Need Advice on Night Time Sleeping and Day Naps for a 3 Months Old

Updated on November 16, 2012
O.Y. asks from New York, NY
5 answers

Hi,

MY LO will be 3 months next week. He was not a great sleeper from the start. We innitialy had him sleep in a bassinet next to our bed but he was waking up very frequently at night (almost every hour) and I ended up giving up and taking him to bed with us. He now goes to bed 8-9pm, wakes up every 2 hours to brestfeed and then wakes up for a day at around 6am. He can stay awake for about 1.5hrs during the day and then gets tired. The problem is that he only naps in our arms (short naps, less than one hour), Baby Bjorn (less than one hour) or stroller, which we constantly have to push (long naps, up to 2.5hrs). I tried putting him in a crib awake but tired for naps and he starts fussing and crying. I am not in a favor of "let it cry approach" so I end up picking him up. When I rock him back to sleep and transfer to the crib, he usually sleeps for about 30 minutes (at the most) in his crib and then wakes up but is tired/fussy. He also hates to be swaddles and does not take a pacifier. I need some advice from experienced moms on how to transition his night sleep and naps to the crib. Thank you!

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C.B.

answers from San Francisco on

Try warming the crib sheets before you put him in. It could be the transition to the cold sheets that are waking him up and making him fussy.

For naps, try a swing.

1 mom found this helpful
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❤.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Okay here are a few things to try (I went through a few stages w/my little
one):

-someone told me after I fed him & he falls asleep in my arms to then
transition him w/i 10-15 mins to where he will sleep (crib, bassinet etc).
No sooner and no longer.

-I used a bouncy chair, a swing etc. I tried anything and everything finding what worked for my baby. Some things would work for 2 months then we were onto finding the "next new thing" that would work. I had to
work "with" him and his likes.

-I tried:
bouncy chairs
strollers
car seat (in the house. So if he fell asleep in his seat, I'd leave him in
there to nap inside by me)

Mine never took a pacifier either

Try the white noise maker (that one didn't work for us but I tried it)

walks to calm him then let him occasionally sleep in his stroller w/blankets

bassinet (I would wheel it around the house suiting his needs of quiet or dark etc or by my bed at night)

once in awhile when I would wake in the middle of the night I would let him sleep on my chest in my arms while I laid back in the recliner in order to get some sleep of my own. It wasn't dangerous

I swaddled until he no longer liked it. I no you say he doesn't like it but you could always try it again using diff, stretchy blankets

also, sometimes, the transition of putting him down into the crib or bassinet while asleep makes them feel like they are falling. Hence they wake up. I tired getting down in there so he would not have that sensation.

E.A.

answers from Erie on

It's perfectly normal for breastfed babies to nurse as much as every hour for the first few months. That means less sleep for mom, and your baby sounds a lot like what my oldest was like. We set up a safe family bed and everyone got a great night's sleep from then on.

He also required long stroller rides at night to get him to sleep. My youngest wouldn't sleep anywhere but in her swing and next to me in bed, so that's what we went with. In fact, the swing was my savior, babies are used to being "on the move" because of your movement when you were pregnant. Using a swing or a sling to help them sleep longer is one thing you might try first. I couldn't let my babies cry, it physically hurt me too much to listen to them crying. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that.

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K.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

This sounds normal for a 3 month old. My son wanted his mama or papa - no swing, no warmed blanket, nothing. I could sometimes transfer my sleeping baby to a bed without waking, but not always.

As for waking frequently at night, that's normal for a breastfed baby. Try nursing just before you go to sleep, while your baby is sleeping. This may give you an extra hour or two. With each feed, I would put my baby back in the co-sleeper happy. If I was too tired and getting frustrated with my baby waking all the time, I would bring the baby into bed with me. Now, mind you, by 6 months our baby slept in the next room and I let him fuss a little to fall asleep. By that age, my son could fall asleep on his own if I let him, but I imagine it's different for every baby.

As for the naps, infants have a natural 90 minute sleep cycle. So, after 90 minutes of awake time, they are due for another nap. Try to be consistent wtih putting your LO down for naps every 90 minutes and create a routine with it. That way, you both get a lot of practice going down for naps.

In the end, enjoy the cuddle time with your little one. My baby is now 13 months, naps easily and sleeps at bedtime easily on his own. I am SO glad that I took advantage of all that cuddle time early on. And to be fair, he does have bad days now and again, and I gladly hold him close and nap with him. I think it spoils me more than it spoils him.

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L.E.

answers from Provo on

When my baby did this, my pediatrician told me it was because she was too hungry to stay awake. He suggested I wake her to finish feeding on the other side if she fell asleep on the first side and that I wake her every 2 hours to feed during the day. That was exactly what she needed. Once I got her trained to eat enough each time nursing, her sleep schedule became more reasonable and she was much more alert when she was awake. Good luck!

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