Excessive Crying with Mom

Our Baby Daniel seems to dislike going to bed. Every time we put him down he starts crying. he is now 6 months old. He has worked out how to turn around on the cot and bang his feet against the railing for attention. When my wife tries to bed him down for an afternoon nap, he will start crying at the top of his lungs and start banging the cot with his feet. He seems to be able to go for over an hour. We have tried controlled crying with no avail, he will continue to cry until picked up and rocked.

his naps are only about 20 minutes long smile

He seems to settle easier with me, but this doesn't work as mom is getting a little irritated not having time to her self during the day.

We play music for him when we put him to bed to help him relax. This works at night but not during the day when I am not there.

Look forward to hearing your share and suggestions that may have worked for you.

HI GeelongDad,
Does Daniel have his arvo nap after a meal or bottle. If not he may not settle as he may be a bit thirsty or hungry. I am having difficulties with the afternoon nap too. Now that she moves around the cot she gets herself into all sorts of positions and doesn't settle well. She has just discovered a new & comfortable postion to sleep in, so I'm hoping that it was due to her moving around and not being comfy. Also, I sometimes give bubs a quick breastfeed before I put her down for a nap and it helps her settle a little quicker. Otherwise just go for a walk with bubs in the pram. I know just how your wife feels because when baby is asleep during the day that is free time for us - so yes it is very frustrating when they don't sleep as we miss out on our free time.
Good Luck

I completely understand what you are going through. I had lots of problems with my 1st baby.
What a great dad you are to be worried about mum.

What alarmed me the most was that you rock your baby to sleep. Also the naps are 20 mins long. No wonder mum is getting irritated.

I have learnt from my experience never rock a baby to sleep no matter what. With the second one I even ensured that when people came to see him that he was never rocked and never held for too long.
It takes so long to change bad habits and it takes so much perseverance.
Your baby needs to learn how to put himself to sleep. I assume you have a sleep chart that tells you how much sleep they need at different ages.

I learnt not to put my kids in bed unless they are tired, otherwise they develop bad habits. Things like if I get them back out of bed they learn this habit very quickly. The thing they like best is to sleep on mummy or daddy.

I think your boy is a smart little boy and has worked out how control mummy and daddy.

When your boy is tired put him in his bed. Make sure he is completely comfortable, has a full belly of milk and the right temperature. If he wakes up after 20 mins don't go in straight away. Give him a chance to get himself back to sleep. If he doesn't settle then go in and calmly say ‘nigh nigh’ (or whatever you want) give him his dummy if you have one (by the sounds of it a dummy would be a good idea to help you cope), then walk out so he knows he is safe and you are still there. He will probably put on more of a tantrum (from my experience) so leave him a little while again. If he doesn't settle down then do the same thing again and pretend like everything is ok. Even if you go in and stroke his head once and walk straight back out. Do this 5 to 10 times. Then if it doesn't work don't worry. Do that every time he goes to sleep and soon he will get sick of it and decide that it is easier to go to sleep. Don’t be alarmed if this takes 2 weeks. Each of his sleeps should be about 2hrs.
That's what I have done before.
I hope it helps
Lets us know how he's going
Good luck!

i agree with bigmama's advice. However if things don't improve there is a centre called tweedle in Vic that helps with all sorts of issues. I used them with my first and they were my saviour. Give them a call as they have a waiting list, put your name down on the list. You can always cancel when they call if things have improved.

Hi GeelongDad,

I'm assuming that your from Geelong, Victoria, if so this might be some help (although other areas will have simler things). Barwon Health have got a "sleep school". Early parenting Daystay progam works out of Corio Village, the number for appoinments is 03 5274 3159. I hear they are really helpful although I havn't needed them due to Cameron being a really good sleeper ("touch wood"). I hope this helps, I think your Maternal and Child Health Nurse can also refer you to "sleep school". Another place I just thought of is Tweedle (in Footscray or Werribee) Ph: 03 9689 1577. I also hear they are excellent. All the best.

Geelong Dad what a prince.

I found with my first baby at about 7mths we had trouble settling him.We ended up taking away his afternoon nap as with you he only slept for 20-30mins and then would not settle at night. It took a couple of weeks to work out new sleeping times for the day and night but it work like a dream.


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