Baby sleep question - serious replies only plz?

Question

My baby girl will be 8 wks old tomorrow. Normally she would nap through the day & night (like most newborns do), but last week she started sleeping through the night (from 11pm to 4am, then from 5am to 8am). Which, hey that's great! But NOW she won't nap during the day. She's tired & you can tell it but she'll sleep for 15 minutes, wake up, cry, demand her pacifier (which she gets), fight with it falling out of her mouth, fall asleep for 15 minutes, later, rinse, repeat.

She fights her sleep so bad. I've tried everything to help her take a nap at least for an hour so she'll feel better, but she isn't having it. She's been wanting to eat more often also, almost like every hour. But around 11pm she goes to sleep like it's no big deal and will sleep all night. Any ideas on what she is going through? Any tips to help me out? Thanks to everyone!

I've tried cuddling, swaddle wrap, warm bottle, warm bath (even with the lavendar bath), rocking back and forth, soft music... geesh, everything really. I've even laid her in the bassinet and let her cry to see if she'd fall asleep, nope. She'd cry the whole time if I let her. I dont let her cry long, the longest time was 2 minutes.

OH yeah, she does have a doctors appointment tomorrow for her 2 month check up and shots... with her being the way she is, I feel tomorrow is going to be a rough day.

Answer 1

She's probably going through a growth spurt, and waking to eat more often. Have you tried taking her for a ride in the car? That usually does the trick for my daughter, also 8 weeks old.

Also, my daughter just got her vaccinations on Friday, and the doctor would only let me give her one dose of Tylenol in a 24-hour period. So you may want to wait until after the appt to give any meds. You'll have a very cranky baby for at least 12 hours afterward.

Good luck!

Answer 2

My daughter fought sleep really bad for a long time. She's now 7 months old and she's still not a napper. When she does go in for a nap she'll maybe sleep for an hour. And she just recently started sleeping through the night, we finally had to just let her cry it out. I agree with other answers that your daughter is too young to just cry it out. When my daughter was younger we had to bounce her to sleep while keeping her swaddled at the same time. I have to admit that didn't always work either though. She's probably going through a growth spurt right now or she could even possibly be teething, some babies do start early. My baby is an absolute monster when she's getting a new tooth. Is she cranky all day? There have been days when mine didn't nap and I didn't force the issue eventually she'd just conk out all on her own in the middle of the floor or in the bouncy seat or in the swing or on my lap whereever she was she'd just shut down on her own. Try to keep your sanity.

Answer 3

I would suggest weaning her off the pacifier. It sounds like it might help with the "rinse and repeat" cycle, though it may not be the root of the problem. During the day, you need to remember that you are the parent and you decide when naps start and end. Esp. if you have other kids. When you KNOW she's tired and needs a nap, put her down. Determine how long you think she ought to nap for. Leave her in there for that period of time, even if she cries. She will "get it" within a week. I've done this many times. I have had 6 babies.

Answer 4

That is just how some babies are. They go through cycles and eventually she will get back into the nap routine. Be grateful she sleeps all night and just try to realize that this too should pass. Sometimes a swing may help or fresh air. They do though really go through cycles. She also can be just hungry and you need to let her cry a little bit between feedings and have her hold her so the next bottle has more formula and she is eating more at once instead of snacking. I am a mother of 3 and have had similar problems.

Answer 5

My baby is 6 months old and still fights sleep day and night. Your baby could be going through a growth spurt to have her eating more. Sometimes the only way I can get my son to nap is gently bouncing him on a big exercise ball. You could try this if it does not work you will have the ball and you could use it to workout. Good luck. Give her a little tylenol about 30 minutes for doctors appt and ask your doctor about the not napping. Doc may have some helpful suggestions.

