Napping - Sacramento, CA

Hi K.,
Congratulations on having your son! Is it possible he is about to hit a developmental milestone such as sitting up on his own? Whenever our son was close to a milestone (rolling over, sitting, standing, talking, walking) his sleep became disrupted for a week or two. We were told that what he was going through was not unusual (the sleep book we had mentioned that this happens as well). Another thing that happened to us when our son was 11 months is that he temporarily stopped napping. We called a sleep expert (recommended by a friend and our pediatrician's office) who immediately knew what we were doing wrong. We were over-soothing him. For naps she said no rocking, no singing -- just darken the room by pulling the shades shut, get his favorite stuffy, read him one book, put him in his crib and let him know it's time to rest (but never say, "You need to sleep"), and tell him "I love you, and I'll be in the house the whole time you're resting. Her advice worked the first time we tried it. My last question is: are you getting him into his crib when he shows the very first signs of being sleepy? If not, his adrenaline might start kicking in to help him stay awake, which would make it very tough for him to sleep. You might want to get that Weisbluth (sp?) book someone else recommended. We found it very helpful as well. We only followed the recommendations we were comfortable with, but there were only a few we felt went over the top. Overall, he had some incredibly helpful info and advice. He is a doc who has worked in (run?) a pediatric sleep clinic in Chicago for many years.
Best,
K.

I had the exact same issue with my daughter at 5 months. A wonderful book was recommended to me (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - by Marc Weissbluth) The book is so well written and not at all judgemental (ie: doesn't force you to choose cry-it-out or not) It covers all ages and is broken down by months in the infant stage since sleep habits change a lot that first year. I have since referred the book to many friends who call their sleep bible. Anyway, I started out with the same problems you're describing. Following the book, I put my baby to sleep earlier for bedtime (5-5:30pm when she was 5 months)I also started her early morning nap no more than two hours after she woke up. (My daughter used to wake around 6:30am and would take a morning nap at 8:30am). One helpful hint (at your baby's age) is that he shouldn't be awake for more than about two hours before soothing him for a nap. I hope this helps a little! Just remember that when his naps are disrupted for a few days he'll quickly become overtired which actually makes it harder for him to fall asleep (and stay asleep). An earlier bedtime often resolves nap issues because the child gets more nightime sleep and is more rested, allowing them to more easily fall asleep and stay asleep for naps.

I used this book with my first child who is now 4-1/2, my second child who just turned 3, and my baby 16 months ~ after 4 years it is still right by my glider for quick reference when those sleep issues arise so that I can nip them in the bud!

Good Luck!!

Just wanted to say that my son was a 20 minute "power napper" until he cut down to 1 nap a day (at 7 months)... now he'll sleep between 1-3 hours. I know it's hard but be patient... longer naps will come.

My little girl is 6 months and naps have always been an issue. Sometimes she sleeps 3 times for 1.5 hours each, and sometimes I'm lucky if I get 2 half hour naps. Naps have truely been the bain of my existence! I feel your pain. I've decided to just try my best to get her to sleep and then get over it quickly if it doesn't work. Good Luck!

hey it could just be that hes not needing as much sleep during the day. have you tried shortening or eliminating the morning nap? i know it seems early, but with mine it's all that worked. good luck...you'll know what to do because mom knows best.

I went through the same thing, as well as times when my child had a good appetite and others where he didn't seem interested in eating at all. So you can imagine my concerns, however, when I talked to the pediatrician about the changes he explained that it's primarily due to growth spurts and physical changes which are occurring which alters what us parents think are "normal" and expect to happen such as the needed amount of sleep or length of sleep, amount of appetite, etc. At least in my situation, there were quite a few variances in behavior as my child developed, but nothing detrimental to his health!

Hi K. - our son use to take a 35 minute morning nap and a 35 minute afternoon nap. It didn't matter if we kept him awake longer it was still 35 minutes. He has now started sleeping longer and now might get an hour to 1.5 hours. I guess my point is that I don't think you can do much to change your baby's sleep needs. It is what it is. Also Charlie, now 11 months, still doesn't sleep through the night. Good luck. D.

Hi K.,

Congratulations on your baby! I went through the same thing. I have a 4 yo and a 2 yo. With my 2 yo, I read Dr Sears Nighttime Parenting where he goes into detail about sleep patterns. According to his book, babies have 45 minute sleep cycles, then they'll come out of deeper sleep. Sometimes they waken, and sometimes they go back to sleep. The trick is to anticipate this either by being close by, watching the clock, and/or listening intently to the monitor. Then it is possible to soothe the baby back to sleep before they slowly awake. I used to do this 2 X per nap with my son usually getting him to nap for 2 hr 15 min. I still use this technique with him, and at 25 mo, he's a great napper. I hope you are able to find something that works for you. Good luck.

C.

Hi K.!

My youngest child was like this, which was foreign to me because his older brother was a perfect infant napper! I think the thing that helped me the most is that I was the one who needed to "relax". Baby's figure out their own way, and it may not be anything we do/don't do to effect their sleeping.

I used to get frustrated, because I was like "yay! he's down for nap, finally I can get the dishes done, call someone on the phone, etc...". If he woke up earlier than usual...it threw ME off my routine.

Sometimes, my son just needed to be held a little bit more that day, or just wasn't as sleepy.

I think it's normal for an infant to do this change in sleep patterns. Some just do it earlier than others.

Be patient and try to adjust, and I bet it will be over before you know it!

Good luck!

:o) N.

Hi K. -
kids' nap routines change over time for various reasons (teething, growth spurts, and other developmental milestones can cause "blips" in the nap scheme that may or may not prove to be temporary)
I found the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth to be a helpful reference on the connection between sleep patterns and a child's developmental stages.
hope that helps! when my now-6YO twin girls were infants I wondered if they'd *ever* sleep through the night, and now some mornings I feel like I need a crowbar to pry them out of bed to get them to school on time!