I have a 6-month-old baby girl who sleeps great at night but hates to nap. I've tried to get her into a routine on most days. It goes like this: She generally goes to bed (in her crib) around 9:30 or 10 pm, and usually sleeps until around 6 or 7 am. Her routine is to get up for a bottle at this time (6 or 7 am) with her daddy before he goes to work. Then he puts her in bed with me, and she will then often go back to sleep for another hour or two. Once we get up, she's usually ready for a nap around 11 or 12 noon (about 3 hours after she's gotten up for good). I can tell she's sleepy because she gets fussy and rubs her eyes. I can often get her to sleep after a bottle with a little rocking, although at times that is difficult. But once I go to lay her down in her crib, she cries and fights sleep. If I'm lucky and she does go to sleep, she usually only sleeps for about 30 minutes, which is not long enough because she then gets fussy and sleepy shortly after getting up from the nap. It's the same scenario for her afternoon nap, which I usually try between 3 and 4 pm. She just fights naps and then awakens too soon. I do have a white noise machine in her room to drown out any noise, although it's usually pretty quiet during her naps. I've tried the pacifier, but she usually spits it right out. If anyone has any suggestions on getting her to nap easier and longer, I'd love to hear them!
Hi Misty,
Once she gets up in the morning in stead of putting her back in the bed, have you tried staying up with her to see if she would be more willing to take a nap around 12:00.
A.
I had the same problem with my first child because I always rocked him to sleep, he didnt know how to fall asleep on his ouwn. That sounds like the problem you're having. I hate to say it but the only solution I found was to make him cry it out. Once they learn how to fall asleep on their own they can usually fall back asleep as well. I used to go in his room at every little sound and not give him the chance to fall back asleep. Now that I have a second child I can look back and see how rocking him to sleep was the worst thing I ever did. If you are not into letting her cry it out, I recommend the book- The No Cry Sleep Solution. It does have some useful advice. It will take a bit longer though, but it is essential that your baby learn to fall asleep on her own. Once she does this the length of her naps will definitely increase. Its natural to wake during your sleep. Shes now used to having you there to put her back to sleep. The older she gets, the harder the habit is to break!
Good Luck
It sounds a lot like my daughter who has silent reflux (reflux without spitting up, it just gets caught in their throats). Before we got her on her meds she would not nap for more than 10 minutes at a time during the day and would always scream her head off the second I laid her down. She would pass out at about 6pm every night because she was so exhausted. If she has been like this since she was a little baby reflux might be something to consider...
My advice is from having 6 month old twins, and it was a MUST that they take a nap and be on a schedule or life would have been very chaotic. When my girls got up at 6-7 a.m., as hard as it was, I got up with them. Then, by 11 a.m. they were ready for a nap. They would sleep 2-3 hours., but I found that the later they slept in the day, the harder it was to get them to go straight to sleep at night. So, I suggest that you not let her naptime go beyond 4 p.m. and then she would be ready to go down for the night between 8-9 p.m. at the very latest. We did let them cry it out in the beginning and each day it was less and less time they cried. And truthfully, it was more fussiness than out and out crying. Another thing was, we read a book about getting into a routine and followed it as closely as possibly. The book suggested that after each meal time, make sure to keep the child occupied or playing for at least 1-2 hours after mealtime. That way they were really "tired" from playing and ready to go down for a nap. I completely understand your plight as it was nice to have those long stretches of naptime to myself. It was like a lit bit of me time in each day. Good luck to you!
I used the idea's in a book called Baby Wisperer. I helped with naps and other things too
Misty,
Do not let her go back to sleep once she's had her bottle with daddy. The both of you need to get up and be active so that she can "work" off her energy that she's built up from her sleep during the nite. Also, she may not need a morning nap any longer but should do fine with a two hour afternoon nap starting at about 1 and lasting until at least 3p.m. If you put her down again after sleeping another two hours with you she's just not sleepy enough even though she's fussy. She may need other stimulus to keep her happy until she's had lunch and or another bottle. Since you are a stay-at-home mom most of the week with her this routine should work for you. Yes it's hard to stay up at 6 or 7 am but it's something that you may need to do. You can always nap with her in the afternoon if necessary.
