He fights sleep!!???!! ?

Question

my son is coming up to 5 months. he used to nap during the day with no problems. but now no matter what i do he just will not go to sleep!! he screams because he is SO tired. has anyone got any tips on what to do? he is currently parked on the sofa beside me because he refuses to sit in his chair, lie under his gym or anything! I'm going CRAZY! I'm not able to get anything done!

Answer 1

my son went threw this and as much as some are against it, i laid him in his crib and let him cry . after about a week at the most he went down for a nap like a champ . if he would cry to much i would get him back out and while standing rock side to side and hum alittle song . hope this helps

Answer 2

That is how babies are and this will even still happen when they are toddlers. All babies will fight sleep.

All you can do is let them cry it out until they fall asleep.

Answer 3

I have a swing that my baby usually falls asleep in after about 5 minutes of rocking. Also, he likes getting walked around. Put him up on your shoulder and take a walk around the block. My baby loves that! He fights to stay awake as well, at night and during the day.  

Answer 4

if your baby is like jacob then rocking etc will not work. I think he hates feeling tired during the day so he cries for us to stop him feeling so horrible. if we are even in the same room he just cries even more cos he can't understand why we are making him suffer so! (he doesn't realise we cant stop him feeling sleepy!). and rocking is impossible as he throws himself about while screaming cos we aren't making him feel better, and so he gets more and more upset. the only way is to make sure he is dry, fed, comfy and then leave him to it. we have lots of comfort objects for him like soft toys and mobiles and he uses these, but its usually 20 mins crying. plus we now know the I'm so tired i hate it cry" as opposed to the "help me" cry.

But what i will say is this is a recurring thing with him. he will go to sleep after the usual wailing, then wake up 20-40 mins later. I always let him do this for a while to see if he needs less sleep now and if after a few days he is overtired I have to let him cry in his cot for a while again till he takes bigger naps. we are currently back in 20 min nap land! but he seesm to be coping this time so i think his daytime nap days are numbered! I gave mine up completely by the time I was a year my mom says!

gotta go, he's awake again!

Answer 5

Have you tried a sling or other soft carrier?

I find them to be a life saver when we get a little over-tired and there are things to be done.

Answer 6

try giving him a warm bottle when you put him down for a nap...feed him while you rock him...the motion from rocking , the warmth of your bdy and a full tummy is like a tranquilizer for a baby.  if none of this works, maybe try laying down with him until he falls asleep. if you are totally at your wits end...all you can really do after you have tried all these knowing he is very tired, fed and changed with nothing else wrong is to let him cry it out. keep checking on him every 5-1o minutes..if after 20 minutes and he has not calmed down or fallin asleep,  go pick him up soothe him and quite possibly he may fall asleep within minutes cause now he is even more tired from crying is still full and is also relieved that you picked him up. i know this is frustrating and im sorry..boy do i remember those days but trust me it does get better.

Answer 7

Singing and rocking are the biggest life savers in our house. A good sling makes things even easier. See if you can catch him a little earlier... which I know with a 5 month old, sometimes no matter how early you catch them, they will have a difficult time falling asleep. Life is just too exciting for sleep :)

Answer 8

My son is 9 months old and does the same thing EVERY SINGLE TIME he gets tired..What Ive been doing lately is putting him in his crib for a minute or two..so i can get my sanity letting him cry for a minute and going back to im and trying to get him to sleep..if hes not ready i do it again..its starting to work..gl and i hope this helps