12 answers

2 Month Old Fights Sleep

Hi,
I have a two month old son who just refueses to nap. I am trying everything I know to help him but he dosen't give in. I can see he is so tired and he needs to sleep. He is sleeping great in the night time but during the day, forget about it. Sometimes I put him in the car seat and take him for a walk around the block but that only works about half the time. I feel so bad when he gets so tired because somehow I feel I could be doing more to help Him. I Wanted to know if anyone has had the same thing happen to them and how they helped their child sleep.

What can I do next?

Featured Answers

Get the book The Happiest Baby On The Block it seems to really help people with sleep for babies/ Good Luck!

More Answers

Get the book The Happiest Baby On The Block it seems to really help people with sleep for babies/ Good Luck!

I agree with the other mom's...you have to read or watch The Happiest baby on the block. It was a life saveer for me. i watched it because it was easier and it was a great video. One of the things he points out is the swaddle. if you don't swaddle your son, you might want to try that. I unswaddled my daughter for about a month and we had the same problem...she wouldn't sleep. Once we started to swaddle again she started to sleep better. Try that until you can get your hands on the book/video. I wish you the best of luck and congratulations on your little guy.

get a good sling and do your daily activities with your baby in it. not only is it good for his development and "rocking" him to sleep, it is also an excellent time for bonding in these early months. any ring sling will work best for nursing also. it takes practice to "wear" a baby, but once you get the hang of it you will have so much more freedom and your baby will sleep better. i love my sling, i dont know how moms live without them!

B.,

It may seem funny to us but babies have a hard time falling asleep when they are overtired. What we found that worked for us was to put our daughter down 2 hours after she got up. So if she woke up at 7am then her first nap was at 9am. When she woke up from that nap the next was 2 hours later - if she woke at 10am she went down again at noon. It was a schedule that worked well. As she got older the 2 hours went to 3 or 3-1/2 hours and now we are up to 4 hours in between naps. This adjusts for when they sleep longer or shorter amounts.

Also check the library for sleep books. I have read a lot of them and it's not the 'ferberizing' that I am suggesting but most of them have different suggestions on ways to get the baby to sleep. The No Cry Sleep Solution I know has several good suggestions that you could try. One thing to note - just because something doesn't work this week doesn't mean it won't work next week. Babies are constitently changing and learning from the world they are now in.

Another thing to try is using a swaddling blanket. I used one but allowed my daughter to have her arms. Well I was so glad when someone said to wrap her arms down - she slept so much better after that.

You can also try a white noise machine or CD. I think you can even download white noise from the internet. Or ocean sounds. They also have ocean type music machines that can be attached to the babies crib to help them sleep. There is something called the sleep sheep. Some of my friend love it. We never tried it though. You could also put a music box on when you first put him in.

I don't know what your bedtime routine is but you could try doing the same routine at nap time. Also try to make the room as dark as possible. I had to buy velour curtains to put behind my daughter's 'real' curtains to block out as much light as possible for her.

My daughter also tends to be warm most of the time and I have found that leaving on the ceiling fan when she naps helps her as well. She's a hot mama! lol.

Some people say swings work but I never had that much luck with ours for sleeping. Maybe a bouncy seat with the vibrator motion on.

I hope some of these help you to get your little one to sleep. They say the night sleep effects the day sleep and the day sleep effect the night sleep. Basically if they sleep poorly at night they don't sleep during the day and if they sleep poorly during the day the don't sleep well at night. But the reverse is true as well. So hopefully your little guy will start to sleep better during the day.

Good luck,
L. M

My son is now 1 year and 1 months old. I had this same problem When my son was this young. Not untill he was 6 months old did the problem get any better. The only thing we were able to do was hold him during his naps. Thankfully after i went back to work his daddy was home during hte day with him as we worked opposite shifts. once he got to be 6 months old We were able to Lay him down on his tummy For a nap. when he started to get tired we would lay him down in his crib on his tummy and he would be out with in a min. HE HATED laying on his back during the day. But never have one ounce of issues sleeping at night. Started out when he came home from hospital at 4-6 hours at a time. One thing His dr told me over and over IF he is sleeping Good at night day time and naps dont matter. But i understand what you mean about being so sad to see him So upset when he is so tired and you cant do anything about it.

Sorry to babble I just know how you feel have been there my seld.

B. 30 year old first time mom to a 1 year old :)

My son was the same way and my niece does the same thing. There really isn't much you can do to help other then what you are doing. I would take my son for walks or put him in the swing but that didn't work all the time either. The doctor kept telling me that infants do not fight sleep but I was there and saw it with my own eyes.

my youngest always liked to be on the move so he slept in his swing for months or in his sling as I did house work. Try walking around your home w/ him a sling or carrier he may just want to be close to you.

Not sure what else you have tried, but we swaddle our little sleep fighter and put him in a baby sling that we wear and it works every time.

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