nap ??

doggylovr

DS is now just about 6 months old and I put him down for a nap when he shows all the signs (fussiness, rubbing eyes etc), he generally goes down without any sort of fight and maybe makes a few squeeky noises for 5 minutes or less and is out, but not crying.  The problem is he wakes up after 30 minutes...he does this twice, maybe 3 times a day.  I am really at my wits end because he acts so cranky when he does this...any suggestions to helping him nap longer?  I am even thinking about letting him CIO a bit to see if he falls back asleep but I have not attempted that at all because he is just now hitting 6 months..... 

 

I would prefer a suggestion besides CIO but at this point am willing to try anything?  Once we get naps under control, I can then focus to getting him to wake up less during the night:( though I'll take suggestions for that too....

 

thanks ladies!!! 

fatjavacat

It sounds exactly like my DS.  I can offer hope by saying as of a few weeks ago starting to throw in longer naps in which he wakes up more rested.  

I was never able to get him to go back to sleep.  I read somewhere if they wake up after 30 min not to rush and get them, but to see if they will soothe themselves back to sleep.  It never worked for me.  He just went through a cat nap phase.  I just made sure to get him down every 2 hours(ish).  

With all that being said - I started to put him down more awake, and he fusses for a bit but is able to get himself to sleep (this is a totally new developement).  I am not a big CIO fan but reached a point of having to do something.   I also stopped rushing in at night at the first peep - and I have found that he will soothe himself back to sleep.  I think (???) maybe it is carrying over to the naps. 

 Hopefully it is just a stage!!

 

I feel your pain! 

PS  I have been trying to read the "Happy baby healthy Sleep" (or what ever the title is) to get some ideas.  But who has the time to read???  I think it is a good mix of sleep training ideas which may help - I just wish there was a Cliff notes version! 

jess08200

fatjavacat:

PS  I have been trying to read the "Happy baby healthy Sleep" (or what ever the title is) to get some ideas.  But who has the time to read???  I think it is a good mix of sleep training ideas which may help - I just wish there was a Cliff notes version! 

There is a DVD so you don't have to read the book, but then again, who has the time for that either.... 

bh2720

fatjavacat:

I read somewhere if they wake up after 30 min not to rush and get them, but to see if they will soothe themselves back to sleep. 

you can try this, it often works for Warner now, but it didn't when he was that age.

one thing I would suggest is to start putting him down before he starts gets really tired. once he's already fussy-tired, he's probably over-tired and that could be why he's not napping as long as he should. (I know, it's so frustrating!!!)

I would a imagine that he probably gets sleepy around the same times everyday. so if you have been putting him down around 10:30am, try starting nap time at 10am instead. also, if you don't have a nap time routine similar to a bed time routine, you may want to start one. HTH!

mommmyz

I had a total 30 minute napper until 6.5 months, then he started going longer, finally! He now does about 1 hour 20 min. in the morning, 2 - 2.5 in the afternoon. Seriously, the longer naps are life changing, so I feel your pain!

 A few things we did: nap routine just like bedtime, and letting him fuss a little when he first woke up at 30/40 minutes. Really, for the first two weeks he would wake up at 40 min. like clockwork, fuss for a minute, and fall back asleep. Honestly, I think he just reached an age where he was more ready for it. 

And he just started STTN 2 weeks ago, pretty consistently (knock on wood!). Before that he had NEVER done it. It is awesome. I have no idea how it happened though...

You're not too far behind us, hopefully your lo will get there soon too!

 

tracy042206

My kids would wake up more around the 40 minute mark and lot of books say that is one sleep cycle.  So they are waking up at the end of their sleep cycle and they really do need to learn how to soothe themselves back to sleep at that point (if only they could read up on it and learn it that way).  I would see if you let him fuss how long it takes for him to get back to sleep.  If you don't want to full on CIO then try going in and soothing him back to sleep.  At this age that might be hard though because seeing you might signal him to wake up more - this was the case for my kids.

 For me I would just let the kids fuss or cry themselves back to sleep and they eventually learned that I was not coming in and would go back to sleep themselves.  I usually set a time limit before I would go back in - about 15-20 minutes of actual crying not just off and on fussing usually - and then I knew they weren't going back to sleep on their own so I might as well go in and get them up and go on with the day.  Good luck - sleep problems suck.

MrsTiara

I second the putting him down earlier.  If you don't have a set routine, now would be a good time to start.  This really helped BabyCrown get decent naps (he never napped at DC for the time he was there): having a set time for putting him down even if he didn't seem tired enough that day.

Artslvr

Another vote for putting him down before he's tired.  I think by the time they rub their eyes, they're overtired, at least with my kids.  Worth trying, anyway.

doggylovr

so I tired putting him down at noon....he cried for 14 minutes, then slept for 40...then cried and i went and got him..we will work on getting through another sleep cycle soon.  we'll see:-)

 

thanks for all the suggestions!!