What do you do when they refuse to sleep?

[cristeen]

My little guy was up at 4 yesterday morning. I managed to get him down for a nap around 10 - but only by putting him in the stroller and rolling it back and forth in the office was I able to keep him asleep for more than 30 minutes. He slept for 4 hours but refused to take another nap. He fell asleep in the car last night, slept 20 minutes, but as soon as I put him down in the house he woke up.

I finally got him down about 10:30, but he was up again at 6:30 this morning.

I just cannot take the screaming and fussing of the over-tired cranky baby, and I'm out of tricks. I'm functioning on almost no sleep over the last 3 days, and we have the family party tonight. Hopefully he'll sleep in the car on the way home, but I cannot have him go all day without a nap again.

What's your best trick when baby is fighting sleep?

[wombatclay]

Can you sling him to sleep? My dd2 would only nap in the ergo. Sometimes she'd nurse to sleep in the ergo, sometimes just being in the ergo was enough, but for about 6-8 months it was ergo, car drive, or no nap. The nice thing about her being in the sling was that I could stay active whether or not she was asleep/awake/nursing.

How old is your babe? Could this fussiness be due to a milestone? Or a change in daily life due to the holidays? (like more stimulation, strange people/sounds, new places) Perhaps a change in your diet has affected your breastmilk and he's reacting to that?

[elmh23]

Different things work for different kids.

For dd, going for a 15 minute drive worked like a charm, but she'd stay asleep when I moved her.

For ds, putting him on the floor nearby with some toys or the ceiling fan on, would usually get him to sleep. He needed to be left alone more to go to sleep than dd did.

[April Dawn]

I have found that going for a walk with DS in his Moby wrap is a lifesaver. He falls asleep on the walk and then when we get back home I can either leave him in the wrap or put him down on the bed. I have to put him in the wrap and start walking as soon as he shows signs of sleepiness, though, or he will get a second wind and miss his nap. Good luck and I hope you find something that works for you!

[buttercups.nest]

Both my kids are/were swaddled. My first is 2, we swaddled her from 3months till just shy of a year. As she got older we would just swaddle her around the chest area but she still liked it.

My son is 3months and its something he's grown to like. Hated it the first month or so, but really likes it now. I swaddle him for every nap and bedtime, even when he's sleeping with me. If I don't he's constantly kicking himself awake etc.

There's one night that I remember.....maybe a month and a half old...nothing would work. I ended up putting him in the ring sling and sleeping on the couch with him. I sat up leaned back on a pillow and dozed. Not highly recommended I know, but it was the only thing that kept him quiet that night!

With my daughter I could put her in her crib awake and she'd talk herself to sleep. With my son I have to nurse him to sleep, wait until his breathing is just right, then ever so carefully move him to his crib. LOL you do what works!

Good luck, I hope you find a solution soon!

[tessa_s212]

With DS, he has to be in a VERY VERY tight swaddle, and has to go in the swing. If he's fighting sleep, he will cry for about 30 seconds at most (most of the time), and then will fall asleep. Before we started using the swing, we'd easily have a crying baby into all hours of the night.

Goodluck!