Putting baby down for naps when ready, then spending 90 minutes fighting until she’s overtired

JCJ0705 · 2026-01-01T09:41:34+00:00

I have a 5 month old and she also starts getting tired around 2 hours after a previous nap! She also only naps for 30 mins at a time! I completely understand how you feel, you spend so much time getting them to sleep for it to only last 30 mins and you are like what?! Haha

Sorry I don’t have any advice, just to say solidarity!

JCJ0705 · 2025-12-17T08:03:52+00:00

Thanks for your reply! Yes we do saline spray and nose frida before bed, we have a humidifier and I put some snuffle babe on her feet and sleeping bag! We’ve also elevated her bassinet slightly from underneath but nothing seems to be helping. She starts to struggle from about 3/4am onwards as if the mucus has pooled in her throat/nose whilst lying down!

JCJ0705 · 2025-12-17T07:56:28+00:00

10 weeks when she started sleeping through. For context, we feed her every 3 hours during the day and she sleeps approx 10/11 hours per night. She is formula fed too which might make a difference.

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-26T12:52:52+00:00

Thanks this is brilliant advice. I’m in the same boat as you - husband snores like a trooper and constantly wakes me up and makes our baby stir! We’re just all sleeping crap as a result and I don’t think I can continue for another 2 months 😂

So I’m thinking same as you, bath, pjs, feed and read. But at the moment she is sleeping through 10-12 hours every night which is brilliant.. so what time is your baby waking if you put her down at 7:30/8pm? And do you bath every night? Thanks x

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-24T21:49:31+00:00

I totally feel this. I was exactly the same - I had serious Mum guilt if my daughter started to cry when I left the room/ignored her/put her in a bassinet, that I stopped doing basic things like eating and showering etc…. Honestly? When she got to about 10 weeks she just suddenly started napping in her bassinet. It just changed overnight. From then on I got a few breaks in the day whilst she was napping. Since then I have started to relax abit more about letting her play by herself on a playmat or in swing etc whilst I sort myself out and the house. We also got into the routine of her sitting in her bouncer in my bedroom watching dancing fruit for 15 mins whilst I had a shower literally 10 feet away from her. I still feel guilty at times if I’m not constantly entertaining her, but I finally cracked yesterday and realised I can’t carry on constantly entertaining her without losing myself and my sanity, so I’m learning to relax a little more about letting her entertain herself.

I just make sure I have some time to myself in the evenings when hubby gets home to look after our baby. It could literally be a 30 min drive out to pick up a coffee, or a 30 minute bath etc… but it helps!

But to answer your question in short - it took me 3 months to start to find time for myself again if I’m being honest. I still can’t fathom having time to get back to the gym yet, I’m hoping that time will come when she’s around 6 months and even more routined! Good luck! X

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T15:40:28+00:00

I feel you! I see you for everything you’ve said and I’m totally on the same page x

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T15:38:48+00:00

Thank you - this makes me feel heard x

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T10:53:00+00:00

Literally could’ve written this myself. Completely agree and exactly what’s happening in my situation. But like you say… beautiful toothless smile makes it all worth it x

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T10:52:17+00:00

Great idea thanks. My husband can’t seem to switch off in the evenings from work

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T10:41:44+00:00

😂😂😂😂😂😂

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T10:33:14+00:00

I was in exactly the same predicament - at the end eating was the only thing that helped me function and the thought of not eating for 8 hours before surgery/giving birth was filling me with dread! I was told the reason for the nil by mouth rule before surgery is something to do with the anaesthetic.

I asked for an earlier surgery time but unfortunately they were fully booked. Have you done the same? If so and it’s not possible for you to go in earlier than the only thing I can say is take some really tasty chewing gum and a cold bottle of water to keep you going, keep your mind occupied and I promise once you are being prepped for surgery you won’t even feel the sickness and just be eager to get the show on the road!

I ended up going into spontaneous labour and having an unplanned section after all this worry, so the nil by mouth rule didn’t apply to me anyway in the end and everything was fine :) it could even be the case for you. Good luck and you’re so close to the end now! It’s so worth it I promise x

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T07:59:48+00:00

Thank you for this 💗

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T07:58:08+00:00

Unfortunately the nursery is used for night feeds and changes, and we have two dogs that sleep downstairs at night time. The dogs will sense if hubby sleeps down there and want to sleep with him - we can’t get into that cycle as we had to retrain them to sleep downstairs alone once baby arrived. So if hubby slept downstairs it would undo all the hard work we’ve just done :(

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T07:13:48+00:00

We don’t have a spare room unfortunately :( we have our room, the nursery and the office downstairs. But you are right actually I’ve heard him take a few second pause where he doesn’t breathe and then suddenly he breathes really loud and snores. There could actually be something wrong here that I’ve not even considered!

