Nap help needed

I am at my wits end with naps I am putting Elizabeth down every 2 hours and she will only nap for 20-30 minutes at a time. So she's still taking 4 naps a day at 6 months. I nurse her to sleep, which I didn't do with my twins. I guess I should stop doing that and just put her in the crib and let her (cry) and fall asleep. I try to leave her in there for atleast 45 min. per HSHHC, but by 45 minutes she's usually pretty mad. Any thoughts??? Part of the problem of course is my loud 3 year olds. I have a white noise machine and a humidifier in the room, so I'm drowning out the noise the best I can!

 

Have you tried stretching her awake time to 2 1/2 - 3 hours. That way she may be more tired at nap time. I'm trying to think back but I have no clue what our naps were like at that stage.

 

I'm no help - I nurse my twins to sleep and the ONLY way they sleep for a nap is laying on me

 

I don't think nursing to sleep is the problem - even HSHHC says there's nothing wrong with it, & that it doesn't cause sleep problems.

Have you tried making her wake times shorter, like 1.5 hrs? Don't know what would happen, but might be worth a try.

FWIW, at 7 months, mine do 3-4 naps/day. They usually only nap 45 min at a time (better than 20-30, but still short, and NOTHING will make them nap longer once they wake up).

 

We were on 3 naps at 6 months Melissa. Around 9, 12, and a catnapper at 330. :hug99:

 

Can you soothe her back to sleep at all? I had to do this with Evan for a couple of weeks (sometimes it took 30 minutes to soothe him back to sleep - will be hard with a toddler around) but it did eventually work to extend his morning nap (now I generally don't have to go in and soothe). BTW: I didn't get down to 2-3 naps until about 7 months - I was also held hostage by the 4 nap days. James became a good napper once he started moving around more. He tired himself out. Good luck.

 

Same problem here Melissa. It's gotten a lot better the last few weeks and here's what I did. At first I kept thinking I was missing the window and putting her to bed too late, because she would fuss and fuss. Turns out it was the exact opposite. When I accidentally kept her up longer than I intended, she fell right asleep and stayed asleep. I know they say every 1.5-2 hours....but for my dd it's more like 2.5-3 hours. That way she'll sleep for much longer than if I were to put her down not so tired. Some days we still have 4 naps--all of which are way too short...but for the most part we're at 3 naps--all around an hour long. So it's not perfect, but it's definitely better. But even though I know it's super easy--I would maybe consider not nursing her to sleep. It sounds like she might be waking up kind of startled like, "whoa--last I remember I was nursing with mom....and now this?!" At least that's how I interpret my daughter's expression when she wakes up in her crib after nursing!! :lol:

Reyna

 

Same problem here. We are getting little 30 minute naps, and can't soothe back to sleep. I even let mine fuss a little too. Hope you can get some good suggestions. Good luck.

Missy

 

My DD is the same way. I always thought I was missing her window until I realized that she just needs more time awake. If I put her down too early she will just play in her crib and then fuss all the same. If she wakes up after anything under 45 minutes I let her work it out...she usually fusses then plays and then does a final fuss and out she is again, sometimes for an hour and a half longer! The first time I did this it almost broke my heart and I was so worried she would be mad at me but she woke up with a HUGE smile on her face and actually got the rest that she needed.
FWIW I hate those four nap days as well and I honestly think that I run my whole day with the goal of only having to do 3 naps in mind. The last one is such a pain in the tush - with DD it is like 20 minutes of fussing for a 30 minute nap, not worth it for mama!

Amy

 

Thanks girls, she is up there now fussing after only sleeping for 30 minutes or so. I'm going to let her fuss for a while and hope she goes back to sleep. I thought of the 2 hour thing being not enough time, but she gets cranky right around 2 hours. I guess I just have to stick this out and hope she lengthens them soon. It's hard being stuck in the house with all 3. I feel bad for C&A b/c they really want to get out and do stuff. I just have to keep telling myself that this won't last forever!

 

So glad to know I am not the only one! My girls fight sleep like little CHAMPS! Meredith's eyes will roll around in her head (she tries & tries to keep them open but they are SOOO heavy) for like 20 minutes before she will give it up ... then I will put her down and BAM she is awake again ... Hannah is the same ... I feel like all day long I rock babies. I have post-colic screamers and I don't have the heart (or rather I have too much heart) to let them cry themselves to sleep ... I tried it the other day and they cried so hard than H threw up and M was heaving sobs and choking herself and I was red and sweaty and shaking and couldn't stand it anymore and went and got them up. I don't understand how having them scream for their whole nap is supposed to help the situation?! The only, ONLY thing that somewhat works for me is to put one in the side-to-side cradle swing while I rock the other ... once rocked is asleep, I put her down and pick up swinging (unless she fell asleep which happens often) ... if swinging fell asleep I leave her there (I may turn off the swing as in HSHHC, but I may leave it on ... depending on which baby is in the swing). Usually I will get 30-45 mins. out of them ... but then they are smiling and cooing and thinking that they "napped" and now want to play. Then in 20 mins. they are fussy again ... here it goes again ... ARGH!

 

Traci, don't feel bad - my babies don't respond well to CIO either. I did try it with James at bedtime for several nights but it was torture. I've tried letting them both cry after waking early from a nap but I swear they just continue to cry and never, ever fall back asleep. They just get more and more hysterical. I know that CIO works beautifully for many moms/babies but I don't think we fall into that category. Evan, luckily, has become a wonderful night sleeper and we're still working on James!