Dear friends,
Evie will go down for naps just fine, but she won't stay asleep. She wakes up grumpy and tired but won't go back to sleep. She's down to 3 naps a day, but should we go down to 2? She gets so fussy before nap time, so I don't know what else to do but put her down for a nap. If she's tired, why won't she stay asleep? Any suggestions?
Maybe she just wants to cuddle with you and relax for a while, not just sleep? We went through phases where Evie wouldn't sleep in bed, only in our arms. Not very convenient, but kind of cute looking back :-)
ReplyDeleteOhhh my goodness, Brit... Yes I have a suggestion! It will make your life as a mother ten times better. Buy the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child! You are waiting too long to put her down and she is becoming overtired. When they become overtired, their brain releases a chemical that keeps them awake so they fight sleep, or won't sleep well, or for very long. With babies, sleep begets sleep... So the more they sleep, the more and the better they'll sleep! The book tells you how to get your baby to sleep, why it's so important, and empowers you as a parent! Anyway, good luck!
ReplyDeleteThis won't help, but in the old days they used codeine. Good ol' fashion American ingenuity, gotta love it.
ReplyDeletemaybe you are waiting until she is overly tired, but maybe not, because this happened to us too. and a lot of people told me to try to drop a nap, but in the end, it was just a phase that she went through and got over & dropping a nap wasn't the answer. i remember asking kassie this same thing and jane also went through the same phase. at that age they just start waking up 45 min into the nap for some reason? i would just continue to try to get her to go back to sleep, but don't stress it if she doesn't. that's the biggest thing i learned-don't stress, because it will last for 5 minutes & then it will be different again. evie took cat naps for a while and i was just like WHATEVER! the phase lasted a week or two and then it was back to good long naps, and 3 a day still. :)
ReplyDeleteI just barely started doing this. It's kind of cheating but it's been working soooo...I don't really care :) when we take Jori into a room without lights, it helps when she's sleepy because there's less to stimulate her. Dark I'd heard of before, but I just started taking her into the bathroom with absolutely no lights and turning the fan on for white noise. And it's helped with GETTING her to sleep at least, certainly. :) Good luck with keeping her asleep-you'll figure it out!!
ReplyDeleteRemember-do whatever works. No books or others know better than you (with the Spirit) what's best for your little lady.