:hi and !!! So glad you've chosen to use this wonderful book!

That's beautiful! What a loving mom you are for being so close to your baby! Dr. Sears (the well-known pediatrician who wrote the forward for NCSS) speaks in support of this very instinctual way to help babies sleep! Here's a link to his website with more information about comforting your baby to sleep and how it teaches baby that sleep is a natural, safe state to enter into:

31 WAYS TO GET YOUR BABY TO GO TO SLEEP AND STAY ASLEEP EASIER

That's so neat! Where did you get a hammock for babies? I've read wonderful things about the Amby bed, is it anything like that?

It can take a while for them to settle into a nap schedule! My younger son didn't really settle into a naptime schedule until he was about 10 months old... whereas my older one had a very clear schedule... and yet I'm the same person who tried to get them to sleep the same way... so it just shows that babies' temperaments really do count when it comes to how they sleep.... we still kept plugging away at developing his nap schedule and eventually it happened, but some take longer than others

I found that for my older son, particularly, that when he actually LOOKED tired, he was actually OVER-tired and this would not only make it hard for him to go to sleep, but he wouldn't have a very good nap. Instead, I would note when he woke for the day and then try to put him down for a nap an hour and a half later... this made me start noticing the more subtle signs of tiredness that I had been missing, because he was actually tired WAY before I noticed. This worked wonders.

That is a classic growth spurt time. During certain times, there are growth spurts during which babies will wake with much more frequency as they need more calories. I would definately offer him the bottle. He probably falls asleep with the pacifier because he is sleepy, but I'd try the bottle first to make sure he's getting enough to eat. Check with your pediatrician about this. Maybe I'm off... I breastfed and did so on demand, and I think that bottle feeding should be similar, but I could be wrong. This article seems to connect with what I'm saying (although I don't think most pediatricians would agree about feeding baby cereal before 6 months):

Pediatrics, - Articles

I think I would just start with doing what I suggested is watching him intently at about 1 hour to 1.5 hours after he wakes up for the day, and then 1-1.5 hours after he gets up from his first nap... general rule is that they really can't stay awake for longer than 2 hours at this age. Start with that and see if that helps. If not, we can talk about ways to get him to stay asleep. A nap routine works wonders... nap books ("Time for Nap"by Jane Yolen is excellent), and a little song... sort of a mini bedtime routine.

Only if you want to because you don't like to rock him, or hold him to get him to sleep. If you are worried, however, that this is creating a "bad sleep habit" then just to assure you that what you are doing is natural and comforting for your little one. You do have to do what is best for you, however, so if it is frustrating for you to have to pick him up all the time, then NCSS has wonderful, gently ways to teach babies how to get themselves to go back to sleep, or go to sleep in the first place without being held... it can take a long time and it requires patience because there are many stages that it takes a few weeks at least to work through each one to develop the habitual ability to accept each stage, but it can work. We didn't do it because we like to cuddle our sons to sleep and my son (older one) stays asleep all night so we didn't have a problem with it.... so it's really up to you. I'm only saying this because sometimes people feel that cuddling their baby to sleep is the "wrong" way to do it, when most other cultures in the world wear their babies and keep them close all the time.

Again, I would just make sure it isn't a growth spurt... although 3 weeks is a long time for a growth spurt It could also be teething, though, which requires a lot of comfort from Mommy!

This could be teething as well...

I think that with NCSS, the idea is to follow as many of her sleep suggestions as possible as they all work together, instead of doing one thing or another at a time.

I think so... but again, just one phase at a time and give each phase at least 1 whole set of 10 days... make sure it is completely successful and seeming to be a well developed and comfortable habit before you move to the next phase.

Usually babies do this because they are hungry. I'd try the bottle or bf him first.

Yes.

Get her to look at the book, and show her your sleep plan when you have made it. My husband and I worked on this together so that he did the same things as me. My mom also took care of my sons and she follows my way of getting them to nap.

Bring items that he is familiar with, such as the same top sheet, the same lovey... if you have a lullaby cd that you use, this is great because then he would hear the same music wherever he goes. Or, if you have white noise at home, then try to have the same white noise at your mom's, such as a fan... this last one helps our boys sleep wherever we go. Always read the same books... all of these things help.

I would really try the idea of seeing if he wants to sleep sooner... my older son when he was that age was often ready for his nap after only being awake for an hour to an hour and a half after waking for the day, or waking from a nap... they definately should be having their next nap, or night sleep after 2 hours... in other words they shouldn't be awake for more than 2 hours at a time at that age (it obviously stretches out, but that age up to even a year old this is the idea).

Hope this helps!

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