Two Month Old Takes Only Catnaps During the daytime...is This Ok?

babies go back and forth in their sleep habits. I found out as soon as use to one poof new one.

try not to overstimulate her right before putting down for nap.

check diaper, burp, tummy and just relax, only a phase and remember they don't talk back. sleep when she does

A good way to start to deal with this is to first observe your daughter. Is she generally irritable? Does she show strong reactions to sensory input like being cuddled, having her outfit changed, being bathed, bright light, loud sounds? Some kids are unable to do what is called self-regulation, which is being able to soothe herself or be easily comforted. Some kids are totally overwhelmed by just being in their environment - normal noise, voices, light, movement...and their nervous systems are on high alert and sleeping isn't an option when you are being bombarded by sensation. So, observe her and then make changes in the environment if you see that she is, indeed, one of these kids. Routine is also very, very important. She may need the familiarity of routine to help her recognize that it is soon, if not nap time, at least a quiet rest time.

Hi J.

You must be exhausted! Have you tried swaddling her? Try the swing, a vibrating chair, a womb sounds bear, many of these things are very calming to infants as it closely mimics sensations they were acustomed to in the womb. My second slept in her swing for naps for her first 6 months, it was the only way I could get her to nap, and I didn't care where it was. She would sleep soundly for several naps in there. My first liked the vibrating chair. Both liked the womb sounds bear, turned up sort of loudly it calmed them right down.
There were also times that I just held them for awhile while they slept, so that they were sleeping and not crying. It doesn't do much for you getting in a nap, but it is peaceful at least. Also, if any family or friends are willing to lend a hand, hand her over, take a hot shower and a nap!

Oh I remember this quite well. My daughter is 4 months old now and was the same way. I couldn't figure it out because everyone said that newborns would sleep all day long! Talking to our Ped. he just said that every baby is different but I felt like she should be getting more sleep at that age! We also had reflux issues so she hated to lay flat. What worked for us was swaddling, white noise, and her swing. She would sleep well like that. We also eventually tried putting her down before she got sleepy. She would cry but then eventually she figured out how to fall asleep on her own! Even now we've finally got her to do a 1 1/2-2 hr nap in the morning, but then still a few catnaps later in the day. Night time also got better for us around 3 months and now she'll do anywhere from 6-9 hours. Good luck! Just try a few different things and see what works for you! I read tons of books like Babywise and Happiest Baby on the Block and tried new things!

As frustrating as it is, the behaviour you're describing is typical of newborns. My daughter was exactly the same. That was about the time we introduced a bedtime routine - it was taking 2 + hrs to get her down to sleep and I figured it couldn't hurt.
There were days when my husband would get home from work and I would be sitting on the couch, house in disarray, and no thought given to dinner. DD would be asleep in my arms and there was no way I was going to put her down and wake her up because I knew she needed sleep. Those days are fewer and fewer between now. She still sleeps better at night and mainly catnaps during the day.
She may also nap for you if you are wearing her. I find it very easy to wear DD in a Moby Wrap or a Mei Tai carrier. She slept almost every time I'd put her in the Moby.

Good Luck to you.

S.

Hi, J..

It sounds to me that, in general, your daughter is overtired. At 10 weeks old, she should be having 3 or 4 decent naps during the day to break up her periods of awake time, and she should be sleeping a solid 12 hours at night (although mine's never done more than 10, 11 when she was sick) with only one (or sometimes 2) wakings to eat. Does that sound like Heaven? It can be done!

I highly recommend reading (READING? I don't have time to read! Believe me - you DO, and you'll thank yourself when you do it) The Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect and Communicate with your Baby. It is available at my local library, and that's where I read it. My daughter was a miserable cat-nap only and 5 hours ONLY overnight sleeping baby ... and by 8 weeks, I was exhausted and ready to try anything (including crying it out). Of course, we had MORE issues than JUST the short sleeping, and THIS book really helped me out.

Babies thrive on patterns, routine and consistency. It takes time to help to establish, but it can be done! My DD now still only sleeps about 10 hours a night but has 2 completely predictable daytime naps (short one in the morning, longer in the afternoon) and starts falling asleep at roughly the same time every night (on the dot). Morning wake up is inconsistent but generally falls closer to 7 am!

