Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Any suggestions?

Since sunday the boy has decided that sleeping during the day is for the dog. He will sleep for maybe 20 minutes at most and usually only if sleeping on me. I've tried time and time again to transfer him to his crib or his bouncey seat only to have him wake 5 minutes later (apparently after figuring out he's not on me anymore) and then won't go back to sleep. He's sleeping so-so at night but I usually have to sooth him and put him down 3-4 times before he goes back to sleep after a late night feeding.

After 4 days of about 8-9 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period he's got to be cranky and exhausted. He's 7 weeks but I'm still not comfortable at letting him "cry it out" at this age yet. I also can't go back to me not eating, sleeping or peeing because he has to be touching me 24/7/365. The books I've read and own don't seem to have an answer for this one. Not sure how or what may be the best way to help him establish a better sleeping pattern durning the day.

Suggestions?

Books I own: Babywise, Happiest Baby on the Block and Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child.

4 comments:

Sarah said...

I have read in a couple of different places that letting babies get some sun during the day will help set their body clocks. I had a similar issue with my youngest, he would only sleep for 20 minutes at a time. I had the infant to toddler rocker by fisher price. It vibrates and you can rock them. He really liked it.
I am also a fan of co-sleeping. Mine slept better when they were really small at night if I was nearby. I wish I had a cure all for you, hang in there. I would guess that his sleep patterns will change again shortly.

Reasa said...

Have you tried to put a tshirt of yours under him in his crib or bouncy? The smell of you may be all he needs. I did this for 3 of 5 Kiddos. It let me take a shower dailey.

Angel said...

My daughter was the same, except with daddy, which made for a LONG day while daddy was at work or in the field or in school. So she actually took over Daddy's pillow. I know the pediatricians don't suggest pillows, but all my kids have slept with pillows since they were born.

Aaron said...

Kelly recommends "The Baby Whisperer." She said she agreed with 75% of the advice.

The trick with all these books is to not take any of them too seriously. You'll find that they all contradict one another anyway.

Oz is still really young. Most of what he does is instinctive. He'll be much easier to train later on, trust me.