So over the past week, I have resorted to swing sleeping for my baby, but eventually that has led to BETTER naps ! Amazing! My little girl was having trouble going to sleep for naps and STAYING asleep. She would go to sleep and then wake up at 45 minutes into her nap so I started putting her in the swing to finish out her nap. I moved the swing into her room so it would be dark and put on some soft nature music that will repeat throughout her nap. She also was having trouble going to sleep in her bed. I'd rock, soothe, nurse and put her down, then 10 minutes later she'd wake up and cry and I'd have to go back in and rock her or hold her again. It's like she just wanted held. She didn't really need to nurse , she just liked being in my arms. So over the Thanksgiving holiday my tactic became, rock her, nurse her, get her sleepy,swaddle her, stick her in the swing right away, turn it on, turn on the soft music, go out and let her sleep. This WORKED! She slept her whole nap several times. There were a few times that were frustrating that she still woke up in the swing and cried and then I'd get her out and try feeding her.
On Thanksgiving day she got over tired and by the time we left (we only stayed 3 1/2 hours) she had only slept 1/2 hour in my arms, and was cranky and tired and it was time for the next cycle. But instead of keeping her up, (she had nursed off and on at grandma's house so I wasn't worried about her being hungry). I rocked her, swaddled her and put her in the swing and let her sleep for a LONG time. I added up how much sleep she'd missed and how much she still needed at this nap and I let her sleep 3 hours! she slept soundly and then woke up happy and cheerful! :) :)
Gradually over the weekend, Maybe Saturday, or Sunday, I started trying to lay her in the bed to sleep instead of the swing, if she woke up and fussed and cried I would again stick her straight away in the swing and let her finish her nap instead of trying to get her to go back to sleep in her bed which just usually frustrates her more and wakes her up more. Sunday...success!! I don't know if it will last or not, but so far so good...
Sunday, for her first nap, I went and took a shower and told my husband to put her in the swing if she woke up. He said she did and so he put her in the swing where she finished her nap. The 2nd time around, she slept 2 hours in her bed withOUT waking up at all!
The next nap, my parents had come to visit so I couldn't really go in her room and rock her for her nap, so I put her straight away in the swing when she was fussy and tired and she went right to sleep and slept 2 hours again. When her swing stopped she didn't even wake up. The last nap, she slept in her bed again and did not wake up.
The best thing about it all, is that when I finish rocking her and nursing her, lay her in the bed and wrap her up, she fusses just a tiny bit, with her eyes closed , mind you! Tosses her head back and forth, kicks her legs a little and goes on to sleep!! WOW!
I'm not sure what helped this change, but things have changed and I hope they stay this way!
Today she's gone down for both naps just fine without much fussing and went to sleep. This last go round, she even had her eyes open while I was swaddling her, and I wondered if she'd really go to sleep or not, but I thought, I'll go out and just see and go back in if she fusses. She is SOUND asleep! WHOO HOO!!
Sooo.... things can and will get better! Sometimes it just takes time. Sometimes you just have to take a break and do things the easy way for a while, let your little one catch up on some sleep and start over trying to do things gradually.
Nighttime is another matter. She woke up 3 times last night. I think she has this little alarm clock in her head that goes off at 2:30 or 3am that says "wake up now!" Because she habitually does but then when I try to nurse her it will only last maybe 5 minutes and she's back to sleep. But then around 5 or 6 she is really hungry and does wake up for real. Only last night she woke up at 4:40 then again at 7 am. But I'm hoping that just as things gradually get better in the day, so will the night.
Most nights are better than this. Several nights she only woke up once around 2 or 3 and then again at 6 and that was all. I can handle that much better than 3 x plus the early morning waking.
Happy with the small successes.
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