Help with Sleep for 2 month old

[tanyah]

Hi all,

My 2 month old is a reasonable sleeper (usually), however I find that the only way to get him to sleep during the day is to hold him and pat his bottom, for sometimes up to 20 minutes, before putting him down. Whilst I'd love to be able to put him down wide awake and have him fall asleep without any tears, it just doesn't happen! And I can't bring myself to try any CC techniques.

The main problem I do have with having to hold him and coax him to sleep, is that unless I am standing up and holding him, he *screams* at me for up to about 5-10 minutes until he either screams himself to sleep or I give in and get up. Unfortunately he is getting too heavy though and when my DH is not home, I have no choice but to be sitting down at least some of the time.

Does anyone have any suggestions about how to either help him sleep without having to hold him, or does anyone have any clues as to why he would hate me sitting on the couch?

[Sammiejane]

HI Tanyah,

MJ never liked me sitting on the couch either, i think that maybe i would move if i was standing so the rocking sensation would be achieved and this would help her off to sleep.

I still have to settle MJ to sleep most times (in the day) and then put her down asleep, if she is put down awake she will cry and get worked up.
I an NOT a believer of CC and will not try it.

Some things that have helped are to make sure that the room is dark and i aslo put a warmed wheat bag in the cot where she would lie, that way she is snuggly and warm when she gets put down (remove the wheat bag when you go)

I have found that its only recently (at 6 mths) that MJ will sleep longer than 30mins at a time.
I tried everything,nothing worked so i just decided that was my lot.
She is better if i have a routine for her
if she is feed within the hours before she goes to sleep
if i try to put her down as soon as she gets the tired signs

Sometimes i try to get her down and it doesnt work, so we have a play for half an hour then try again

Your baby is still adjusting to the big bad world and really all he wants is to fall asleep in the safest place he know - your arms. He loves being around you
HE will learn, but i found that it took time for MJ and i wasnt prepared to let her scream so if i needed to rock her, thats what i did. In a couple of months everything changes again and there sleep partterns are different again...

Have you got a sling that you could wear, he may fall asleep if you put him in that.
Also can you go out for a walk, sometimes i would put MJ in the pram (i would put the rain cover on if it was raining) and she would fall asleep in minutes - the bonus to this is tht i have shead nearly all of the 20kg that i put on when i was pg

Hope this helps,

[Mayaness]

Sling!!
Also, I too was told by the MCHN in MG classes to put DS to sleep wide awake. Only I was never going to listen to that. I mean, do you go to bed wide awake and raring to go?? Sure, I go to bed awake, but only when I'm about to drop, or I"d just lie there, staring at the ceiling! So, I don't put the same pressure on DS and never did. If your child falls asleep easily when put down wide awake easily enough, then go for it. Otherwise, you're p!ssing in the wind and working both of you up.
I used the sling to get DS to sleep - he'd be asleep and I"d unwrap him gently once he was soundly asleep. If it wasn't in the sling, it was whilst feeding that he'd fall asleep...another MCHN no-no, for some bizarre reason (given that breastmilk contains sleep-inducing hormones and why wouldn't you use nature's helping hand?).

[Kristin27]

Hi Tanyah, my DD is 3 months old and I always had to rock her to sleep, but now sometimes she gets frustrated with me and doesn't like me to do it! Like Sammiejane said soon his routine will change anyway...

Try patting DS on the chest or leg instead of the bottom, that way you can put him into his cot when he's almost asleep and keep patting him on the chest/leg as he lay in the cot so he's used to falling asleep in his cot, eventually he should take less time and be used to nodding off there.

Do you wrap him? That's a good sleep cue so he knows that it's sleep time.

DD also cracks it when I sit down when patting/rocking her, I have to walk around, I think lots of bubs are the same as the motion reminds them of being in your tummy. I find her easier to carry if she's lying on her breast feeding pillow, I carry her around on it, obviously with a good grip on it and her!

IMO your DS is way too young for CC if that is something you would consider, I've read not to do it before they are 6 months old.

Hope this helps....