re: I have a 3 month old baby that refuses to sleep when he's tired

You’re going to have to hold him and walk with him until he’s out. Try patting him on his backside softly.

Agree w/the car ride suggestions. There for a while it was the only way to get our boy to fall asleep.

It is called overtired. Baby's brains release a chemical that won't let them sleep if they go too tired/too far in between naps. Once you finally get him to sleep, have a nap schedule and follow it religiously. Nap schedule over everything, over plans, over anything that comes up. It will seem ridiculous but after a month or two, the rest of their babyhood you will thank yourself.

Try playing the song "Smile" by Lily Allen
Smile

Yeah. Grandparents never used a rocking chair or car ride.

Feel your pain. Our 5mo has been a terror the last two weeks even AFTER the 4mo sleep regression was over.

Btw, if you don't know about the 4mo sleep regression, it'll pass.

Godspeed

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Look up sleep regression for babies

My son had at least 3 different periods where he would sleep then all of a sudden forgot how to sleep. It’s part of his cognitive development where they get over stimulated

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Just looked into this, this definitely seems to be the likely culprit.

Last night was my night to stay up with him, of course he stayed awake the latest he has in a loooong time

I should clear up some the fact that he does not SLEEP with a blanket or in his boppy pillow, we sometimes just put him in it with a blanket to fall asleep.

I've taken a lot of good ideas and stuff to look into from this thread. We do need to do a better job of getting him on a more strict routine before bed. We try to do the "dream feeding" and no naps after 6pm, but we need to try harder I guess.

Also open to the idea that maybe it's diet related.

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I should clear up some the fact that he does not SLEEP with a blanket or in his boppy pillow, we sometimes just put him in it with a blanket to fall asleep.

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Lots of good suggestions in this thread, but one thing I will say is don’t put him to sleep somewhere then move him. Part of learning to sleep is putting him down awake.

The developmental leap is real. Download the Wonder Weeks app and put in his due date and it will tell you how his brain is developing and how you can help him through each one.

Eventually, he’ll make a leap where he starts to understand that something is still there even if he can’t see it. He isn’t there yet. So if you move him, or if his sound machine goes off, or whatever…when he wakes and something is different it is going to freak him out. That coupled with normal regressions, being overtired, etc is going to really, really suck.

Try putting him down drowsy but still awake as part of your strategy. I have four kids and the correct answer is every one is different, but there are a lot of things you can try to find what works for you.

Gastro issues can be very uncomfy for babies. Maybe it’s that.