What am I doing wrong? My 2 month old only sleeps about 10 hours in 24 hours.

Cáit - posted on 07/15/2012

I sometimes put a hot water bottle in the basket for a few minutes and then take it out and put in my daughter. I think it helps prevent her waking up when I put her down because she doesn't notice the temperature difference from my arms to the basket. You could try this and then u have the hot water bottle if u want to have a nap yourself. You could try rubbing your face off his forehead after feeding him i no this sounds weird but i find it makes my baby really dozy and soothes her into sleep. or you could do it while you play music or sing to him. I no its recommended to put your baby down before they are fully asleep so they will learn to sleep themselves but that doesn't work for everyone as some babies fight sleep. It certainly didn't work for me, I think as long as you can get them to sleep at all and get some rest yourself it doesn't matter what way.

Rebecca - posted on 07/02/2012

Try putting a radio or Ipod dock in the room with bub on low volume, the sound of the music and chit chat may help keep him asleep. It really helps my little boy nap during the day.

Terra - posted on 07/02/2012

Yes you are worrying to much! LOL At this age your baby only has needs, not wants. They need to be held, fed, changed, etc. Anything you do right now to help your baby feel loved, safe and content will ONLY lead to a happy baby and mommy and it is absolutely impossible to "spoil" a child with love and by meeting their needs. Just enjoy your tiny baby and try not to worry so much about doing what is only helping to make your tiny little person happy.

Amanda - posted on 07/02/2012

I haven't had a thumb sucker, but I had a friend whose baby girl sucked her thumb, she decided to give her a pacifier instead because "she couldn't take her thumb away, but she could take away the pacifier." The down-side of a pacifier is that when he drops it (which could wake him up) when he does partially wake he can't put it back in his own mouth like he can his thumb.

Don't worry about the swaddling, you'll know when he's ready to go without. He'll start sleeping for longer periods without being swaddled and may even begin to find swaddling uncomfortable. You'll know the signs. :)

Karen - posted on 07/02/2012

I just started swaddling him. He's very good at sneaking his arms out of it so I decided to leave one arm out since he'll do it anyways. He just learned to suck his thumb and that's what he's looking for. Swaddling has made a huge difference! He is napping about 5 hours during the day and he sleeps 8 hours at night (not straight). The problem the last couple of days is that he wakes up after 45 minutes and he is cranky and still tired. However, today, since I left his arm out he sucked his thum when he woke up and went straight back to sleep after a couple of minutes.

Will him sucking his thumb become a problem? Should I stop him? Will swaddling become a support that will be hard to let go of as he gets older? Am I worrying too much now? LOL

Amanda - posted on 07/01/2012

Do you swaddle? it may help mimic the feeling of being held for him. something I did with all 3 of my children is have them sleep inclined, whether in bouncer next to our bed or with a blanket wedged under the bassinet mattress (as safely as possible). None of my children enjoyed sleeping flat on their backs right away. Once they had the ability to sleep down then we worked on sleeping flat and going back to sleep after a partial waking. Only one of my children would go to sleep in his crib when I laid him down after feeding and before he was completely asleep, and he was about 6 months old then.

Lori - posted on 06/21/2012

Have you tried wearing him in a sling or other carrier during the day? Babies are made to want to be held, and many will nap longer if they're carried more often during the day. He may sleep in the sling, or just sleep better overall for having been carried around more. At 10 weeks old, I wasn't so concerned about where my baby slept, as just letting them sleep wherever they could/would sleep. If the baby fell asleep in her car seat, we just brought the car seat inside and let her sleep in the car seat. If she fell asleep in her swing, we'd turn the swing off and let her sleep in the swing. If she fell asleep while I was holding her, I'd just keep holding her if I could, though sometimes of course you need to put them down.

At night when he's up try not to turn on any lights, don't change his diaper unless it's poopy, and don't talk or entertain him in any way. Just pick him up and rock and nurse, or take him to your bed and nurse him while you lay on your side. That way you can rest while he's nursing too.