Hi Ladies,
The last couples of weeks my five month old baby boy will only take 30 minute naps. He used to take a short nap in the morning then a longer one in the afternoon but now only sleeps about 30-40 minutes. I am willing to do the crying out approach and thinks that my traveling (he sleeps in the car a lot) may be causing this. I need advice. What did you do to make your child sleep longer.
Thanks,
M.
I agree it is probably teething and crying it out is not the answer. Is your traveling work related? Do you have to be in the car during his naps? If not, then be at home during that time and it may help him sleep better.
Bless your heart. My son did the same thing. Ear infection and teething are common thoughts. My son had acid reflux and was a picky sleeper. If he is fussy during the day too I would take him to the dr for ears to be checked.
Hi, My 4 month old does the same thing. I just had a Dr appt actually and we talked a lot about this. They did tell me that just like the night time, babies need to be "sleep trained" for naps too. I just got "the sleepeasy solution" book from the library and I am finding it to be super helpful. You can take bits and pieces from it. Even though I have been battling this catnap phase for a while, I am still very strict on routine (even at nap time) and self soothing. Two of the most important things, I found. I have also learned to somewhat accept that my son just naps like this sometimes and this helps me deal with it. Kind of saying "ok, this is how he is sleeping now, fine". I know that doesn't seem so easy, but it does help me. Get the book if you can and see the tips they offer. Good Luck!! I know how frustrating this can be. I have loads of things to do and they rarely get done.
I think you might have a little guy with an ear infection. Either that or he is teething. No matter what the problem, responding to his cries is the healthiest way to deal with this....it is good for him to learn that he will get comforted (i.e., held and nursed) when he cries.
I had that problem with my daughter. I realized that I was going in to pick her up as soon as she woke up...about 40 minutes in. I started laying her back down and checking on her every 5-10 minutes. She eventually started sleeping for longer periods...maybe an hour and a half.
Like someone else said, it's sleep training!
Poor you, I can understand how you feel. Because my daughter was so greedy, we would put cereal in her bottles during the day time as well as night and that made her sleep all night. So if you want him to sleep longer, he may need a little baby cereal. It's possible he's not full and that could be keeping him awake. Good luck to you.
