6 month naps (or lack thereof) and CIO. HELP!

JNB109

Hello,

My 6 month old son has been a terrible sleeper since day 1.   After trying every other method (no-cry methods first), we reluctantly decided to try the CIO method in Healthy Habits Happy Baby, and it worked really quickly.  Day 2, my son was to sleep in 45 seconds.  

However, my son absolutely WILL NOT nap for me.  This is not a new thing related to CIO, I can count the times he's napped for me, while I'm not holding him, on two hands.  He's happy to sleep on me after I breastfeed him, but as soon as I try to move him, he wakes up angry and will not go down.  I try putting him in the crib drowsy, but awake to no avail.  The odd thing is that daycare has very little problem putting him down.  They can put him down drowsy but awake, or asleep and he almost always naps for them.  I put him down at the same times they do, darken the room, white noise, etc.

Any helpful advise is very welcome!!!  I am completely out of ideas!  

merc5411

I don't know of this is possible, but try a swing for nap time. My 6 month old will go down in his crib at night with little or no problem, but he loses his shit at nap time. So I put him in his swing, in a dark room with his white noise. He may fuss minute but will fall asleep. Then I QUIETLY sneak back in and turn off the motion, or at least turn it way down. It's not gonna last forever but it help get him used to motionless sleep at nap time. Good luck. I know how frustrating it can be.

taraleanne

I personally wouldn't introduce a swing for a 6 month old. 

Naps will always take longer than night time. Baby will also behave differently at daycare as compared to his expectations for his mama (or dad). Or even grandma. He will have different expectations for different people so don't expect what works at daycare to work at home.

Basically you need to pick an approach and stick with it. Persistence, patience and consistency is KEY. Pick up put down repeat works well for us...CIO is not for us. It doesn't happen overnight though, we have always been working on naps. Then he'll go through a phase where he goes on a nap strike for whatever reason (developmental leaps usually) but if we stay consistent then he always falls back into taking a nap. We also use white noise, a soother, a lovey and a consistent wind-down routine for naps.  We watch for sleepy signs and start the wind-down routine before he gets overtired- this is also KEY. You can't just go about your day and not think about when the next nap has to occur, if you miss the window...prepare for a fight!  At 6m he was ready for a nap exactly 2 hours after waking for the day and then 2.5-3 hours after waking from the first nap. Third nap was always questionable!  Good luck- I know it's frustrating but you need to be consistent and give it several weeks. 

JNB109

Thanks.  It helps to know it's not just a struggle for us.  I've tried the pick up put down method, and it actually was worse.  Crying turned into screaming every time I left the room; I think it just got his hopes up.  I am work 4 days a week, so I think that makes it tough to really get into a routine.  How long does it typically take for them to start actually falling asleep?  I'm hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel...

JNB109

Oh, and I don't really want to get him hooked on a swing at this point.  I don't think he'd sleep in there anyway, he usually wants to be taken out once I put him in there.

taraleanne

JNB109 said:

Thanks.  It helps to know it's not just a struggle for us.  I've tried the pick up put down method, and it actually was worse.  Crying turned into screaming every time I left the room; I think it just got his hopes up.  I am work 4 days a week, so I think that makes it tough to really get into a routine.  How long does it typically take for them to start actually falling asleep?  I'm hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel...

You'll need to give it a few weeks... be consistent. Don't give up.   If he's not crying, try leaving the room. One night we had to go in 12 times but he eventually fell asleep independently. Next night it was 6, then 2, now it's 0-2x at the beg of the night. Make sure he has something to self sooth with, a lovey or paci or something. White noise. If he's overtired it will be REALLY hard for him to fall asleep with or without your help so it's really important that you make sure he's going to bed at the right time. My LO goes to sleep 3-3.5h after waking from his final nap for the day. It takes time to figure it out, sorry, I sure wish there was an overnight solution! GL!!