I don’t want to start any kind of debate on here about sleep but I am looking for some advice.
Jeffrey fell asleep really well for us for the first month and a half. The last 3 weeks or so, he’s been fighting really hard. Usually it’s only any naps after about 3pm and bed time (anywhere from 9pm to 11pm). He screams and fights against us. We’ve been trying to pay attention to his cues and can tell when he’s tired, so we don’t usually try to put him to sleep when he’s overtired and we usually have quiet time before bed and naps (so no over stimulation).
At bed time he takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half to fall asleep. We rock him, bounce him, sing, hum, shush him, play a lullaby, let him lay down by himself, put him in a swing or a bouncer…we’ve tried everything but he still fights.
We’ve been working on a bedtime routine the last 2 weeks. We try to nurse him then bath then cuddle then sleep. When it’s not blazing hot out we’re trying to incorporate a walk too before the bath. Even if he’s not tired right after his bath he starts fussing because he’s learned it’s almost bed time.
I can deal with the fussing at night but my biggest issue is nap times. He’s almost 3 months old and we’re still holding him to nap. I don’t mind because he won’t be this tiny forever, he won’t always want to be held and cuddled constantly. But it would be nice to have time to get work done, it would be nice to be able to lay him down for naps. We’ve had some success if we catch the sweet spot of his nap and we can lay him down and he’ll sleep alone for about an hour but it’s not a daily occurrence.
So…any advice from other mamas on how to get him to sleep alone for naps?
