My 3 mos baby barely sleeps during the day and if he does nap it's only for 30 minutes for a grand total of 2 hrs at most. Any advice on how to extend his naps. He's a great night sleeper but bad during the day,
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I'm not good with this, LO didn't nap well until 8 months. Do you swaddle? Do you have a nap time routine?
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Swing? We have a baby that refuses to nap as well.
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thanks, ladies. yep, we swaddle because he is always punching himself with his arms. we have a swing but he really doesn't like it.
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Until LO was 3.5 months old, I just did whatever I could to have her sleep - car rides, nursing, rocking, etc. But when she was 3.5 months, we sleep trained AND nap-trained at the same time...She eventually learned to fall asleep in her crib by herself.
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@Rubies: I might need some of your nap training tips!
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We've been dealing with cat naps for weeks now and DS is 11.5 weeks! He started with 30 minute naps and he is now doing 45 minute naps. We may get a nap over an hour once a day but it's hit or miss. I've done a ton of googling on this and it's very common!
Right now we're working on putting DS in his crib for all naps drowsy but awake in the hopes that if he learns to put himself to sleep he can move through sleep cycles on his own. We also try to extend his short naps by shushing and patting him or using a heavy hand on his chest. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. We also made a 1 hour rule where regardless of the nap length DS stays in his crib for one hour. We will check/console him if he is crying hard.
Apparently naps take awhile to consolidate (@ 5-6 months?) so we just have to wait it out...
Oh, and even in the car, swing or carrier/wrap he wakes up at the 45 minute mark!
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@Boogs: Absolutely - Umm, it's very pro-CIO, though.
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@Rubies: Ha, I'm okay with that. It's how we eventually had to sleep train at night and after a couple of rough days all is well now.
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@Boogs: Oh! Nap-training is just like that...But a little worse. When I nap-trained there were no progressive checks. On the first day of nap-training, my LO cried for an hour straight before I rescued her (1 hour was the max). Do you have or have you read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child"?
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Like @Rubies I am pro CIO maybe bc LO never really cried very long...but even 5 minutes can feel like torture...for me it was worth it bc she would cry for a few minutes and then be asleep for hours.
My LO went through the short nap stage around 3-4 months...not every nap but some were pretty short and I usually left her in her crib...and 90% of the time she would fall asleep for another hour or so...it's hard just leaving them alone but she would play and talk and babble for 20 minutes and then go back to sleep. Now she is 6 months and naps are usually 2 hours
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Ours is 3.5 months and we try to get her to nap by herself a couple times a day as practice, but make sure to hold her for at least one long nap a day so that she doesn't get overtired as that just kills her nightime sleep.
She's been sleeping like crap for a week and I was going insane when my husband asked me if she was going through a developmental jump. She totally is, and if you look up Wonder Weeks and find the chart you could check if yours is too. Some kids sleep just fall apart during wonder weeks and while it's stressful, it also resolves itself.
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@Rubies: No I've never read that book. I decided to jump in head first and it's paying off already! The first day he cried for 30 minutes and slept and hour. Yesterday he cried for only about 10 minutes and slept for 2 hours! I can get so used to this.
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We have the same problem with naps. DD's naps are totally unreliable and are usually quite short. She never seems to nap at the same times of the day either, so I see no signs of getting her on a nap schedule any time soon If you find a solution that works, please share it!
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i would encourage you to check out the guides under here:
http://www.hellobee.com/hellobee-guides/sleep-guides/
specifically 23 ways to help your baby sleep better. there are lots of things you can try to improve sleep. i think early bedtime, strong nap routine, white noise, and early bedtime are the big ones.
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