It's hard with a newborn. It really is. But what is key when they're so young is teaching them to "self-soothe" so that they can fall asleep on their own with minimal intervention from you because they WILL wake multiple times in the night (we ALL do, but as adults we're accustomed to sleep and have no need for mom/dad to fall asleep again) and unless they're truly in need of something (potty, diaper change, food, pain relief), they can allow themselves to fall back asleep again. (My daughter, now 13 months old, took really well to having more of a structured day/night and reliable routines ... and she's much more pleasant for it as well.)

Good luck to you!

My daughter did the same thing!

I was wondering, are you breastfeeding your daughter or bottle-feeding? If you're breastfeeding, you may want to look at what you're eating, as it goes right through to her. Our daughter (now 6-1/2) didn't sleep a lot either and in our case, the chocolate in the Ovaltine I was drinking was keeping her awake. The day after I got off Ovaltine, she slept almost all day. I had to stay off chocolate until she was weaned. Of course she loves chocolate now.

Another thing might be, is she lactose-intolerant? Even if she is getting all breastmilk, she will react to any milk or milk-based products you have.

Hope this helps!

Hi J.. Honestly, I had one son who cried and exhibited the same type of behavior. He is one of four boys. When Ahmadi was cranky like that I talked to him, I played music for him. I put in in a vibrating chair (which worked for a little while), and more often then not, I had to let him cry.

He didn't have colic (thank goodness). Make it a point to lay her in her crib. Some babies have a problem adjusting. Not much else is wrong. You may want to check with your pediatrician. If you are breast feeding it could be something your eating. Ahmadi reacted to onions. If she is formula fed, then it may be the formula.

When you put her down in he crib, you need to lay down as well. I know it's a pain to be confined to one area or another, but you have to rest! When she gets up and fusses talk to her. I know it's hard, but remain calm.

First of all--don't panic! This probably won't end up being her "routine"--it's most likely a phase. Do you think she'd sleep better in a bassinet or pack&play? Sometimes small infants feel too "lost" in a crib. She may feel more secure in a smaller space. Also, does she like being swaddled? Yu could try that if you're not doing it already. Not sure what time you feed her in the evening, but try to make sure she goes to "bed" with a full tummy. You could try some classical music CDs in her room at night so that when she wakes up she may not feel so alone. Good luck to you. Hope this helps a bit. This is a tough time and I promise you, it WILL get better.

Read this book, "Sleepless in America" by mary sheedy kurcinka. Make sure when she fusses you have tried all alternatives of hungry, etc. She'll be happier if she gets more sleep.Also if her crying persisits or becomes highpitched for a long time, I would talk to hte doctor. I would talk to the doctor anyway as sometimes they can have some good suggestions.
Good luck

wow this sounds like my 4 1/2 months old son. He also takes cat naps. He falls asleep on me and then i will lay him down and he wakes about 10-15 minutes later. (VERY FRUSTRATING)!! But at night time he falls asleep in between 7-9pm and will sleep until 5-6am, on occassion he wakes up about 2am but eats and goes back to sleep. If he gets up at 5-6am he also eats and goes back to sleep but then gets up around 7:30am because that when my other children get up for school and he will stay awake until about 9am. After that it is cat naps all day. I have not tried the snugli thing to carry him around with me, i will be going to get one of those tomorrow. I really have no advice for you cause i am going through the same thing, i thought i was the only one LOL!!! Good luck!

My son had difficuly sleeping on his own during the day. He was diagnosed with Acid Reflux and put on Zantac and also had to be switched to hypo allergenic formula(Nutramigen) as all other formulas didnt agree with him. Being next to my body helped him sleep during the day as it helped with the gas, but it was very frustrating not to be able to put him down. His sleep patterns eventually improved. I don't know if your daughter may be going through somthing similar. I hope you find a solution. Congratulations on your new baby =0)

Hello! I have a 7 1/2 mo. and he did the same thing except he woke up every 2-3 hours throughout the night. At about 3 1/2 mos. things got a lot better. He began sleeping longer stretches at night. However, he still (to this day) only takes 2-3 naps of about 15 min. per day. I still put him in his packnplay for these few minutes so I can get a little something done. This is all very normal. I would not stress about this being her schedule. Their schedules change so much from month to month. Also at this age, it is more about meeting their needs. Also every baby is different. By the way, everyone always comments on how happy my son is. He is always smiling. I attribute it to meeting his needs in the beginning and not forcing him on a schedule. Good luck.

