post #21 of 21

If it makes you feel any better, know that my baby was a really reluctant napper. Thankfully, she would go down, but wouldn't sleep for very  long. I would usually just hold her while I watched a TV show or movie because if I put her down, she would wake up in 10-15 minutes. Sometimes, i would get more out of her, but not usually. My dad, with all of the best intentions, told me that I would regret holding her because she would get used to it and not be able to nap on her own. I've learned that that kind of logic just isn't true. Now, she is nine months old and is napping GREAT. She give me two good naps a day without about a quarter of the effort on my part.  I did nothing different in that time, just gave her a little time to grow into a better napper.

 

My DD always becomes clingy and a restless sleeper when she is teething or sick. There were about two days where it would take an hour of nursing, cuddling and rocking to get her to sleep. I was so frustrated, but it turned out she just wasn't feeling well. She came down with croup and it all made sense. Same with teething. I find that when my babe is hurting, it doesn't show up obviously for a couple of days, but just in ways like wanting to cling to me when sleeping and needing a lot of time to go to sleep.

 

It really gets better with time, I promise.