My Baby Never Sleeps During the Day

Try giving him a Lavender bath after lunch. The lavender is relaxing and the warm bath water is also relaxing. Play soft music, no TV or other activitys. This could be relaxing for you too..
D.

Get the book "On Becoming Baby Wise" it was the best thing I ever did. A week after I implemented a "schedule" my son was napping regularly throughout the day and sleeping through the night. He was 3 months old. It is hard at first but it will get easier. Hope this helps.

Some babies that age also have problems with acid reflux when they're laying down to sleep. If he'll sleep in car seat, try getting him to nap in the car seat in the house. That might be the age when my son slept in a swing or a bouncy chair a lot. He just wouldn't sleep otherwise during the day (and stopped napping when he was 2 years old). The swing saved us. Also, front pack (baby bjorn) he'd sleep in comfortably and I could do things. My son didn't like the sling or swaddling, he'd get too hot.

If it seems like it could be acid reflux I know helping him sleep on something angled so his head is higher than the rest of his body can help.

Have you tried swadling him? I used to work in a daycare and one of the teachers there was like a baby whisperer I swear she could get the toughest babies to sleep. Try to tightly swadle him but not so much that it chokes him Babies feel more comforted when they are swadled because it reminds them of being in the womb. Then after you swadle your baby hold him and swing him from side to side. I don't know why but it works. Do this until you are tired or until the baby is asleep. Lay your baby in his crib and turn on peacfull music. If he still cries try laying your hand over his eyes and gently patting him. Or gently rolling him. This really works we had many babies that would not nap and we tried this and it worked. Hope this helps

My daughter is also 2 months old and is the same way. I have resorted to having her nap on the couch with pillows around her. She tends to sleep better if there is noise in the room like the television or just voices. It's like she knows when I leave the room when I put her in her crib, even if I turn her music on or the tv in our bedroom. I have given up on putting her in her crib for nap time right now, because she always wakes up, but I don't know how long I can get away with letting her nap on the couch either. Sometimes I have to resort to just letting her sleep on me if she will not go to sleep at all, just so I make sure she can get some sleep. I also tried the sling once and she slept pretty good in that. Good Luck!!

My best advice would be to wear your baby in a sling. It worked for my daughter, who was the Queen of the 5 minute nap. She was able to sleep soundly in the sling and seem to really like it.

I would recommend a "Boppy Pillow". I slept my daughter in a boppy pillow until she grew out of her basinett. You can get one at Babies R Us for around $20. Especially since he will sleep in the car seat or in your arms. He seems to like to sleep snug. Sometimes the wrap in a blanket just isn't snug enough or after 10 mins or so it loosens up. With the boppy pillow that doesn't happen. I squished mine into the basinett and with my daughter swaddled I laid my daughters head on the closed side and her butt in the hole and she slept very peaceful. The opening in the pillow lets you adjust the opening for the size of the baby and snuggness needed. Let me know if you would like a more detailed explaination.
Good Luck.
TRUDI

This is pretty normal for a baby this age. I have heard that until they are about 3 months old you are supposed to respond every time they cry. Once she gets a little older, maybe 4 months or so, be persistant about sleeping in the crib. If she cries, go in and soothe her but leave her there. It might be rough at first, but it gets much easier once she learns how to put herself to sleep.

My son rarely sleeps douring the day as well at 4 months. He sleeps for hours at night but during the day its little power naps of 15 to 20 minutes. I think he is afraid he is gonig to miss something lol. As hard as it is (trust me I know) I figure when he needs to sleep he will trying to make him only frustrates me and him.

A good tight swaddle works wonders. It makes them feel more secure and most of the time they dont even notice they have been put down.

O.k, tell me about it. DO YOU HAVE A BABY SWING??? My son is 2.5, but boy oh boy did I use the swing. It plays music and will rock your little one to sleep in no time! Also, baby might sleep in the swing at night, when he is a little bit older. Take it from me! Otherwise, don't put him down after 10 min, he still knows your warmth and listens to your heart beat. The sling is also a great idea. But nothings gonna trump the swing!

