Extending naps (warning: CIO method)

lcourter24

We are sleep traing our LO bc he's gotten into the habit of taking 30 min catnaps all day!  We finally have him trained to put himself to sleep but he's still struggling with sleeping past that 30 min mark.  Those of you that have used CIO, would you let LO CIO after they wake so they learn that it is nap time and they need to remain there to fall back to sleep or would you get them up and just hope that they'll learn to extend on their own as they get better at self soothing?  He gets overtired when he takes these short naps so we have to break this cycle!

LaurenRinAtlanta

We had this problem also... and I tried the no cry sleep solution, etc... to no avail. My daughter would just get more worked up and upset every time I came in. So my husband and I decided to commit to a CIO plan and started on a weekend night. She did cry for 35 minutes the first go round, but then went right back down after her middle of the night feeding (we breastfeed) with no complaints and slept until 7. I put her down again at 8:45, and she slept from 9-11:30. Since then, naps have been 2 hours in length. She sleeps 2 hours the first nap, 2, 2 hours for the second, and then 1 hour for the 3rd... and is out like a light by 7:30 PM. She's up again between 1-2 AM to eat, but I have no problem with that because we breastfeed. The crying became less and less, and now it's just fussing from time to time in her sleep. It was a lot harder for my husband than it was for me. We are ALL much happier and WAY more well rested. I now actually have time during her naps to get housework and personal things done, or take a nap myself!  

 I will say that we did try the no cry solutions first but they just didn't work for her since every baby is different. I also breastfeed on demand as often as she wants during the day, and offer the breast every 2 hours (sometimes every 1 hour and 45 minutes). During the day I immediately respond to whatever her needs are and I think that she somehow "gets" that her crib is for sleeping now. I am sure we will have sleep regression around the 4 month mark and during growth spurts or after shots, and I will respond to her right away at night when that happens. 

lcourter24

ExpectantSteelerFan:

I had to do this with both my kids.  DD was especially frustrating because she'd wake at 30 minutes and be happy, but she'd get overtired very quickly.  When I let her CIO at the 30 minute mark, she often would just lay there happy for 30-45 minutes.  Other times she'd fuss, other times she would cry.  It took a while for her to start taking longer naps (she'd take one occasionally starting after a week or so, and after a month she mostly takes longer ones).

Yes, this is exactly what he does.  It throws me.  I start thinking well maybe he only needed 30 mins sleep, but after letting him get up he's fussy in less than an hr.  When I would hold/rock him for naps he'd sleep easily for 2 hours so I know that's what he needs, and he is way happier when he does.  I think I'm going to go buy some room darkening curtains today, I think he's sensitive to the daylight when trying to fall asleep during the day.

JMC11511

I have also had this issue. Like you, LO would get even more worked up if I went in, soothed, and then left. It has gone from crying to just fussing/squirming. He wakes up around 45 minutes. The past few days, he has gotten himsmself back to sleep within 5 minutes and sleeping another hour. He was crying for off/on for aboit 30 minutes before. I also put him down for a nap after 75 minutes of wake time, 30ish of that is feeding (bf) and diaper change. He puts himself to sleep. He seems to know his bed is for sleeping and Mommy or Daddy will always come get him when naptime is over. We account for growth spurts, and he just had 4 month shots, so he needed more during those times. He STTN 8-730.

MegPie11

We had this issue with my first son.  We did CIO for naps and night time, and even when he was putting himself to sleep easily he would wake up after about 45 minutes.  I hated CIO, so I didn't want to do any more of it, and by the time he was about 6 months old he finally started sleeping longer stretches.

 Another idea is to google "45 minute intruder."  I found some good advice from that.  It didn't work for me but it might for you.

Good luck!

livinirie84

I'm stuck here too. Ferber method worked almost immediately for nighttime but naps not so much. Occasionally his morning nap will be 2 hrs but usually any daytime nap is cut off at the 30 min mark when he gets to the lighter sleep cycle. I have tried both starting Ferber over at that time and giving up on the nap. Neither one has been very successful because either way he's exhausted way earlier than he should and it throws off the rest of the day. However, when we try another round of CIO at least it takes up some more time and helps get him to his next feeding time easier. I am hoping that this will change soon since he is getting a ton of practice with self soothing.

