napping problems

cheverian87

Hey ladies, I need help. tips advice ANYTHING to help me to get my little guy take naps during the day. He is 5 months.
I have been trying to get him on a somewhat of a nap routine for two months now and seems like everything I am doing is not working 
He needs movement to nap. He usually naps in his swing which I am trying to wean him from, but its hard when his naps are all over the place. Some days he will nap good in the morning, then the afternoon he will fight to go for a nap. Other days he wont nap in the morning but will in the afternoon or evening. Then there are days he will not nap at all only when he nurses. Then there are shocker days when he actually takes 3 naps. 
His naps can last anywhere from 20 mins to 3 hours. I usually tries to get him to nap 2 hours after he wakes, I start his nap routine a half hour before he should be napping. His routine right now consists of a diaper change lullaby music and in the swing. Some days he will fall asleep almost instantly other days he will fuss/cry. Once he cries I will go get him and try to rock him or nurse him. Sometimes he falls asleep other times he doesn't. I have tried rocking him, putting him in his crib to see if he will fall asleep on his own, and the swing. Swing usually has the best results but not always. 
I just do not know what to do anymore. I feel like a horrible mother cause I cant get him to nap. I feel like every day is a battle of trying to get him to nap. Feel like I am confined to our house cause I don't want venture out in public and have him have a meltdown because he is overtired. Please if anyone has any advice or tips on this situation please share..... (Sorry this is a novel long story lol)

seawater

I totally understand your frustration but you are not a horrible mother!  Mine are almost 5 months too and we are struggling.  They sleep so much better in swings and at this point I'm just letting them.  I may be setting myself up for failure later, but I feel like they need the sleep at this point.  There's so much going on in their little world that for me, forcing a schedule on them is not working.  Have you heard of the book the Wonder Weeks?  It's been a great resource for me.  I also try to watch for their cues and anticipate them getting tired and start the wind down routine even earlier.  Also, if they are breastfed vs formula fed is it possible he's hungry?  I'm NOT saying you're starving your child or doing ANYTHING wrong, but mine are BF and are huge snackers and comfort nursers and sometimes just need a short nursing session to calm down and fall asleep.  Just a thought.  Hopefully it gets easier for you, I understand the feeling of being confined to the house.  Good luck!

cheverian87

I have tried earlier and gets the same results. Usually if I start earlier he will get fussier quicker cause he isn't tired right yet and doesn't want to be in his swing lol. He is BF and I'll usually feed him before nap time or I'll try nursing him again once he gets fussy sometimes it works others it doesn't. Sometimes when I nurse him he will nap for like 20 mins on the breast then get his second wind and wont go down for a nap. Who knew trying to get a baby to nap would be so hard lol.
Thanks for replying ladies :-) 

StephandMatt2012

I would start a sleep log and write down when you see his sleepy cues and when/where he naps etc it might help pin point when the best time to try and get him to sleep is, the sleep window is usually about 5-10 mins so if you miss that he will be much more difficult to put down it's also totally normal for babies to fuss/light cry a bit before settling to nap they sometimes just need to get rid of some energy. Some babies are hard to read with their sleepy cues so you have to go by the clock a bit more. Hope you can find some success and get him napping but don't feel bad it's not like you aren't trying your doing a good job he will figure it out

tisunge602

Sing2phins said:

Can you try starting your nap routine even earlier?  My LO is 4.5 months and can barely stand 90 minutes of awake time.  It's possible you're missing the window by keeping LO up 2 hours.

True. Also, try not to go by the clock quite so much, although I know that's hard. Watch LO for sleepy cues. For mine, he rubs his eyes. Usually his "awake" interval is about the same, but often it's shorter than what I expect.

Lauren201312

I also agree with watching for tired cues more than the clock. My twins are 4.5 months and sometimes can do an hour awake, most of the time 1.5, and occasionally 2 hours. Their main tired cue is their happy squeals get louder. It almost sounds like they're just having more fun but I've realized that's the beginning of "I'm tired". I catch that, bring them to their crib, swaddle with one arm out (they suck their thumbs) and say good-nap. They sometimes fuss/moan for a min or two, and then are out. If I have to pick one up once or twice to sooth, I do that, but only until they stop fussing, not till completely asleep. They only sleep for about 45 min. If I miss that cue, or try to push them longer, I can't get them to sleep easily. Also, I would recommend staying really consistent. I know it's hard when you want them to nap in any way you can, but if you're consistent, they'll eventually get it "ok, that's right, this means nap/sleep time". Hope any of that helps!

Also wanted to say, it took at least a few weeks to get to this point. Didn't happen right away. But I tried to be as consistent as possible, and patient!!

cheverian87

Thanks everyone for the advice! 
I tried looking for his tired cues back when he was 2-3 months old and found then when I tried putting him down for a nap, he was already over tired so it didn't work back then. 

Will I decided why not try it again?its been a few months and  I've tried everything else... So I've notice now he will get extremely quite and stare off into space or try to suck his thumb. So I have been putting him down then and so far it seems to be working! yay! hopefully now We can just keep up with this and it will keep working! 

Thanks again ladies! 

roo1oo

Does taking him for a walk in the stroller put him to sleep? My LO has the hardest time sleeping in the afternoon unless we're in the car (he's out like a light whenever we go for a car ride). I've been taking him and the dogs for a late afternoon/early evening walk. Sometimes he's out in 10 minutes, sometimes (like yesterday) I have to walk for 45 minutes with him crying for 15 of that before he falls asleep. 

Also, have you tried baby wearing for the 30 minutes or so before its time for a nap? This works wonders with my LO, especially if he gets over tired. His main cue for being overtired is that he wants to be held constantly, and screams when I put him down. So I "hold" him in the Ergo for about 30 minutes, get the stuff done I want to, give him a bottle and he's often out like a light.

Also, everything changes for these kids like every week. So what works this week might not work next week for you. Keep on rolling with the changes and get out of the house some! It'll do both of you some good. My LO loved going to the store at 4.5 months cause he could finally see the world and was fascinated by it.

cheverian87

I have been going for daily walks and he does usually fall asleep in the stroller... but usually its a half hour into the walk. Car rides always work for him aswell. 
So true how it changes week to week... or my case every couple of days.. some days he will go down without a fight others not so much lol oh well I am just rolling with it and trying not to stress over it too much. 

aelangille

I was having similar issues and it was taking me 3 hours to feed (nurse, bottle feed, pump - LO is a lazy feeder) and I don't think he was getting enough stimulation. We feed then swing for a bit or do housework while in the baby carrier then he bounces for a bit and usually starts showing signs of tiredness - we do a bottle fed then off to bed. It works most days.