2 Month Old Fights Sleep

Get the book The Happiest Baby On The Block it seems to really help people with sleep for babies/ Good Luck!

My sister had the same problem. Out of total frustration and after trying everything she could think of, she put her daughter down in the crib so she could take a break. After a few minutes my niece fell asleep on her own. My sister figured that her daughter was "overstimulated" and needed to be left alone.
I know that it is very, very difficult to hear/let a baby cry but sometimes it does the trick. Your child may cry for a little while before falling asleep but I bet he'll do it.
Good luck.
p.s. I had to "sleep train" my children a bit. It became very easy to do once I understood that my baby, husband and I all needed sleep to be better, nicer people.

It sounds like he might be overstimulated and overtired. You have to try and put him down before he gets to this point. Routine is key. It might take you a few weeks to get into that routine, but once you have one you need to stick to it. I think you are definitely on the right track with taking him out for walks. Kids needs all the fresh air that they can get...plus it will tire him out in a good way.

If this does not work...a friend of mine let her daughter sleep in a sling attached to her for her first 4 months. I personally would not be able to do that...but it worked very well for her. She and her daughter both loved the bonding time and her daughter got the sleep she needed.

Good luck...I know this can be a very trying time!

H. Z. (SAHM 5, 4 and 19 month old boys)

My oldest son fought sleep from day one. So much so that his eyes would roll back in his head before he would close them. I used to rock him to sleep. That worked until he was about 2. I'm sure you must have tried that already, but thought I'd mention it anyway. Have you considered one of those things that make the crib vibrate (like a car would)? If car rides make him sleep, this would help. If they had been available when my son was a baby, I would have definitely purchased one. They are expensive, but if it gets your baby to sleep, it might be worth it.

http://comfortfirst.com/p-35298-sealy-tender-vibes-soothi...

http://www.futuregenerationsbaby.com/store/shop_product.p...

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you. I mostly just wanted you to know that others have gone through this and your baby is okay.

I am sure you are going to get a ton of advice about this one. A great book that educates you about sleep is titled: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Babies do not start producing melatonin until three months of age. So don't worry about getting a schedule just yet. But, also, a great piece of advice is to always put your child down for a nap awake. You will be so very glad you did this when your child is five. You will be able to put them to bed and not have to stay until they sleep like so many many parents end up doing. So exciting to have a new baby! Congratulations!

Not sure what else you have tried, but we swaddle our little sleep fighter and put him in a baby sling that we wear and it works every time.

my youngest always liked to be on the move so he slept in his swing for months or in his sling as I did house work. Try walking around your home w/ him a sling or carrier he may just want to be close to you.

My son was the same way and my niece does the same thing. There really isn't much you can do to help other then what you are doing. I would take my son for walks or put him in the swing but that didn't work all the time either. The doctor kept telling me that infants do not fight sleep but I was there and saw it with my own eyes.

My son is now 1 year and 1 months old. I had this same problem When my son was this young. Not untill he was 6 months old did the problem get any better. The only thing we were able to do was hold him during his naps. Thankfully after i went back to work his daddy was home during hte day with him as we worked opposite shifts. once he got to be 6 months old We were able to Lay him down on his tummy For a nap. when he started to get tired we would lay him down in his crib on his tummy and he would be out with in a min. HE HATED laying on his back during the day. But never have one ounce of issues sleeping at night. Started out when he came home from hospital at 4-6 hours at a time. One thing His dr told me over and over IF he is sleeping Good at night day time and naps dont matter. But i understand what you mean about being so sad to see him So upset when he is so tired and you cant do anything about it.

Sorry to babble I just know how you feel have been there my seld.

B. 30 year old first time mom to a 1 year old :)

B.,

It may seem funny to us but babies have a hard time falling asleep when they are overtired. What we found that worked for us was to put our daughter down 2 hours after she got up. So if she woke up at 7am then her first nap was at 9am. When she woke up from that nap the next was 2 hours later - if she woke at 10am she went down again at noon. It was a schedule that worked well. As she got older the 2 hours went to 3 or 3-1/2 hours and now we are up to 4 hours in between naps. This adjusts for when they sleep longer or shorter amounts.

