5 Month Old Does Not Nap Well

I have a 5 month old little boy and he usually doesn't nap during the day either. The only way I can get him to sleep is to rock him for about 15-20 minutes and then I can put him down for about half an hour. I never let him fuss it out cause he doesn't sleep any longer that way & I'd rather rock him for 15 minutes than let him scream for that long. The only time he sleeps longer than that is when he over exerts himself playing. He loves his jumperoo and he plays til he passes out or I won't try to put him down for as many naps and he'll take fewer but longer ones. Then he'll sleep for a good hour or two. He just has to be worn out first. I wouldn't be concerned about the crying out. We cosleep with our son & he randomly cries out and throughs his arms and legs out real sudden and then passes back out. I've had a lot of experience caring for young children and I've seen it alot.

M., my infant did not nap well either until closer to 10-11 months when I finally dropped to one nap a day. I think it just gets better, but if you were like me and heard of all these other babies taking 1-2 hr naps, I know it is frusterating!

The night cry outs are normal if she is going right back to sleep without any help. This is something I would not fret at all about. If you felt like reading up, I can suggest a great book on sleep. It's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weisbluth. Great book and it got me through all the first year issues. I still refer to it from time to time as a refresher for my 16 month old. He sleeps 12 hrs a night and takes 2-3 hour naps now.

Hi M. -

I know somebody already recommended this book, but I had to add that I also really recommend Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. I have an almost two month old and a 19 month old and it really helped me when I was stressing out about both of their sleep habits. I seem to read bits and pieces of it everyday to reassure myself and answer questions that come up and I love it!

Good luck! C.

Not napping could actually be a sign of OVER-tiredness. A baby her age should go down for a morning nap about 2 hours after she wakes up in the morning. She should take a 1 to 2 hour nap. In the afternoon, she should take about a 2 hour nap that begins 2 or 3 hours after the end of her morning nap. Try keeping an eye on the clock so she's not up too long at one time. If you wait until she's fussy to try and put her down for a nap, you may be waiting too long. If rocking is part of your nap time routine, there's nothing wrong with that! Pretty soon you'll have to chase her down to get a good cuddle ;-) However, for improving sleep habits, you might want to shorten the time you rock so that she has the opportunity to fall asleep on her own in the crib.
As far as crying at night without waking up -- both of mine did that. It was always around 11pm and again around 3 am. It's just a time when their sleep is light. I think they both still do it at 19 mo and 3 yrs. I finally turned the baby monitor off for my son because it was waking us up.

Hi M.
Our 4 1/2 month old sleeps like a champ, at night, but her daytime nap is a diffrent story. I realized that she was not going to nap in her room. Now I let her take her daytime nap in the middle of our bed and she sleeps great!!! Its the only time she sleeps anywhere but her crib. Perhaps if put her in a different room she will nap.
Good luck
T.

I had the same problem with my daughter when I was trying to get her to learn how to go down for naps. It was AWFUL because she would scream for an hour sometimes (I still checked on her every 10-15 min) and then only sleep for 30 minutes. I was at my wits end because it totally didn't seem like it was worth it, but just when I was about to give up, she just got it one day and she has been an awesome sleeper since (she is now 10 months old). Now, she goes down with no fuss at all as long as she is tired. She has the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium and loves that. I also started giving her a small blankie at around 5 months when I put her down and this seemed to help also (her pedi said this was okay)`.

As for waking in the middle of the night...they go through stages. All babies go through periods of light and heavy sleep during the night, but sometimes, they will wake up and cry. Mine will do this every so often for about a week or so and then start sleeping through again. Maybe she's going through a growth spurt or something. The key is not to encourage it by going in there at the first peep. If she is putting herself back to sleep, then that's half the battle!

Hang in there. The nap thing was the hardest part of sleep training for us, but it eventually worked and I am so thankful that I stuck it out. Good luck!

M.,

Are you sure that we aren't sharing the same child???? I have 14 month old little boy and reading your post was like reading about my child. So, know that you are not alone. I went through the same thing and am still dealing with it. I spoke to my dr. about it and several others. Some babies are cat nappers and do ok with 30-45 mins naps. My son gave up the sleeping for two or three hours at a time when he was about four or five months old and went to the cat naps. I still rock him to sleep for his naps because your right they just get all worked up and still only sleep for a half hour. He's been this way for about nine months now and hes perfectly healthy and fine. It would be nice if he'd go down for a couple hours at a time for me but he just doesn't need it. He goes to bed at night around 7 and with out a problem. We have the occasional screaming in the middle of the night to and he to can put himself back to sleep it usually on lasts five minutes or so. I spent a good three months stressing and worrying about him not napping long and it did me no good. I felt much better after I did some research and talked to my dr. and found out that cat napping is common. I hope this helps.
Jame