Answer 6

same thing happened with my daughter who is now a 3 1/2 month old. She would wake up around 5:30 and take 2 1/2 hour naps and fall asleep around 11. I was so tired, she was so tired, and really no one received the sleep they needed. I had a copy of baby wise around and although I don't agree with a majority of it, I decided to take away the pacifier for naps and night time sleep (it didn't soothe her anyway) and I let her scream and cry. I first time she lasted 1 1/2 hours. I would go in every fifteen minutes and tell her she was ok. After the second time going in, I would leave the house (hubby stayed) because I couldn't take her crying. Hubby ended up having to sit outside as well. It is very difficult to hear your child screaming but it worked. She now only cries for fifteen minutes. I say only because it is better than 1 1/2 hours. I am hoping that eventually she will just go to sleep on her own. Also if your daughter doesn't sleep for at least 45 minutes, leave her in there. None of us like to hear our child cry-it goes against everything a mother stands for. But, unfortunately, sometimes we have to use our tough love. I feel your pain. Good luck.

Answer 7

Ok, here's the deal. Do not put her down and let her cry herself "to sleep". She is too young to do this yet. Wait until she's at least 3-4 months old. That's when babies are physically able to calm themselves down enough to fall asleep.
The reason she is waking up after 15 min. is because she is going into her REM sleep. Which is a deep sleep, and most infants will wake up at this point if someone isn't right there to help ease their way into it. Here's what I did...
Swaddle her like normal, lay her down in a dark, quiet room and pat her back (if she's on her side which I prefer) or her thigh (if she's on her back) lightly and SHUSH SHUSH SHUSH until she falls asleep. Give her the passafire if it helps her, but once she spits it out, don't keep putting it back in, you will turn a healthy sucking habbit into a "prop" that she will always need to go to sleep and if you do this you will probably end up going into her room at all hours of the night to put it back in when it falls out, or she can't find it.
So, after you've taught her to fall asleep in this way you should stay with her, or close by so that when she starts to stir after about 15-20 min. you are close by to resume the shush-pat technique before she gets too worked up to get back to sleep. This shush patting works miracles, the thing is though, once you start something, you have to be consistant with THAT technique and that technique only for at least 3-4 days. You can make and break a habbit in that amount of time, so be patient.

Answer 8

What you're going through is normal. It's almost like they're starting to see a little better and are more aware of what's going on around them and they're afraid if they go to sleep they're going to miss something.
Do you have a night time routine that you do when you put her down for the night?
I have one for my baby and I had to start doing it during the day at nap time to let him know it was time to go to sleep.
Most definitely been there with the pacifier!! There was a time when I started praying he would start sucking his thumb so I wouldn't have to keep giving him the paci every 2 minutes.
And I know exactly what you mean about having appointments, having to be somewhere & wondering how the baby is going to do!!
Good luck to you!

Answer 9

Oh dear, Take a deep breath, This is much harder on you than it is on her. As everyone has said ,this is normal so normal. It will resolve, I promise. But do talk to your Doc about it because he will give you the assurance you need most, That baby girl is healthy. Let her eat more Let her her be fussy Let her be a baby. You are not the princess here so make a coffee turn on the tube read a book. In short relax. She'll survive and so will you

Answer 10

Sounds EXACTLY like mine, he is now 8 months old but let me tell u at the same age he was doing the SAME thing.... the longest during the day he will sleep is 45 min.... and IF I'm lucky sometimes he will sleep 1 hour and 10 min. but now come 6pm, he will sleep till 8 am straight... what i used to do to make him sleep during the day was take him for a walk in the stroller, when she falls asleep leave her there, she will sleep... sometimes i used to go for a car ride, that's an instant knock out, now sometimes to make him sleep ill rock his bed for about 10 min, then he goes down, its a little bit of a hassle but it works... and mine used to eat so much during the day, its only normal they're not eating all night.... of course shell start to spit up more now because she is stuffing herself... as she begins to eat more solid foods shell sleep longer during the day, for now that's just the way she is, but at least you can get a good nights rest.