Baby seems to avoid sleeping, even when very tired. Why? Any suggestions?

[NewSolarMomma]

My son is now 13 weeks, and I have noticed that he fights sleep, no matter how tired he is, Its like he is afraid of it. We try everything we can think of so he doesn't sit there screaming until exhaustion takes over, but its not always successful. We tried all the usual stuff: nursing, music,rocking, bouncing, darkness, light, white noise,talking, stories, etc.

Is there something that's scaring him? Is this something he will grow out of?

[BFandHS]

That sounds so stressful.  I wish I had advice for you.  All I can think of is maybe try to put him to sleep when he's less tired.  When babies get overtired they will fight sleep. But you've probably already tried that. 

[Bebe's Mom]

I sympathize. My DD was the same way until she was around 8 months old. We coslept, and the only way to get her to sleep was to sleep with her. If I tried to put her down by herself she usually would wake up again immediately. Not sure if she started sleeping because she was more active-crawling, etc, or if I just got better at putting her to sleep. She didn't like swings at all, at least not the one we had, but when we went over to a friend's we put her in theirs and she loved it! So, if you might try a swing and see if she likes it? The one DD liked was the Fisher Price travel swing. I would also get a copy of The Happiest Baby On the Block. There are a lot of good suggestions in it. Good luck, and no, it won't last forever!

[lisavark]

I totally feel your pain, mama! My daughter has had trouble sleeping her entire life, and she'll be three in a few months. For her it's not actually that she's fighting sleep, although it seemed that way when she was your DS's age--it's more that she wants to sleep but doesn't know how. I highly recommend the book Sleepless in America. It talks about different temperaments of kids and what factors make it hard for each of them to sleep, and that was really eye-opening for me. For my daughter it's over-stimulation--she's really sensitive and I hadn't realized when she was young how affected she was by people, lights, even changes in blankets and things like that. Like I said, she still struggles with sleep, but it's getting better...

[mommysherry]

We have a baby that's not much of a sleeper as well. She's 12 months now and is very sensitive as far as her daytime routine, pre bedtime environment and sleeping position and environment.

Something I did discover when she was about 10 weeks old was that she had a very high suck need. I'd never been a soother parent, just nursed, but she would become so full in the evening after cluster feeding that nursing was a struggle for her and I couldn't figure it out. Finally, I gave her my finger and that's how she fell asleep for a few months.

Also, could it be reflux or something that makes laying down or going to bed uncomfortable? Have you tried mattress or sleepwear changes?

Good luck mama. Our girl still struggles to sleep at times and wakes often, but it does get better, and they don't do it forever!

[KempsMama]

My DS is like this when I consume too much sugar/caffiene for his liking.  Which means anything more than one cup of coffee.