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My daughter is 10+ weeks old.  Several weeks ago, maybe as many as four or five weeks ago, she started to cry, sometimes inconsolably, when she was tired.  This could happen before a nap or before we put her down to bed.  It was one of the ways that we started to learn that she was tired.  We figured that the crying came from her inability to know what to do with her tiredness, and that once we stepped in and used one or all of the 5 S's from "Happiest Baby...," she would fall asleep.  Sometimes it would take a few minutes, sometimes as long as an hour.  But she eventually would fall asleep.

This didn't happen every single time she was tired.  But it's been increasing over the past few weeks, and today it happened before every nap and before bedtime.  (Now, mind, last night we took her to her first dinner party.  She had a lot of stimulation last night and some more today, and her sleep routine was kind of disrupted and disjointed last night.)

We don't mind doing the S's as described in the book.  We'll do whatever it takes for her to fall asleep and to sleep comfortably.  But I'm wondering if this is a phase that other moms have gone through with their babies.

FYI, in case anyone is going to ask, she started sleeping through the night at 8+ weeks.  I do get up once or twice a night to re-swaddle her since she "Houdinis" herself out, but that's only because she has discovered her thumb and is trying to get it into her mouth.  She sleeps in her crib at the foot of our bed.

Any thoughts welcome. Thanks!

Thanks, Mrs. Spring.

I'm a SAHM, so I've been nursing her on demand (she only nurses for about 10 minutes on each side, so it doesn't dictate my schedule) and letting her nap when she's tired.  But you've made me realize that there would be a definite benefit to tracking her schedule.  So, I've started doing that today, tracking what time she wakes up in the morning and goes to sleep at night, as well as her meals and naps.

I think you may be right, that she cries when she's overly tired.  In the car, she fall asleep so easily, so there must be something to what you're saying.  Just today alone she seems to be ready to nap about an hour after she begins nursing.

Getting a hold on her scheduling will help me find the time to put her down to nap, but it'll also help me to get that much-needed massage, since my back is killing me!

Thanks again.

@Mrs. Spring:  My cell phone is your basic phone call/text type of phone.  My husband is thinking of getting us iPhones, so I'm sure there will be apps on that.

But really, what you say makes perfect sense.  I like the idea of letting her set her own schedule as far as when she's hungry and tired.  But having a sense of what my day is going to look like will make certain things a lot easier.  She's about to hit the three-hour mark for her afternoon nap.  I keep wanting to wake her, but I keep hearing that "Don't wake a sleeping baby" mantra in the back of my head.  Three hours is PLENTY of time for Ma Ma to get a massage!

@Mrs. Spring:  You're not kidding!  My back has been really hurting these past couple of days.  It's a good thing I'm in love with the little darling.  I wouldn't endure this for just anyone!  But then again, maybe I shouldn't complain.  After all, nothing's as painful as it was before contractions...

How many little ones do you have?  Just Addie?

@Mrs. Spring:  Ah, beautiful news.  When are you due, and how old is Addie?  I need to find a masseuse who comes to my house!  I'll tell you:  if there were two things that came as a surprise with parenthood, it's how hard breastfeeding was (in the beginning, at least) and back pain.  Oh, the back pain.

@Mrs. Spring:  What do you do during the months when your masseuse is in Mexico?  Do you find someone else or do you suffer through it?

@KellyV:  Thanks for sharing Liv's clues.  I'll have to keep an eye on my daughter for similar clues.

Just from two days of tracking, I can see that she generally needs a nap about an hour after I start nursing her.  The problem is that sometimes I really don't see any signs.  Like tonight, about 30 minutes after I started nursing her, she was SO alert.  Very playful with me, full of smiles and giggles, and then out of nowhere she started crying.

I think after a few more days of tracking, I should have a better sense of her needs.  Today she napped for about half the time she napped yesterday, so she was very tired very early in the evening -- and, of course, there was a lot of crying.  She really needed a bath, though, so when my husband came home and she showed us a few minutes of smiles, I jumped at the chance to bathe her.  Well, there was a lot more crying after that, but when she finally went to sleep, she crashed hard and was truly down for the count.

@Mrs. Spring:  That's a great price!  I've been seeing a massage therapist for the past few years and he, too, charges $50 per hour.  I haven't been to him since before becoming pregnant, so I'm much overdue.

Thanks for the advice on the naps.  My girl is a bit hard to gauge.  At first it seemed she was falling asleep an hour after starting nursing, but she would start to fuss about a half hour after nursing and not fall asleep until an hour after.  But today, she seemed to get fussy right after.  So, who knows!  After nursing her for the last time, she fell asleep in my arms and I sat and watched her sleep for a good half hour at least before putting her into her crib.  I am so in love with this little kitten.

@mechiebaby:  I haven't heard of it but it makes perfect sense.  I notice that my daughter tends to either fall asleep or appear to need to fall asleep about an hour after I begin nursing her. I noticed that as soon as I started montitoring, I noticed this pattern and can begin to watch the clock and put her down somewhere for a nap, even if she's awake.  I do notice that even though she's still pretty smiley, she does get more sedate around that time.

Knowledge is a beautiful thing.