5 month old sleep issues

My 5 month old DS has been having sleep issues for a few weeks now. He refuses to go down for naps; it will easily take up to 45 minutes to get him down by rocking, singing, bouncing, or wearing down in a sling. I've tried bouncy seats with the vibration, swings; you name it, I've tried it. But sometimes none of that works and I have to take him for a ride in the car. I can see that he is tired (he doesn't sleep well at night either) yawning and rubbing his eyes over an over, burying his head into my chest. But every position that I try he squirms out of. I've tried laying him down and letting him cry for a bit, always next to him, patting him every so often and telling him I was there. After 5-10 minutes he dropped off but then was up again 10 minutes later.

Now, I don't have a set schedule that I keep him on, because he sleeps so infrequently, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't start a routine for naps? He screams if I lay him in his crib though; he'll only nap on our bed. I've tried doing quiet activities 30 min or so before he goes down, then giving him his lovey (blanket/stuffed animal) and a pacey then rocking him. Obviously that's not working though. He goes down well at night with our bedtime routine (bath, bottle, bit of rocking, then bed.) And he'll sleep for 5-8 hours after that. Though some nights he's up every 30 minutes.

I just don't know what else to do. I'm getting so frustrated and my patience is wearing paper thin. It takes so long to get him down for a nap that eventually we work around until it's time for him to eat again, and then all that time we've spent rocking and shushing is down the drain to feed him. Then he gets more awake... it's a bad cycle.

Anyone have any advice? I'm going to call his Dr and see if this is something he needs to check out....
Thanks.

 

My girls were pretty much sleeping through and when they hit 5 mo. mark they started getting back up at night. what the @#$*! I was told it could be a number of things. growth spurts, teething etc. I've never had too much trouble with naps - but it sounds like you might need to implement a schedule for them and maybe a little CIO too. The more you rock, cajole, swing etc. him to sleep - the less he'll learn to do it on his own.Also it may help him get used to napping in his crib instead of your bed - which you will have to do soon when they start rolling. I've read that to put a baby down drowzy, but not asleep. this way he learns to get himself to sleep etc. I know it's hard to do CIO and I'm not the best at it by any means. (one of my girls is not sleeping through the night either) but I think your sanity may depend on it at this point. I know how it feels to try to get a baby to sleep - to have them finally drift off right about feeding time! that's when I wanted to stamp my feet like a toddler and curl up fetal position and suck my thumb!! Good Luck! :hug99:

 

The only thing that worked for me was to watch for those first signs of sleepy. Then I put both boys down in one crib (at night they sleep separately). I give their lovey and turn on their aquarium/musical thing. Jonas usually goes down without fuss. Lucas will fuss generally but no longer than say 5-10 min. When he fusses, I go in and pat his bottom, give him back his lovey (in case brother took it) etc but I don't pick up. Now they've gotten to where they pretty know that crib, lovely, and aquarium thingy are for sleepy time and I generally don't have problems. I was just consistent with what I did and did it over and over, for naps and bedtime. Of course, this whole consistency thing did not really fall into place until they were about 6 1/2 to 7 months old.

Up until they were about 5-6 months, it was not uncommon to find me in the car with the boys to get them to sleep.

 

Well, we just got back from the Dr and he has an ear infection. I have to say, I would not have thought of that, though once they started asking questions it made sense. He's been congested for a while and he's been pulling at his ear for a few days too. So we're going to be starting him on an antibiotic and he should be feeling better within 48 hours.

Hopefully, it's just this infection that is causing him such problems. But I think I will go ahead and work out a routine for nap time so he can start putting himself down.

What are some of your nap time routines and rituals?
Thanks!

 

QUOTE
What are some of your nap time routines and rituals?


Ours are pretty short and sweet... Change diapers, get into sleep sacks. Cuddle DD a minute, sing "Row row row your boat," put her down. Read a book to DS, cuddle, sing, down.

I hope your little guy starts sleeping better soon!

 

Sorry about the ear infection. That stinks. I hope he is feeling better quickly. Our nap ritual at that age was pull the blinds, swaddle, lullaby, hugs and kisses, and then down.

 

Mine are almost 5 months and I'm just figuring out this whole nap thing. I just go by the general rule that they need to nap after they are awake 1 1/2-2 hours, so they get 3 naps per day. During the day I usually put them in their swings to nap, mainly because DH works from home and their nursery is next to his office. They sleep in their cribs without a problem at night, or in their car seats if we're out so they don't "need" the swings to fall asleep. They nap in the morning, early afternoon and late afternoon I'll let them take a short one so they don't get overtired. I put them down when they start to rub their eyes...before any real fussiness sets in. For us, overtiredness is the enemy and makes them absolutely miserable, so I try to avoid it.