Short naps unless held -affecting daily life and now night wakenings too! help!

[Klou140585]

Hi everyone!

Brand new to this site. My name is Kirsty and I have a 15 week old baby boy.

I am starting to lose my mind. My daily life is controlled by my babies naps. I'm panicking that this is never going to change.


My baby has silent reflux which has already exhausted myself and my partner beyond belief! Due to his reflux I have always let my baby nap upright on me or in a carrier. Now 15 weeks on I'm ready to get some time to collect my thoughts and enjoy baby free naps!

My baby has had nights where he has slept from 8-7 with 1 feed so I know he is capable. The last few weeks things are escalating out of control and I feel like I'm fire fighting and becoming a social hermit!

If I stay home all day my baby will nap on me for 45 mins at 9am. 2 hours 12-2ish and 45 mins 4-5 ish although I must admit getting him off to sleep is sometimes a real fight!

The past few weeks Ive been trying to get him to nap in his cot in a dark room with white noise. To no avail. He never gets past 20 minutes and it's so hard to not give in as once he has cat napped I can not get him back to sleep and it messes the day up and we get a hell of a lot of overtired shouting!

Now he's napping terribly he is also waking every 2 hours at night, I'm at my wits end with the shouting and crying and sleepless nights!

Please help! What Can I do??!

Feel like we've tried everything!

[weaver]

Hello lovey and welcome to BW!

Knowing he has reflux is a good place to start from - frequent wake ups and discomfort when lying down are typical of reflux babies.  Is he on any medication for his reflux?  You are likely to have difficulties with sleep until his reflux is under control and he is comfortable (which makes sense really).  I'm afraid nothing is going to "work" if he's in pain.

Do you have a sling you can carry him in?  That would be easier on your back and arms and you might get out and about a bit more.

We have a dedicated board for Colic and Reflux, you might like to look around there and maybe post on it.  There are lots of experienced mamas on there who can help you through this.
Colic, Reflux, & Crying

Very best of luck, and sleepy dust to LO!

[maofaha]

I'm so sorry you are going through this! I have not much to add except a reminder that this will pass soon. It may not seem soon in the moment, but when he's an adorable 5 year old going off to his first day of kindergarten it will be a distant memory. This is something I have to remind myself of too--my 10 week old is taking short frequent naps all day and waking up every 2 hours at night and it has worn me down to the point of exhaustion and exasperation. I love my little sweetie so much, but I have found myself screaming in my head "JUST GO TO SLEEP ALREADY" and wishing I had a full time nanny (even though I'm on maternity leave). It's a good thing these babies are so cute, otherwise I'd kick him out of the house  I can see from your picture that your little guy is adorable!!