You don't say if you play with her or give her toys to play with while you are doing housework or whatever. Six month old babies are ready for more activities other than sleeping and eating. Perhaps you take her out to the park or go for walks so that the fresh air tires her out also. Yes it does work to an extent. She is not just sitting around or whatever stage of mobility that she is in all the time. This should make your day and her routine more compatible. Good Luck!!
Hi Misty,
My son was a catnapper too. Until he was about 9 mos old, he actually took 3 naps a day. The first around 10:00, the second around 1:00, and the third around 3:30 or so. Because he catnapped (slept for about 45 min each time), he needed that extra nap. As he got a little older, the three naps went to two (and the naps got longer) and so on... We also put him to bed at around 7:30 and he usually slept until 7:00 a.m the next morning. I don't know if you may want to consider an earlier bedtime also, as nighttime sleep generally affects daytime sleep. It all made perfect sense to me after reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. This book is great at explaining sleep cycles in babies. Good luck...
I went through this same thing with my daughter, she would sleep around 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours a day (and not in one stretch), but she probaby needed more like 3 hours of naps. When she started crawling, she starting going to bed earlier at night (like 6pm rather than 8 pm) and still sleeping till the same times in the morning (between 7am and 8am), and she will sleep around 3-4 hours during the day. A friend of mine is having the same issues with her son , and the pediatrician says not to worry, when they start crawling, they will tire themselves out and get more rest. I would suggest helping her to tire herself out by putting her in an exersaucer, putting toys far away and letting her roll or scoot to it. But if she still doesn't sleep as much as you think she needs to, don't worry, it will come. You could also try establishing a nap routine if you don't have one.
Get the book The No Cry Sleep Solution... there's no crying it out methods... but it really is worthwhile to read, and it's a fairly quick read too.
Helped us!
Good luck!
I have actually wrote in about the same thing. (6 month old with out manual) We are still back and forth. She is sleeping good again at night and I would say just be happy with the evening working out. Our daughter is currently fighting a nap now and my husband is trying his best to get her down, so who knows? :)
My advice though is to look over the other postings on this site in just the sleep section. I found tons of submissions with responses on this same issue. Then if you identify with a particular mom, you could send them a special message.
Good luck. ;)
Hi Misty,
There is this great book out there called Babywise. Basically the principle is this: they eat, then they play/have awake time, then they nap. Only at night bedtime do you skip the awake time. Once I started this strategy my 2 month old started sleeping through the night and taking regular 2 hour naps during the day. I don't know if this book would be helpful to you or not, but it was suggested to me and was a God send. Good Luck!
From experience with one GREAT sleeper and two horrible ones, I can give you one suggestion - back up her naptimes. With a good sleeper, cues are a great indication of naptime, and they will welcome the nap. With a difficult sleeper, though, bu the time they are fussy and rubbing their eyes it's too late and they really fight sleep. Watch for earlier cues. These could include a shorter attention span - I know this can be tough in a child that young, but it's a cue - resistance to things she typically likes (not yet fussy, though), or simply a slow-down in activity. If you know that she is sleepy around three hours after she's gotten up, try putting her down about fifteen minutes before that. Also, try putting her down after she's calm but before she's asleep. Finally, and this is the hardest, let her cry. Once you put her down, try for at least three or four days letting her fuss for a while (30-40 minutes, possibly) to see if she'll learn to calm herself down. That's SOOOO tough - believe me, I've been there! But, it is worth it that first day that she actually calms herself down with little or no crying!
she may be ready to wean off of her morning nap, the problem is that she needs to go to bed way earlier. she is over tired and cant get out of the morning nap because she is not getting a good sleep at night. she should be in bed by 8 at the latest.
Misty,
My daughter was the same way I got to where I didnt try to make her take a nap. I would wait for her to fall asleep on her own when playing. I would leave her where she was and just make sure that she was safe and place a small blanket over her. When she got older she would then go down for naps when I put her there cause she got used to sleeping. I hope that this helps.
All of the things I read say that when this happens to do an abbreviated routine like you do at night. For example, short bath, bottle, and rock. Another thing is if you are trying to put her in her crib maybe she needs to be swaddled. I told this to another mom. My son always fell into a deep sleep in his carseat so for a couple of months he actually slept, even at night in his carseat. Good luck and know this phase will pass.
