I need some help or reassurance, my son is going to be 5 months on Wednesday and is not a good napper. He is so inconsistent, I never know how long he's going to sleep. I have read Weisbluth's book and try to follow the wakefulness of 2 hours before first nap, as well as watch for the signs, starting to get uninterested in playing, etc. I have tried to establish, a routine of turning down the lights, maybe reading a book, turning on music, sometimes nursing, and then putting him in his crib. Sometimes he just talks to himself and squeals ( we leave him alone if he does that) and other times he just cries, we try to leave him for a while, but when it goes on and on, we go, try to comfort and then we'll put him back down and try again. sometimes it just doesn't work and he won't sleep. When he does nap, it's usually for 45min-1 hour. ( rarely, we've gotten 1.5-3). For the most part , he's a happy smiley baby. He just doesn't like to sleep during the day. He is a great nighttime sleeper, he goes down generally between 6-7 and will have usually 1 feeding ( and goes back to sleep right away) and get up somewhere between 6-7am. So I am wondering if he just doesn't need that much daytime sleep, or if there is anything else I can do. Also he is in daycare 4 days a week and his naps vary there as well. Thanks for any suggestions
Thanks everyone for the feedback and reassurance. I am going to try and relax about his napping, and just continue to set up the opportunity for him to nap and hopefully he'll get better at it. I am though so grateful that his nighttime sleep is good, so hopefully the naps will get there eventually.
I think he just does not need that much daytime sleep. Lucky you that he sleeps at night. I am still catching up and it is almost twenty five years later from the first child! Enjoy your baby and do not worry about it. Time goes too fast.
I would have to either leave the room or would lay down with my son and hold him tight until he gave up and ended up falling asleep. Once he knew I wasn't giving in, he gave up and just passed out. You just have to make sure he takes a nap everyday at the same time and he'll get used to it.
I think the nap times expand as the baby grows older and as they take less naps. When my daughter was a young infant and napped 3-4 times a day, her naps lasted 40 min. each. When she napped twice a day, her naps were 1-1.5 hours. Now that she naps once a day, her naps are 2-2.5 hours.
A friend and I both followed the Weissbluth method but for her daughter, she never fit the routine exactly. Her baby always slept after eating, rather than had the wakeful period.
I also have a short napper. I really wish weisbluth had dedicated a bit more in his book to short nappers. He mentions it briefly and pretty much says most kids grow out of it around 1 year old but never offers any help for kids that dont grow out of it. My son is 16 months old and still only naps for 45 min-1 hour twice a day. I think that at long as he is pretty happy and seems rested you are ok. And keep in mind as someone else said, the only thing you can do is to consistenly offer him the chance to nap, beyond that it is up to him. I was so frustrated for so long because all of my friends kids and all these books were saying that my baby should be taking 2 hour naps and he just wouldnt. We just make do with it. I think at 5 months he should be taking 2-3 naps a day and according to weisbluth by 9 months he should be down to 2. I am having a hard time getting down to one nap because my son will only sleep for 45-60 min even when we switched to one nap for 2 whole weeks. I figured he would get used to just one and make it a longer one but no such luck. so we just go with 2 short ones. your son may grow out of it eventually, he is still young, but if not just remember that you can only do what works for you and him.
Congratulations on your happy, smiley baby boy! My 13 month son inherited the sleep avoidance gene too. He napped well at daycare, but not so much at home until he was 8 or 9 months and then the length of the nap would vary. Then we realized that he needs something rhythmic to do with his hands as he's falling asleep (I noticed he would often take his spare pacifier and make the handle click back and forth). I bought him a small, handheld, wooden toy with moving parts (two interlocking triangles by Haba, $12 at Gepettos Toy Box in Oak Park) and gave that to him instead of the spare pacifier. He now falls asleep much more peacefully, and I enjoy hearing the soft wooden click-click through the monitor as he drifts off to sleep. I'm hopeful that an added bonus will be that, when the time is right, he will more easily transition off his pacifier altogether.
I went through many months of nap frustration (on my part) with my daughter, who is now 21 months. Your situation sounds very familiar. She was a good sleeper at night after we sleep-trained her at 6 months, but was never a good napper during the day. She was tired, but just refused to sleep.
My best advice is to continue to read and follow the advice in the Weissbluth book and be as consistent as you can with your routine and schedule. At this age, I think he should be taking two 1-hour naps with a short evening nap too. With enough time and consistency, he may turn out to be a good nap taker.
My daughter eventually did learn how to nap, but it took quite a while. She was 17 months when it finally happened regularly. I caused myself a lot of stress and worry trying to get it right, but I realized that I couldn't make her nap, I could only set up the right situation for her. When she didn't nap, she still had an hour in her crib to take a break. She would play and talk (and sometimes cry), and even though she didn't sleep on many occasions, having the break in the day still seemed to help some.
Stick with it. It sounds like you're doing a good job. Hopefully your son will come around to taking his naps soon, but if he doesn't, try not to stress out too much about it. He's still getting good sleep at night and it could be he doesn't need as much during the day. Use the naptime to take some time for yourself, whether or not he sleeps. You deserve the break too! (Note: I have to remind myself of this sometimes too, still!)
Best of luck to you. Keep smiling and enjoy your happy baby!
My 5-month-old naps a few times a day, usually not much longer than 1 hour. We have no schedule and he falls asleep when he's tired, usually in his swing (or in the car seat if we're traveling).
At night he falls asleep around 10pm and is up by about 7am. He eats about 3 times a night.
It sounds like you might have the better deal, with him sleeping well at night with only one feeding.