 I hope someone posts some strategies that worked for them.  

bluejetta

We did nap training recently and while it helped with putting DD down awake (though she still often fusses a bit then too) it did not immediately result in longer naps.  She sometimes takes long ones but many are still 45 min.  I do leave her in her crib a full hour and sometimes she'll fall back asleep so I know she can.  But typically if she is going to sleep longer she just does without waking at that time so unfortunately I have no idea why sometimes she does and some days she doesn't.

wilburpup

I know you labelled a warning but 3 mo is too young for CIO. Not my opinion, but fact. 

Problem is 15 min is all baby needs to feel not sleepy, but not long enough for restorative sleep.  So when they wake up after 30 they aren't tired enough to fall back to sleep but will be tired soon. I would recommend a calming activity, so baby knows its not awake, playtime. Soft music with dim light and a light massage. Then when baby is calm try swaddling and putting back to sleep. Dd hasn't hit this phase but the little boys I nannied for all went through it. I know rocking is time consuming for you, but your primary Job is not to have a clean house or do things around the house, it's to build trust in your newborn. 

Hth  

mben1119

wilburpup:

I know you labelled a warning but 3 mo is too young for CIO. Not my opinion, but fact. 

Problem is 15 min is all baby needs to feel not sleepy, but not long enough for restorative sleep.  So when they wake up after 30 they aren't tired enough to fall back to sleep but will be tired soon. I would recommend a calming activity, so baby knows its not awake, playtime. Soft music with dim light and a light massage. Then when baby is calm try swaddling and putting back to sleep. Dd hasn't hit this phase but the little boys I nannied for all went through it. I know rocking is time consuming for you, but your primary Job is not to have a clean house or do things around the house, it's to build trust in your newborn. 

Hth  

All of this exactly. 

blu-eyedwife

wilburpup:

I know you labelled a warning but 3 mo is too young for CIO. Not my opinion, but fact. 

Problem is 15 min is all baby needs to feel not sleepy, but not long enough for restorative sleep.  So when they wake up after 30 they aren't tired enough to fall back to sleep but will be tired soon. I would recommend a calming activity, so baby knows its not awake, playtime. Soft music with dim light and a light massage. Then when baby is calm try swaddling and putting back to sleep. Dd hasn't hit this phase but the little boys I nannied for all went through it. I know rocking is time consuming for you, but your primary Job is not to have a clean house or do things around the house, it's to build trust in your newborn. 

Hth  

This almost exactly.  Developmentally babies do lengthen their own naps.  They have trouble transitioning in the beginning but eventually they are able to do so on their own.  Around 3.5 months my good napper turned into a 30 minute napper. Within 2 weeks he extended it on his own to 40 minutes, and within the next 2 weeks he lengthened it to 1-2 hours.  Until he did, I would pick him up and rock him and then put him back down.  It helped him get back to sleep when he wasn't able to do so on his own and before long he was able to stay asleep for longer periods of time.

kyaggi

I have started using the baby whisperer website to help me extend naps. My LO wakes at 35 min every time! I tried their ideas today and it has really helped! I think it's baby whisperer.com and I went to the starting the easy method and the. They have  a nap section! Hope that helps!

buskey2011

we do a little of this a little bit of that!  we change him feed him and in the crib mobile going, we started 30 minute naps and now we are at 1 1/2 in morning and 2 hrs in the afternoon then in bed by 7. he will cio but it will be about 10 min then out. i know with the 30 min naps i would just wind up the mobile again and he sometimes went back out but now we only do it once for naps and bedtime. gl

Caitrus

I read Ferber and decided to sleep train at 3.5 months.  I am sure she could have done it earlier but I was more of a baby about it.  i know plenty of the girls on here will tell you this or that about when to start or what to do but you do what you think it right just as they will do.

Anyway, what I did was chart my daughters sleeping habits for a week. I found out when she was most likely to wake up in the morning, when she had cat naps and when she had longer naps and what time she was starting to get cranky and want to go to sleep for the night.  I also wrote down when she was eating and how much/long.

 From there I was able to realize in the morning she got up "normally" in the morning, meaning on her own.  That was sometime between 7-8.  Then the pattern was that she took a 1 hour nap 2 hours later.  So 10-11 sleeping.  Two hours after that she would nap and from there is was on and off.  I realized that I could string them together.  (I did Ferber at night and CIO for naps.)  So now she sleeps from 1-4:30.  Goes to bed for the night at 8:30/9.

 If I hadn't charted things out I would have gone out of my mind.  Ferber talks about how you can't pick random sleep times and it is better to go with the flow based on your childs current patterns and then if they need to be adjusted an hour here or there start working on that after you get the desired length of time.

Good luck and I hope this helps.