Also check the library for sleep books. I have read a lot of them and it's not the 'ferberizing' that I am suggesting but most of them have different suggestions on ways to get the baby to sleep. The No Cry Sleep Solution I know has several good suggestions that you could try. One thing to note - just because something doesn't work this week doesn't mean it won't work next week. Babies are constitently changing and learning from the world they are now in.

Another thing to try is using a swaddling blanket. I used one but allowed my daughter to have her arms. Well I was so glad when someone said to wrap her arms down - she slept so much better after that.

You can also try a white noise machine or CD. I think you can even download white noise from the internet. Or ocean sounds. They also have ocean type music machines that can be attached to the babies crib to help them sleep. There is something called the sleep sheep. Some of my friend love it. We never tried it though. You could also put a music box on when you first put him in.

I don't know what your bedtime routine is but you could try doing the same routine at nap time. Also try to make the room as dark as possible. I had to buy velour curtains to put behind my daughter's 'real' curtains to block out as much light as possible for her.

My daughter also tends to be warm most of the time and I have found that leaving on the ceiling fan when she naps helps her as well. She's a hot mama! lol.

Some people say swings work but I never had that much luck with ours for sleeping. Maybe a bouncy seat with the vibrator motion on.

I hope some of these help you to get your little one to sleep. They say the night sleep effects the day sleep and the day sleep effect the night sleep. Basically if they sleep poorly at night they don't sleep during the day and if they sleep poorly during the day the don't sleep well at night. But the reverse is true as well. So hopefully your little guy will start to sleep better during the day.

Good luck,
L. M

get a good sling and do your daily activities with your baby in it. not only is it good for his development and "rocking" him to sleep, it is also an excellent time for bonding in these early months. any ring sling will work best for nursing also. it takes practice to "wear" a baby, but once you get the hang of it you will have so much more freedom and your baby will sleep better. i love my sling, i dont know how moms live without them!

Hi, I know it is frustrating because I have been there as well, but I wouldn't worry too much. My son would only take little cat naps, slept best in a carrier and was very hard to put down once he fell asleep. He was always yawning and looking tired, and my whole life revolved around trying to get him to take more substantial naps. Around five and a half months that all changed and now he is a geat day time napper in his crib. I feel that he was just not developmentally ready for those longer naps until he was a bit older. I've heard this from other mothers as well (at six months this seems to happen rather naturally for a lot of babies)!

I agree with the other mom's...you have to read or watch The Happiest baby on the block. It was a life saveer for me. i watched it because it was easier and it was a great video. One of the things he points out is the swaddle. if you don't swaddle your son, you might want to try that. I unswaddled my daughter for about a month and we had the same problem...she wouldn't sleep. Once we started to swaddle again she started to sleep better. Try that until you can get your hands on the book/video. I wish you the best of luck and congratulations on your little guy.

My son would fight sleep if he wasn't eating enough. Make sure you are feeding him formula or breastmilk. Just a thought.

B.,
My son is now 9 months old and your son sounds just like mine at that age. He would sleep 10-12 hours a night and not take naps even though he was so tired and cranky. I remember rocking him and he would fight it. Some days it took me two hours to get him to sleep a half hour. I also did the car thing. I even tried to let him cry a little and that only made it worse because they are too young at that age. What helped was time. I made sure his room was dark, put on soft music and kept trying about 2 hours after he had been up. I would get into a routine. Sometimes you just need to catch it before he yawns. Babies like ours get so worked up it is hard for them to wind down. After weeks of rocking him or driving him the same time each day (after 2-3 hours of awake time) he seemed to get the idea. Although he didn't really start taking real naps (at least an hour) until he was 6 months. Please take comfort in the fact that he is sleeping at night and this phase will pass. When he is so cranky and you have had it, do put him in the stroller or car if that works so you can breath(mine hated the car because he had reflux). I like to think our kids are just strong spirited little ones who don't want to miss anything while sleeping. Hang in there!

How often is he napping? A 2 month old should be awake for an hour or 2, tops. Then the naps will be short. But if he gets too tired, sleep is harder to come by. So, while it seems counterintuitive, try getting him to sleep more often, even if it is for a short period of time.

Other ideas (some repeated): feed him more, wear him in a carrier or sling, put him in a swing, make sure that he is comfortably warm, make sure he doesn't have to burp, try some pretty loud white noise (like a washing machine or vacuum), or take him for a drive. Don't worry about bad sleeping habits at this point; it's just important for both of you that he learns sleep is a good thing. Good luck!