Nap Advice

justkeeptrying

DS will be 3 months on Thursday. For over the past month he has not been able to nap on his own for longer than 20-30 minutes. Maybe once a week he will shock me and sleep for more then an hour, last week he did over 2 hours for his afternoon nap!!!

When I go in and pick him up from his "nap" he almost always falls back to sleep within minutes. He will then nap usually for about an hour and a half in my arms.

I have tried to lay him down when he's drowsy but not yet sleeping and he wakes up and starts fussing pretty much immediately. I can do this for bedtime and he will stay asleep. He does well at night (usually) giving me a 4 hour stretch, sometimes longer. So I know he is able to put himself back to sleep when he switched REM cycles.

His naps are in a pitch black room, with white noise and he's swaddled. I have no idea what else to try!!!

erin79

Daytime sleep and nighttime sleep are two totally different animals.  Just because he can put himself to sleep or back to sleep at night, doesn't mean he can do it during the day.

Nighttime sleep is the easier of the two for babies to figure out, so I would not worry about any type of daytime sleep training until you have nighttime where you want it.

DD can put herself to sleep at night, and sleeps awesome (until we just nixed the swaddle, ha ha), but we still have to rock her down for naps.

TBsquared

It is common for newborns to have cat naps. It sucks because they are still tired but your not alone. Soon hopefully he will switch to 3 longer naps a day for you.

aacorb31

I read somewhere that if you know your baby usually takes say 30 minute naps, you position yourself near their room at about the end of their nap time. As soon as you hear them you pick them back up and rock them until they're back to sleep or drowsy and put them back down. I guess if you keep doing that consistently over time they will adjust and sleep longer. I tried it yesterday when LO woke after 30 minutes and he slept 2 hours! I'm going to keep at it each afternoon in hopes he will have one lengthy nap a day.

aacorb31

I should also mention that that's the only nap of the day I attempt in his crib. Other than that he mostly catnaps in his swing, in the car seat, in the stroller, etc. I kind of like the idea of him staying flexible so that if I'm out and about it's not a big deal.

odawg

I am not sure if this helps but dont make night time like day time. Making the room to dark or wrapping just like night time may cause an issue. I was always told not to be to quiet as well.

jrecine

With my DS I will rock him or hold him until he is out for about 15 minutes, then once I lay him down and give him his pacifier he's usually out cold. Maybe try letting LO sleep in your arms and do a smooth transition ???

justkeeptrying

I just never know if I should try to get him to fall back to sleep or if I should just accept the 30 minute nap. Today I just accepted the first two naps as they were. Third nap I rocked him back to sleep and held him after he woke up. He slept for 2.5 hours. So I know he needed it!!

I'm just confused as to what approach I should take. I don't want him to get used to me holding him for naps but I also don't want him to get overtired.

jessanne27

This sounds exactly like my son, so I have no advice! Today he took two 15 minute naps and a half hour! I feel like I've tried so many different approaches. We are both exhausted. Sleeps really well at night though.

canadianmom89

Like pp said- since I know dd will only nap for about 30 mins on her own, I lay her down in my our king sized bed right in the middle so I know she can't roll off and after about 20 mins I go lay with her. She usually opens her eyes and sees that I'm laying there and closes her eyes to go back to sleep then I get up , do a chore or two and go lay down again and do this on repeat until she is up for good. It doesn't work every time but it usually works for at least her morning nap.

stephv18

That's exactly like my LO, except mine sleeps 12 her a night

hollybear4

chambersbaby2015 said:

I just never know if I should try to get him to fall back to sleep or if I should just accept the 30 minute nap. Today I just accepted the first two naps as they were. Third nap I rocked him back to sleep and held him after he woke up. He slept for 2.5 hours. So I know he needed it!!

I'm just confused as to what approach I should take. I don't want him to get used to me holding him for naps but I also don't want him to get overtired.

This is exactly me and DS! Sometimes it's a fight to even go for a nap when I know he is tired, but then he only lasts 30-45 mins, in my arms. I used to be able to transition him into his crib for naps, but now every time I do he immediately wakes up; even after waiting for 10-15 minutes. I've resorted to letting him nap in my arms but it's driving me nuts!!

He's a really good sleeper at night though, so I'm picking my sleep battles!

kaitlynn_k

Same same same. My daughter is a champ at night- most of the time it's 11 straight hours. But daytime is another story. I don't know if I should try to sleep train or just continue holding her in the afternoons after she wakes up. Today was three 20-30 min naps. I know she is exhausted but won't sleep by herself during the day. I wish j knew what to do! It's making me feel like an awful mom who can't tell what she needs. She is 15 weeks today.

Knottie76365376

I'm not sure why but I've never given daytime naps much thought. I just trust that he'll sleep when he needs to. I second the desire for LO to remain flexible. I have an active 7 yr old so sometimes naps are on the go. Also, I think babies are made to be portable. For example: for Labor Day we left the house at 10am and got home at 7:30pm. We hiked up a mountain, ate lunch at a friends house, walked another friend's dog, and then a neighbor's bar-b-q for dinner. LO had the best day with naps in the front pack, in the car seat, in our arms. Every time he woke up he looked around like, "cool, what are we doing now?" I think the more you do the happier they are. I also make sure daytime and night time are totally different. Daytime is bright, noisy, and napping in many different locals. Nighttime is dark, quiet and always in his crib. He sleeps an avg of 9 hrs now and we haven't experienced any sleep regressions yet (knock on wood!)

Sammadden27

Have you tried a swing? My little guy refuses to nap and just fights sleep all day. That usually kills us at night cause he gets overtired and just won't let go and fall asleep. At my parents lake house we have a swing and I put him in it when I see him rubbing his eyes and he gets some good naps in. Once the season is over we will take it to our house.
I know they say sleeping in a swing is not restful sleep... But to me he's not getting overtired and he's a much happier baby. AND I can get things done or take a nap myself.

HeatherC21

Sammadden27 said:

Have you tried a swing? My little guy refuses to nap and just fights sleep all day. That usually kills us at night cause he gets overtired and just won't let go and fall asleep. At my parents lake house we have a swing and I put him in it when I see him rubbing his eyes and he gets some good naps in. Once the season is over we will take it to our house.
I know they say sleeping in a swing is not restful sleep... But to me he's not getting overtired and he's a much happier baby. AND I can get things done or take a nap myself.

My LO takes the best naps in her swing. An hour+ everytime, anywhere else she only cat naps 20 or 30 min here and there which I feel like is not long enough. I stay home with her so I don't worry about it, not sure what will happen when she outgrows the swing...

Buckles0528

Will they sleep in a stroller? I've succumb to taking a walk every afternoon so he sleeps and can make a 7 pm.bedtime without screaming from 5-7 pm. I also use the swing. This kid hates sleeping in a crib or rock n play or anything not moving.

adlewi78

Have you tried giving him a pacifier, shushing and putting your hand on his chest/belly and kind of rocking him back and forth while he is still in te crib, instead of picking him up when he wakes up? If he is completely frantic it may not work, but it has worked for my lo.

stephv18

UPDATE: we went to the pediatrician last week and I asked how we can promote napping. He said to try and put her down around the same time every day, at the first sight of being tired. We started over the weekend and it worked so well! She goes down 4 times a day for like 45- hour sometimes longer!

When we put her down we give her a paci and say it's nap time. If she starts to fuss we go in out get paci back in and run her cheek or her back. She is usually out with 5-10 min!

Thought I would share what I started since it seems to work for us!