HELP…baby refuses to nap :(

[Anonymous]

Ariella is almost 5 mos (in 10 days). Lately she’s become sooooo difficult. She will sleep 6-7 hours at night but does not nap during the day. The most I can get her to nap is 3 hours the whole day. I’m so stressed out, I don’t know what to do with her. I end up putting her on the swing, she falls asleep there and the second I try to move her to the crib, she wakes up and starts crying and there is no way she’ll fall back asleep. I used to put her in our bed, give her the breast and she’s fall asleep that way. I would gently crawl out of bed (putting the pillows around her so she doesn’t fall) but now she’s gotten smart and doesn’t let go of my breast and if I try to pull it out gently, she wakes up. I can’t do anything b/c of this. I’m gonna learn to walk on air with this child. Help! What’s going on with her??? I did notice that she’s got more gas lately (again, I was hoping it’ll go away by now and it did for some time and now it’s back for some reason).

P.S. I forgot to update you on our latest dr’s visit. The dr was ok with her spitting more on the soy formula saying that as long as it doesn’t bother her, he’s ok with it. He also refused to increase her dose of Prevacid saying that 15 mg/day is good for up to 66 lbs. That honestly shocked me.

[Anonymous]

mariannardh wrote:

dose of Prevacid saying that 15 mg/day is good for up to 66 lbs.

okay, that is not true. obviously he hasnt been keeping track of the latest findings. marci kids has already discovered that infants metabolize these meds much more rapidly then previously thought.
is she in pain? if she is not in pain then thats great that the 15 mg is working for her, but if she is still in pain i personally would either find another doctor or increase the dose myself.

as for the sleeping. 3 hours doesnt seem abnormal, i dont know all babies are different. maybe thats all she needs. as for the actuall falling asleep part i was in the same boat as you with the swing until i heard about the book the no cry sleep solution. i havent actually read the whole book but people on these boards told me all the main points and i can now successfullly put my son in his crib after we do our routine and he goes right to sleep.

good luck.

[Anonymous]

Natalia, please do share!!! I need something for her to be able to fall asleep on her own. I mean, I know she wants to sleep but she fights it and start screaming b/c she’s exhausted. It’s putting a strain on everyone and worse of all, on her.

P.S. I know about the dosage. That is why I was shocked when he told me that the dose is good up to 66 lbs. I was like “what the heck are you talking about?” I have the formula of the dosage written down so if I see that she’s suffering, I’ll just up the dosage myself (safely).

[Anonymous]

Hmmm, is she irritable at all during her waking hours or does it seem like her amount of sleep is enough for her? I hate to say “some babies just don’t need as much sleep” because that doesn’t solve anything for you…but it can be true! Where does she sleep through the night? My initial thinking is that napping in the swing isn’t the WORST thing that could happen, but I know that’s not a permanent solution. How long has she been on the Good Start Soy? Has she had any dietary changes recently? Teething? I learned from an Occupational Therapist friend and Dr. Phillips (creator of Zegerid) that most baby’s falling sleep patterns are LEARNED and can be broken with time and patience. We did straight CIO, but only after we knew she was pain free. There are some great books out there also…

NATALIA – I am sooooooooooooo excited to hear that Trace is falling asleep peacefully now! I read your post about it all awhile ago but I never saw an update! That is fantastic and I’m sure SUCH a relief for you! Congrats!!!!

[Anonymous]

i also agree that 3 hrs during the day seems like a great amount! well i guess for me personally i would love it! my son sometimes only does 2 half hour naps and i know a lot of moms on here can say the same thing. amy had a good question does she seem tired when she wakes up?

also my doctor thinks 15 mg is a good amount for shane as well.. i am not argueing it right now because i dont think he is in pain. do you think she is in pain at all.. if so i would get a new doctor.

and what made you do goodstart soy? did you try the regular goodstart before it?

[Anonymous]

Amy, that’s just the thing…She is tired and I know that she’s not getting enough sleep b/c she’s irritated (as if she woke up not by choice but was awakened by something). She gets three hours of napping put together. Meaning, she can sleep 40 minutes here, 1/2 there which seems like it’s interrupted sleep and she doesn’t rest. Hubby and I were wondering if it’s teething but she seems to be gassy again which is so irritating. We were hoping that we passed that stage already, I mean she’s almost 5 months already. We’ve been on Good Start Soy for about a month.

Lauren, the reason we got on Soy is b/c she was very gassy on milk based formulas or if I ate any milk products. So I eliminated dairy from my diet and switched to soy. It helped us for a few weeks but she seems to be gassy again.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried a little bit of Mylanta at all to see if that helps? I wonder if you gave her a ml or two before her nap if she would sleep longer? I know it’s just a temporary fix and may not even work if she’s not immediately refluxing, but it’s worth a shot. If you see any relief at all from that, I would definitely up her dosage and just see what happens. We have upped and lowered Sarah’s dosage without doctor’s permission and just told her about it afterwards. She has always been fine with our decisions.

I read somewhere once that a baby’s sleep cycle is 30 minutes (as opposed to 90 minutes for an adult). It was almost like clockwork that when 30 minutes came around for Sarah she was awake and crying. Her reflux was bothering her and she was unable to put herself back to sleep…even though she still needed more sleep. Maybe a little mylanta before naptime would help her stay asleep longer? Or a little mylanta as soon as she wakes up prematurely and see what happens? You could probably squirt it into her mouth without even having to pick her up. Maybe she’d drift back to sleep? These are the reasons I wish I would have found this forum sooner…I would have loved to have tried mylanta with Sarah when she was that little…but we had no clue!

