hello, my baby is 2 months old and we have been co-sleeping since birth. its great and its not something that i want to stop doing just yet. however, i find that he will not stay sleeping during the day unless i am with him. i have to hold him or lay next to him so that he will sleep. how do i get him to sleep independently during the day?
I've been co sleeping for almost 18 months now and these issues only happened during the first 4 months or so. I got a sling and let her sleep in that on me whilst I did housework (it eventually got quite heavy and when I upgraded to a woven wrap and a mai tei it didn't seem comfortable as she was sitting in them rather than lying down). I also had a swinging chair, that I would pop her in when she had fallen asleep, switch on to a gentle setting and she would stay asleep (it was safe!).. other than that, you could try laying with your baby in bed until he's asleep but without holding or rocking him (if possible of course) so that when you get up after he's gone off he isn't disturbed like he would be if you were laying him down or moving your arms away etc. Co sleeping is awesome though, I get woken up to kisses and tickles all the time
My kiddo slept in bouncers or a swing. Rarely in the sling...too curious about what was going on. He and I co-slept for three and a half years.
maybe he's just not much of a napper. Does he sleep very long at night time? What is his environment like where he naps? Music, quiet, industrial?
he sleeps about 10-12 hours every night waking up at least once and sometimes twice for a feeding. he always seems to fight his sleep and it can be difficult to get him sleeping even though he clearly wants to. i rock him until he falls asleep and keep at it for at least 10 minutes or more just to make sure he is in a deep sleep before i put him in our bed for the night. during the daytime, he does like to nap, he shows the same sleepy-signs during the day. (rubbing his eyes, crying with his eyes shut). the only difference between our night-time and day-time sleep routines is that i dont sleep with him. right now he is sleeping on my chest as i type. i dont really want to use a sling, i would prefer to be able to put him in his crib to sleep for day-time naps. my mom suggests the 'cry-it-out' method. however, it just breaks my heart to listen to him cry.
Well he is just 2 months old. They will go through phases with their sleep and that really sounds pretty normal and really not that bad at all. It is tough at this age to do without the baby but sometimes I think it is nature's way of saying, you don't really need to do much outside of baby anyway. Do things you can do with him there. Lay next to him and slowly move on when he is secure but don't give yourself the expectation that you will have this time on your own...that will make you feel bad about it. In the beginning of a child's life I found that meditation really helped me to be patient enough to stay present as long as my children needed me...and with my presence being fully on them they felt secure enough to do things on their own more readily, without any push... This is a phase, unless he has something physical that is keeping him from sleeping he may be over or under stimulated or just learning and growing more comfortable with his sleeping surroundings. It will go by faster than it seems.
I used a fuss it out technique a couple random times. If Kiddo got to serious crying, I let him know I was there, but that sleepy cry with the eyes closed? I bet you could let him fuss through that on his own.
Can you sneak out? I used to have to lie down with my little one, then sneak out when she's asleep. But at 2 months, she did a lot of sling/swing napping. I don't think we started crib-napping until she was, 4-5-6 months? I would also just set her up on the couch beside me, and she'd zonk out there. I'm not a huge advocate at crying-it-out, especially not when they're still such tiny munchkins. No baby needs to be 'independent' at 2 months. It sounds like you're doing a great job mama!
Try wrapping a hot water bottle in a blanket and propping him against it. Or pre-heat the spot where he is going to lay with a warm heating pad which you removed before you put him down. Babies dig warmth.
