier (and it helps) and she is already on soy formula because she wasnt doing well with breast milk or milk-based formula.

I gave her Mylocin about a half hour ago and we're going to try a bath.

She is dozing on and off while laying across our laps or being held by me and DH but she wakes every few minutes fussing and kicking out her legs and trying to pass gas.

I just don't know what to do for her to make her feel better.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Believe me i feel your pain. Jacob is almost 5 months and still isnt the greatest of nappers. Sometimes i get an hour and a half, sometimes 30 min. He also had bad gas/colic, & acid reflux, He is on nutramigen formula. Maybe you should consider that.. But these are my suggestions:

1. Read/watch The Happiest Baby on the Block... NOW! I waited until Jacob was like 3 and a half months old to read it and i prob could have avoided many many days/nights of extreme exhaustion on his part and mine (Not to mention SANITY) if i had read it sooner.

2. Swaddle. Jacob also displayed signs of hating it.. squirming, and fighting.. i bought the miracle blanket and i felt bad using it at first cause it seems like a straight jacket, but he surrendered to the fact he wasnt getting out it was my LIFESAVER AND STILL IS!!!

3. Swing... on the highest setting. Sounds insane but trust me, it works. It seems like it is too fast but they wouldnt make the setting if it was too fast for the baby.

4. Gripe Water for gas/colic. Use it with EVERY feeding. Either directly in her mouth or into her bottle. Mylicon did nothing for Jacob and it only started to help him a bit when he was older around 4 months... I still use gripe water.

5. White noise... forget lullabyes for now. I tape recorded the vacuum cleaner/hair dryer for when he was napping in his swing, and i still use his monitor just turned on to static for nightime sleeping. Contrary to what some people may think, babies like loud noise when they are first born. The sound of your blood rushing thru your arteries and veins and thru the placenta in utero was louder than a vacuum cleaner. It reminds them of "HOME".

Thats all i can think of... Oh, and Also read The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. If you have any time and energy left. Also a great book to help out with newborns. Good luck to you.. i hope she starts cooperating and doesnt take that dreaded turn down colic avenue. We're here if you need us!! FM me if you need any more support...

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

I agree with Noreen about white noise. We live on the corner of a pretty busy street in our area, the one that fire trucks, delivery trucks and most residents always come down and we tune the radio in her room to static to cover the noise. It started when she was diagnosed with colic and the doctor suggested it. Best advice I ever got!

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

I also second the pacifier and the vaccuum. God luck it will happen.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Oh boy... well, all I can tell you is it WILL get better! Alex was the same way for the first 4-5 months, and I think it was mostly because of gas. She was terrible - would never nap and whenever she was awake she would fuss, strain and cry. I tried everything, and there really wasn't any miracle cure, but here are some things that may help:

1- Keep trying with the swing. The movement distracts baby from the gas pains. Alex didn't take to the swing at first, but after a few weeks it was the only place she would sleep and/or nap.

2 - baby carrier. Keep baby close to you. It helps comfort them when they are uncomfortable and helps with napping. In the beginning, the only way I could get Alex to sleep was to put her in her baby carrier and walk on the treadmill on the lowest setting.

3 - Use a bassinet. In the beginning Alex didn't nap well in the crib, I think because it was so big. We bought a small bassinet that had a vibrate option on it, and had white noise on it as well. I do remember times when I would put her in there and she would actually sleep

4 - Use Mylicon consistently. It won't work when you use it sporadically.

5 - If her gas is very bad, try to let her sleep on her side. On the left side - I read an article about how laying on your left side allows trapped gas bubbles to travel out. I would rock Alex on her side and push her legs up to a fetal position - it often helped.

6 - Pump her legs like a bicycle to get out the gas.

7 - do the superman hold. This was one of the only things that worked with Alex when she was super fussy. DH would hold her on his forearm. Her head face down in the palm of his hand, her butt towards his elbow, with her tummy laying flat against his forearm. The pressure against her tummy helped ease the gas discomfort. If he walked around the house with her in that position, she would often fall asleep.

8 - Stroller/car ride. Again, the movement helps baby become distracted from the discomfort.

That's all I can think of for now!! Good luck and it WILL get better!

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Very simple advice here:

1. Try to put her down for a nap awake, after 1.5 - 2 hrs of wakefulness - any longer and she's overtired and will have a hard time falling asleep.

2. Try the carseat.

3. Read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Have you tried belly sleeping? I was very against it until she kept getting up every 20 mins. Now I get 3-4 hour nap........

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Jillian HATED her swing so much that we packed it up and returned it.

Try swaddling her with her hads free I always did that and it was fine untill she started to roll over.
Also you can let her sleep where she is.. try not to always put her in the crib. You can also try putting her in her infant carrier and go for a drive..

This is a piece of advice i got from someone.. you can take it or not..

" Make the baby adjust to your schedule Do not adjusts your to fit theirs..."

Good luck it does get better...

Also maybe try some classical music... jillian loved that

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

For naps the white noice I used was the fan above the stove, he loved to be in his carseat so I put him in the stroller and rocked him back and forth to the noise of the exhaust fan or just around the house, he usually drifted off in a short time.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

You got a lot of good advice much of what I have tried or am going to try because our DD sounds very much like yours! She rarely naps or sleeps, maybe 15 - 20 and unless she is in mine or DH arms or in the Sling I carry her in...

Mylicon didn't really do much, maybe we didn't use it enough... We may give it a go again... We are working with Gripe Water now. Best of luck to you let's hope it gets better ASAP!

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

I found with my daughter that the only swaddling that worked was with the blanket from the hospital. Did you happen to bring one of these home? It's the perfect size and for some reason, it's the only one that wraps her up tightly.

She too did not like to be swaddled in the beginning and I had her sleeping in the car seat / stroller. It may take a few weeks but keep trying.

Re: SHe won't nap! It's making me nuts! - ANY adivce i sgreatly appreciated!!!

Ladies - thank you SOOO MUCH for all of the advice!!!!!!!!!!!