When my son was this age he would only nap on me or my husband or in the swing. At night he would only sleep in his bouncy seat. This lasted until he was 5 months old. Then we did the cry it out method in his crib. Now he has 2 predictable & decent length naps during the day & sleeps about 6 hours at night before waking to feed, then sleeps another 3-4 hours. THis is completely normal! THere are some babies who are able to sleep for long stretches, but they are rare. Don't compare your child to them. I recommend getting a good wrap, like the Moby & wear your child. This way they can nap & you can still get stuff done. Or take advantage of her nap time & nap while holding her. I used to do this all the time. Don't worry about routines yet, just meet her needs now. She will develop a routine when she is ready. Everywhere I go I get compliments about how happy my son is, he is ALWAYS smiling. He charms everyone. I think part of the reason for that is because I did what he needed in the begining. He wanted to sleep on mommy & I allowed that. I believe it gave him a sense of security. He will have many years ahead of him to sleep alone. No reason to force it on him/her so soon. OH...you are lucky she is sleeping so much at night. My son only slept for 2 hours at a time. He always woke up hungry. When he finally slept for 3 hours (around 10 weeks) I felt really blessed.
Best of luck.

I had the same probelm with my daughter. I started putting her in her swing and she slept for about 2 hours. We just found out that my daughter has acid reflux, so when we would put her in her cib flat that would be uncomfortable for her, so she now sleeps in her car seat. It's also where she'll take her naps some days.
Hope you find something that works for you.

Hi J.,

What your daughter is going through sounds pretty typical. My son never really took good naps when he was a baby but would take several 20-30 minute naps. Every child is different. The best thing you can do is to get her into as much of a routine as possible. As she gets older she will begin to sleep longer and more consistently. I used to put my son down for naps in his swing and bedtime in his bed. that way he knew the differnce between a nap and bedtime (this got difficult later on when he outgrew the swing!). During the night, I would keep the lights off when he woke up and I wouldn't talk to him when I changed his diaper or nursed him. That way he knew it was night time and that it was time to go back to sleep. During the day we would play during feedings and diaper changes. This way your baby will learn the difference between daytime and nighttime feedings/changings. It won't happen over night - so be patient - but it will happen.

Good luck!

J.
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I am a mother of 2, the youngest being 12 weeks old and who has given us much trouble while going through a colic stage. At one point she was waking every 2 hours during the night and would not take great naps during the day. We have since started using a swaddling blanket called The Miracle Blanket (www.miracleblanket.com), which is truly a miracle! It works better than any other blanket I was using to swaddle. She would wriggle her arms out of everything else I tried. Once we started with the Miracle Blanket, she immediately began sleeping for longer periods of time. Only wakes once per night now and occasionally sleeps through the night. The idea is that it keeps the infant from startling him or herself awake or preventing herself from falling back asleep due to flailing arms/legs. Try it! It's a blessing...
G. B

If you breastfeed she may be still hungry. may be she has gas issues. if she does try mylicon,it helps with the gas. if you feed her formula she may be having issues with the iron in the formula and you may have to switch her. I gave my son rice cereal in his bottle about a teaspoon or two and it helped him sleep throught the night.I know most doctors do not like this buti feel every parent has to do what they feel is right. by the time he was four weeks old he slept at least six hours straight. try exercises also where you do her legs in a circular motion counter clockwise and rub her stomach this way too so she will have good bowel movements.

Try to just put her in her crib twice a day and let her cry a little each day. Eventually she should fall asleep and this will turn into a schedule. I always did naps from 10-12 and 2-4. Bed at 8. Babies need at least 15 hours of sleep a day or they are extra miserable.

Thanks,

T.

What works for me is a "Snugli" carrier, a sling works well too. I put my grandson in that and go about doing the things I need to do. He falls asleep and will sometimes stay asleep for 2-3 hours. Babies like the motion and closeness. It's like being in utero. I did the same thing with his Mom, my daughter, when she was that age. If I try/tried to put either of them down in a crib or anywhere else, they would only sleep about a half hour. Don't worry about spoiling, they grow out of the need for this.