Nap Advice for My 7-Month-old

K., I have 4 boys and they were all different. My 1st one was so used to being nursed to sleep, that he couldn't fall a sleep on his own, which is what I contributed to his lack of taking good naps. When he would wake just a little, he didn't have me to help him go back to sleep, so he would cry and wake up. I did used the Richard Ferber, Solving Your Childs Sleep Problems method. It was hard, me an my husband would sit on the couch with a timer comforting each other (funny huh?). But after 3 nights, we would leave him in his crib awake and he would smile as we left the room. He slept through the night and took longer naps. It was hard to let him cry, but it was so worth it in the long run.

R. M.

Hello. we had the same prooblem with our daughter until she was about 13-14 months. we just laid her down and she would sleep for 20 minutes, and one day she just started sleeping for 1-2 hour stretches. we put her down around the same time everyday and then it was like we just turned a corner and she has been sleeping like that ever since(she is now 16 months). as she got more active and started running and climbing, i think it finally took a toll on her body.

Hello K.,

How many hours does your baby sleep during the night? If more than 12 hours, then he simply might not need his sleep during the day. If he shows signs of rubbing his eyes, pulling his ears or looks tired then he definitelly is ready for some quiet/relaxing time. Infant slee behavior is quite variable due to individual differences in children. He also might be crying when you leave him behind in his crib simply going through the "seperation exiety" phase, this will go away around 12th month.

Both of my kids were like this. Its just that they are so active and do not want to miss anything. My son grew out of it on his own. My 2 yr old is a little better at naps sometimes but she still fights most times. For naps I have to rock her to get her to sleep. Although when I put her down 20 to 30 min. later she wakes up. I just do what I can and hope she grows out of it. I can't complain to much either because both my kids go to sleep for the night at 8 PM. My son sleeps all night my daughter sleeps till 1 AM then wakes up for her Binky.