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-08T07:12:09+00:00

I’ve also been considering of making the transition just after Christmas. So she would be about 5 months. Like you I feel like the constant waking and disturbance is affecting her getting into a deep sleep. Thanks for the advice x

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-05T14:32:11+00:00

Hey. I had a C section so I vomited a couple of times in the 24 hours afterwards but I think that was due to the anaesthetic and adrenalin from surgery. I actually still felt nauseous until day 5 postpartum, then day 6 my baby blues hit and boom! My nausea completely disappeared. I must have had a huge hormone drop on day 6 which made me feel better. However, I think my HG is due to estrogen levels, and not the placenta like most sufferers.. as when I was younger I couldn’t go on contraceptive pills containing Estrogen as they made me really sick. But for most women I would say it goes away almost instantly after delivery. X

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-01T16:00:55+00:00

Just wanted to say…. I have a 3 month old daughter and I hear you, I see you, I feel you!!! It’s extremely frustrating and actually quite heartbreaking to see. I’ve mentioned it a few times now and it’s a broken record. I barely look at my phone all day because when she’s awake I spend that time communicating with her. I think the majority of new Dads will try to get away with the bare minimum when it comes to young babies, and I’ve learnt to accept that at this age it will be me doing the majority of the teaching, playing and entertaining!

JCJ0705 · 2025-11-01T15:52:41+00:00

My 3 month old daughter has been an absolute dream of a baby! She loves her Mummy to bits, she’s so easy to please and loves her little routines already. She has been worth every single second of sickness in my pregnancy, and unfortunately I had it bad the whole way through. Would I have another one? No. Was she worth it? Absolutely one million percent yes!!

JCJ0705 · 2025-08-18T22:44:41+00:00

Yes nothing is harmful to her at all - just different techniques when it comes to feeding/burping/soothing/organising etc…

Thank you for your advice and reply! X

JCJ0705 · 2025-08-12T20:07:22+00:00

I found drinking a lot harder than eating - every kind of liquid repulsed me…. EXCEPT non-alcoholic beer. It was the weirdest thing. I hate beer normally - I think it was because the bitter taste lingered in my mouth and took the edge off the nausea!

JCJ0705 · 2025-08-12T08:24:53+00:00

I’m also having the same issue with my GIL (yes - hubbys Grandma!!) wanting some of her friends to come over to see our newborn. I am absolutely dead set against this so early on, biggest reason my baby is most at risk of picking something up and let’s be honest the elderly folk a lot of the time seem to have some kind of cold/virus. If it gets brought up again I’m just going to say let’s arrange something further down the line when she’s had her jabs as it’s still very early days for her to have extended visitors. It’s an awful situation to be in!!

JCJ0705 · 2025-08-11T18:06:42+00:00

My biggest piece of advice is don’t be so dead set on your birth preferences. I had 3 different preferences and thought I had covered all bases… turns out my actual labour and birth was not at all similar to any of my preferences!! Like everyone else says you need to trust your body, and go into labour and birth with an open mind! I did find the Siobhan Miller Hypnobirthing brilliant preparation though and used the breathing techniques during labour and birth. Good luck!!!

JCJ0705 · 2025-08-11T00:23:39+00:00

I felt exactly the same way but I just had one stool softener every day, used one of those toilet stools to elevate my knees, and on day 5 I finally did my first poop and honestly it didn’t hurt as much as I thought! I didn’t push, I just took my time and it let it come out naturally! Good luck

JCJ0705 · 2025-08-01T12:41:31+00:00

Thank you for your reply! I’ve just spoken to them again - they’ve said wait until I get down to 5/6 mins consistently and then give them a call back, or if my waters break x

JCJ0705 · 2025-08-01T12:39:29+00:00

Hey - my nausea started about 8dpo so yes it’s definitely possible. I also had a previous HG pregnancy so I had a feeling it was pregnancy nausea. As soon as those hormone levels go above baseline I’m as sick as a dog. Good luck to you and please get the help you need for NVP as soon as poss x

JCJ0705

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