My daughter was/is the same way. For a while at night I had to sleep in a recliner while I held her. She has mostly outgrown this behavior. She is 4-mo-old now and doesn't nap too well. She fusses and wakes up a lot during her naps and I run in the room and put my finger in her mouth until she is lulled for a total of a two hour sleep. I used to think that she was just awake when she fussed, but I soon learned to try putting her back to sleep. I do try to keep my blanket piled up close to her sides so she feels cradled. She hates having her arms bound. I am hoping that she will grow out of this completely soon. I think she finally let me put her down without waking up completely around 2.5 months. She wont sleep in a sling either. If nothing else works, my advice is to keep laying down with your son and enjoy it as a time when you have to do nothing else but lay there and relax.

Hi. My sister is going through the same thing with my niece. she rarely sleeps in a bed (she's one, now) Have you tried surrrounding him with towels or pillows? Sometimes that helps. With my youngest, I found out that if I let a tape or the radio play, he slept longer. Also, having a completely silent sleeping time during the day isn't as helpful as it sounds. They end up having a sensitive startle reflex that makes it harder for them to sleep. Does your son sleep all night. If he does, don't worry so much about daytime naps. My oldest didn't nap well during the day but he slept all night. Well, at least six hours a night. Hope this helps and Good luck. Enjoy this time while you have it. It goes by really fast.

K.,

Some kids need more help getting to sleep than others. My son wasn't a napper either and by the time he was around 5 months old he was so sleep deprived that he wasn't sleeping well at night either - so neither of us was sleeping at all (and I work full time and my husband was working nights so it was all me, all the time). I recommend reading the "No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. It has some good ideas. What worked for us was 'consistency' and 'setting the stage for sleep.' Basically we had to start putting my son down regularly for naps (like clockwork at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and then bed at 6:30 p.m.) I also scheduled the naps for at least 2 hours - I'd do whatever I could (nursing, rocking, etc...) to try to encourage my son to sleep that whole time, even if it meant helping him get back to sleep several times. It sounds counterproductive but I found that sleep begets sleep. The more tired my son is, the worse he sleeps. Once we established a really good routine, he started sleeping more and sleeping more consistently. As for 'setting the stage for sleep' I started putting him down in his room, with the blinds closed, door closed, soft music or white noise (a fan works well) and then a routine to tell him it was time to sleep (nursing, rocking, etc...) The important part was that we did the exact same thing at the exact same time each day. My son, even now at 3, has never fallen asleep in public (I see kids asleep in strollers or in their mom's arms - my son has NEVER done that), he rarely falls asleep in the car and he's never fallen asleep anywhere in the house other than his bed. Some kids just need more help with it and stronger "clues" than others. It did take a lot of work on my part but now my son is a pretty good sleeper overall. And I'm not sure either of us would have survived much longer if we hadn't done something. Good luck!

T.

Hi K.,

It sounds like your doing a good job. Just keep up the good work and before you know it your baby will feel comfortable and sleep longer in his bed. A baby that age needs all the love he can get. Your doing great! The key to getting your child to sleep is routine and it sounds like you got that down.

I was wondering why going back to work was making you nervous? If it is because you want to stay home with your baby I have a solution to that if you're interested. I have three children and work at home. I am able to stop any time and then start back up any time. I set my own hours and love what I do. If this is the case and you might be interested in finding out more info. Just give me your number and a good time to call.

P.S. You could still keep your job and ease into this one and go full time stayhome mom once the business kicks off.

~G.

Hi K.: congratulations on your new baby. When my kids were little and didn't sleep through the night, I tried feeding them a little more than normal and I warmed the milk. It usually did the trick. Hope this helps. R.

Hi Kristen,

God bless your heart. My children are 8 & 12, you would think that I've forgotten about my first childs sleep issues.

Some things to ask yourself?

