I know that sleep training has been a hot topic on here the last few days. We sleep trained our son two weeks ago and nights are going well.
Naps on the other hand... UGH. I know naps are always harder.
DS goes down to sleep easily but lately won't sleep longer than 30 mins! He wakes up crying. We follow the Sleep Easy Solution which is similar to Ferber but it doesn't give advice for babies waking up from naps early - only if they cry when being put down. (We watched the DVD so I am not sure if the book addresses this issue.)
They say that check-ins for naps sometimes make babies more upset and you can skip them if you want. My DS does get more upset when we check-in for naps, so usually I give him 15 mins of crying and if he doesn't fall back asleep, I get him. Problem is that 30 mins is not enough sleep for him. He ends up not being able to stay awake for 90 - 120 mins. Then we end up with 5 or 6 short naps during the day.
He always wakes up crying. Never happy like he does in the morning.
Naps in the swing are hit or miss. The swing is in the living room and it is too loud / bright down here for him. Sometimes he will cat nap for like 15 mins in the swing when I am making dinner.
Should I just keep getting him up from his short naps and put him down more often? Should I let him CIO longer for naps and see if he starts sleeping longer? If so, how long do I actually let him CIO? I never know how long his nap should be so I never know when I should actually give up and get him.
I know naps are a mystery, but any advice or opinions would be appreciated.
Re: Advice on naps / sleep training
If he is consistently STTN, I would try and sleep train the naps. I started about a week ago, and just now she didn't wake at 30-45 min, but more like an hour, then rolled around talking for 10 minutes and went back out for another 45 min! Whoop!
If he's not bothered by you going in to him, have you tried the pick up/put down? If he is protest crying, and not fussing, I would not let it go 15 minutes. Do some intervals and see if that helps.
Did he/she wake up happy after the 2nd 45 mins?
He usually gets more upset when I go in during naps. He sees me and he gets ever more upset when I leave.
I have not tried pick up/put down. I just don't want him to get used to that habit. I will try the intervals again. They usually make him scream more but I will try again. How long do I try before I just give up?
His PNP is actually in our bedroom and there is really no room for a swing too.
Right now he keeps waking up crying, sucks his thumb to calm down, falls asleep and then wakes up crying again.He just ate 80 mins ago so I know he is not hungry.
UGH.