They say it can take 2-3 weeks to truly know if a formula is settling well with a baby. How long ago did the bad napping start? Could it be tied in with the soy or not? Just curious…not trying to make you second guess EVERYTHING!

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

Alana does 3 x 45 min naps per day usually- she started this around 5 months- but she does seem reasonably happy and not overly tired with this…maybe it is a transitional thing ? I would agree though trying the mylanta thing. Do you think she might be reacting to soy- a lot of babies do if they react to milk???

[hellbennt]

oh how I struggled w/ Jonah’s non-napping…

I called him Sir No Nap

I tried everything- meds, tummy sleeping, smelly shirt of mine, beanie baby on his back (for the wieght), different timing for the naps, you name it…

at 18months he miraculously out of nowhere started taking naps! so we had an amazing stretch from 18-42 months

so while this is rather disheartening news, know you are not alone…

[Anonymous]

Many babies who are intolerant to dairy are also intolerant to soy. You said she did fine on the soy for a few weeks but now she’s gassy again. It can take some time for proteins to build up enough to cause discomfort so I think it’s possible the soy is bothering her. There is an MSPI Forum where you can read up on this.

Also, I’d try a higher dose of Prevacid. Myles really needed the higher dose and it was like night and day once he was on 30 mg.

What Amy said is true. Babies have much shorter sleep cycles than adults. Typically they sleep deeply for 30 -45 minutes and then they come into a ligher sleep cycle. A baby who is pain free and used to falling asleep on their own will learn to go back to sleep, but a baby who is uncomfortable and/or not used to putting themselves to sleep will wake up more fully and fight going back to sleep. Once you get to a point where you know she is not in pain or uncomfortable you can try some sleep training which will help her learn to soothe herself back to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Okay, first question. What kind of clothing is she wearing at night? Is it possible that at night she is wearing 100% cotton and during the day she is not? I know it sounds crazy, but my son sleeps so much better if he is wearing 100% cotton. I thought I was crazy for a while until Laura said Dr. Sears talks about that on his site. Next, your not alone. My son is tired all the time. I am in the process of trying to get him to sleep better. He is all of a sudden doing so much better. The things I have changed are the cotton clothing, giving him a special blanket to sleep with at every nap and anytime I’m not with him, and I am weaning him from his zegerid. It is possible prevacid, reflux, or the formula are bothering her. All that being said, I would go to the library and check out the no cry sleep solution or good nights. If you don’t feel like your baby is in pain I would work on sleep training right now. It is harder the older they get. The no cry sleep solution talks about making a routine and do the same thing every time. Sing a song, read a book, pray, whatever you want to do, but do the same thing every time. Once your baby is down for a nap stay outside the door and wait for her to wake. Once she makes a peep and you know she is going to wake up go right in and get her back to sleep. You will have to do this for a few days to few weeks befor you see results. Also, do you have white noise going in her room? That helps so much. Then you don’t have to worry about her hearing you. It will get better, but don’t give up. Keep working at it. I am talking to myself here too. sorry, I see now that your baby is on the solu tabs. Are you giving on empty stomach and allowing to eat 30 min later?

Natalie, I am soooooo excited for you. I am so glad that Trace is doing better with sleeping. You go girl.

Justice’smom2007-2-15 12:42:26

[Anonymous]

My baby is pretty much in the same boat. She sleeps great at night–around 10-12 hours/night, but days are about 3-4 1/2 hour naps. Maybe 3 days/week she’ll sleep 1 1/2-2 hours in the morning. All together I think she’s getting enough sleep, sometimes she is tired and cranky, but sometimes isn’t. The total sleep hours for her seem about right, but I’d SO much rather her take 2 regular naps at 1-2 hours/each per day, the way itis now i can barely take a shower & get dressed & she’s up! Anyone have any suggestions on trying to consolidate her sleep? I may have to re-read Healthy Sleep Habits, and i’ve also ordered Good Night Sleep tight from Amazon…

Sorry if I nosed in on your thread…but again, know that you’re not alone!!

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

OH boy, do I have sleep issues with my little 10-week old Sadie! She has never really slept consistently during the day- when she was really young, she would maybe sleep 3-4 hours at a time, when we brought her home, but then after about 3 weeks, she just wouldn’t stay “down.” Well, reflux and gas was probably the reason, but even though we have the reflux under control, and finally have the gas under control, she still won’t take great naps during the day! Like a lot of you, she sleeps anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour at a time, 3 times a day or so. And, the funny thing is, you never know when she will sleep longer, or when she’ll get right up- there is no rhyme or reason to it! And, to make matters worse, it must be a comfort thing, or I must be doing something wrong, because this week my babysitter told me she slept for 3 hours in a row for her!

Plus, I wonder if it’s just that she can’t soothe herself, because I have actually seen her put herself back to sleep at night- and, of course, when she is sleeping in my arms, she’ll sleep for 3 hours!

It seems as if the more I talk to new moms, the more I hear about this- and, it doesn’t seem that it’s always linked to pain- it isn’t in Sadie’s case- Either your child might not need a lot of nap time during the day, or she just can’t get into the “zone” like she can at night- that is what Sadie is like- As soon as it’s dark, she’ll sleep 4-5 hour stretches, but not during the day!

I hope you figure this out! And, I agree- the soy might be the cause of the gas and irritability-

good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone for taking time to reply. She slept for three hours today!!! And my arm is falling off b/c she would not nap from 12-5 pm so I figured I better get her to nap somehow so I just held her in my arms. Boy, was she comfy. She was out, poor thing. We’ve got to start getting her in a routine of falling asleep on her own or I’ll start having some serious back and shoulder problems

[hellbennt]

Babywearing: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1044&a mp;PN=1

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