1. Is my baby crying or upset during the day when she/he is awake?
2. Are you breastfeeding or formula feeding?
If you are breastfeeding, does your child choke and gag (while nursing) or burp like a sailor?
If you are formula feeding, have you ruled out an intolerance to the formula?
3. Does my child vomit or spit up frequently? Have you given birth to the exercist child? Does your child projectile vomit(shoot half away across the room)? If my child does not spit up, has she/he ever gagged and looked like was having a minute problem breathing? Not all children that have reflux, puke.... Some children/infants only have the heartburn effect and it never gets diagnosed. Thats because they only sleep bad and are unhappy babies, this is one thing I would recommend looking into. What makes me consider this is the fact that your child will sleep in the car seat sitting up. Alot of people that have reflux, it only effects them when they lie down. The reason this happens is when you are in an upright position, the acids from our stomach follow gravity and it doesn't come up the esophagus. Once you lie doen, gravity no longer works and you end up with heartburn, or a cranky infant. Also how often does your child eat. Some babies will eat 24 hrs non stop, and others will learn to refuse to eat, even at that age they can figure out cause and effect. I eat, I feal sick. I don't eat, maybe I won't feel so sick.
I would like you to schedule a doctors appointment to rule out an medical causes?
I wish I had known about reflux when my baby was an infant. She went thru 3 months of nonstop colic (undiagnosed crying) She would cry every night from 5:30 to 8:30 pm, every night, non stop. She also was not a good sleeper, 10 minutes here, ten minutes there. Very exhausting, try to get anything done....Ha !
I have not read any of the sleep books but it could help. I think I've read some other really good advice that was suggested thru other moms. Good luck and if you want some more info regarding the questions I asked of you... you can email me a personal message and we can get more specific.

Good Luck!
H. B.

Hi K., congratulations on your new baby. When i started to read your post it was like if i had written it myself. My baby is 3 !/2 months now and she is still like that. Now she sleeps through the night, usually 9 hours, but during the day only 10 minutes here and there ( i call them power naps jaja), at first i tried everything but it didn't work, now i'm used to it. A friend of mine had the same problem until she got a swing, it worked wonders for her.
be patient and i hope you find a solution or get used to it like i did.

K.~
I have a 2 1/2 yr old son and a 16 month old daughter. My son slept great and my daughter NEVER slept. I thought it was weird but she just didn't take naps. She was happy throughout the day so I just took what I could get. If she slept a little here or a little there I took it. You can't force them to sleep. She naps now and sleeps really good she didn't really start napping good until she was 8 months old. Sorry I know this probably doesn't help much but from having a great sleeper and a not so great sleeper... you just realize that some babies need more sleep than others. Just try to enjoy your precious gift!! Good luck going back to work. I hope everything works out for you!!

My first son (now 10) was the same way.
He slept (almost) through the night when I started putting him in his swing to sleep.
I would recomend A battery operated one so you dont have to wake every 30 min to wind
also I,v found the rythmic clicking sound the swing makes is comforting and helps keep sleeping babes sleeping!

I am new to this site, and cannot figure out how to read your responses, so sorry if this is a repeat of something that someone else has said....I have a 3.5 month old and he will nap for good stretches if his is swaddled or at least his arms are bound. The swaddling we learned from the book The Happiest Baby on the Block. In our newborn care class, the instructor showed us a "half-swaddle"...you take a receiving blanket, fold once into a triangle and lay on a bed, couch etc with the point facing down. Place your baby in the center with his head above the blanket. then take the left side of the "triangle" , wrap over the left arm and the under the body so that his arm is pinned. Repeat with the right. Apparently...if the arms are still, babies stay calmer and will consequently sleep longer. Hope this helps!!!

Babies that age love to be held! I had 3 babies and I and my hubby just held them while they slept! If you are going back to work and your fiance works, that means childcare. I suggest that you find someone that will hold your baby a lot and that has the love and time for your baby!

My son Never slept either! He's now 13 months old and takes really good naps. When he was younger though he would only sleep 20 minutes a day. And at night he would sleep in 3-4 hours stretches and then stay awake for an hour. Now that he's older he'll sleep for 3 hours...sometimes...in the morning. And then nothing else until 9 or 9:30pm. Your son might be one of those babies whose just afraid he's going to miss out on something. It can be hard on you, so just rest when you can.