Naptime is going to be the end of me!

Naptime is a struggle. Period.

Morning naps are not so bad...but don't lost long (usually 45mins...an hour on a good day...even for my once excellent morning napper (was napping 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours in the morning).

Now, my "poor napper" is making afternoon naps even more of a struggle for me. I have resorted to CIO, it's the only way to get her to sleep...but she's now sleeping for 10-20 minutes, then crying for 5 minutes or so, then back to sleep for a few, then crying for a few more minutes...and the saga goes on and on until she reaches a crying vertex I can no longer stand. Depending on how long it takes her to fall asleep, this on again off again sleep pattern can last up to two hours or more. What the heck is going on with her??

How much sleep should I expect my 5-month-olds to need in a 24 hour period? The once called "good napper" is now sleeping 12 - 12 1/2 hours at night, so how much napping should I expect out of her? She's cut her naps back, but still takes three shorter ones a day. The "not-so-good-napper" takes 2-3 short naps, and gets up 1-3 times at night. When might they be ready for a 2-3-4 schedule? They're definitely ready for their first nap of the day 1 1/2 hours after getting up, but the other naps are less predictable, and because they're not napping long, they may have three naps in before 4pm...and bedtime begins with the last feeding of the day at 7pm.

Please help!!

Thanks,
Adrianna

 

At 5 months, mine were sleeping about 11 hours at night and napping twice for 2 hours and I think still a third time for like 30 minutes (that was right when they started phasing that third nap out), and I still had to put them down within 2 hours of waking up. As long as I hit that window, we were usually ok. Does she act differently any other time or just at nap time? Could she be hungry or teething? When mine wouldn't go down well, it usually meant we had hit a growth spurt and they just needed to nurse more. A couple of other times it was teething - after not understanding why they were so fussy at nap time, I looked in their little mouths and saw the swollen bumps with white coming through. That can last a few days (or weeks with my DS) and really mess things up for a bit, but for us, things always went back to normal. I never did CIO so I can't help you with that, but maybe you can see about the other ideas? Maybe you can try an extra bottle or nursing session (not sure which you do) and check for signs of teething (drooling, swollen gums, etc.) and give baby tylenol or something if your pedi oks it?

 

QUOTE(mamabee718 @ Jun 3 2009, 07:53 PM) [snapback]1340014[/snapback]
At 5 months, mine were sleeping about 11 hours at night and napping twice for 2 hours and I think still a third time for like 30 minutes (that was right when they started phasing that third nap out), and I still had to put them down within 2 hours of waking up. As long as I hit that window, we were usually ok. Does she act differently any other time or just at nap time? Could she be hungry or teething? When mine wouldn't go down well, it usually meant we had hit a growth spurt and they just needed to nurse more. A couple of other times it was teething - after not understanding why they were so fussy at nap time, I looked in their little mouths and saw the swollen bumps with white coming through. That can last a few days (or weeks with my DS) and really mess things up for a bit, but for us, things always went back to normal. I never did CIO so I can't help you with that, but maybe you can see about the other ideas? Maybe you can try an extra bottle or nursing session (not sure which you do) and check for signs of teething (drooling, swollen gums, etc.) and give baby tylenol or something if your pedi oks it?


Thanks for the input!

Ha, mine are not getting 4 hours of sleep during the day, especially not in two nice 2 hour naps! We're still not on a concrete routine either, mostly because her nighttime behavior is unpredictable, and I have a 4-year-old's schedule I am trying to juggle. I have tried extra nursing sessions just before putting her down, she might go down easier then, but it does change the rest of the nap saga. The weirdest thing is that she goes down for her morning nap "relatively" easy, but it only lasts 30-60 minutes (but is still her best nap of the day)....but she stays asleep and doesn't have this weird behavior.

I have actually called our county Early Intervention program to request an OT evaluation. The sleep thing, along with some other issues, makes me wonder if we're dealing with some sensory issues!?! I just don't understand why she's asleep then awake, then asleep and awake again, over and over again.

Maybe I just suck at naps. Even my good napper is taking shorter naps a lot of the time. Once they're awake, even if I think the nap was too short, I can't seem to get them back to sleep.

 

Sorry, I don't really have any advice. My twins are 5 months old also and I am having the same problem. DS takes 1-2 naps a day that last anywhere from 5-45 minutes. DD takes 1-3 naps per day, sometimes as long as 3-4 hours. DS usually wakes up as soon as I put him down. If I put him down awake, he cries. Like your twins, their first nap time is predictable, but the rest of the day is sporadic. I haven't tried CIO yet. I'd really like to have some sort of routine. Have you read HSHHC? I haven't because I'm waiting for the twin book to come out. Not sure if I should read HSHHC also.

 

My twins just started sleeping for 4-5 hours at a time during the night, but the naps during the day virtually don't exsist. Yesterday, they slept a collective 1.5 hours. 20 mins here 20 mins there. When they are awake they are happy and content, until they get closer to eating again or need a diaper change. I have them lay on the floor with toys above to get some exercise and they seem content with that. They do take the morning nap (between 5am and 8am), which allows me to take a shower and workout. I haven't bothered to conqure the nap issue because I would rather have the long sleep time at night when I need to sleep than during the day. My husband and I rarely napped as babies/toddlers, so I suspect the twins are the same.

Oh, my twins are eight week old faternal girls.

Carly

 

:hug: This is a difficult time for sleep with babies. I know I experienced some with mine around then. Around 7 - 7.5 months mine were going through a weird napping phase - which was also when I heard about the 2/3/4 hr schedule. They actually did it on their own, I just hadn't recognized it yet.. but since we've been all on the same page we've done quite well ^_^ Good luck and hang in there, mama. It will get better

 

QUOTE(AmberG @ Jun 4 2009, 08:54 AM) [snapback]1340843[/snapback]
Sorry, I don't really have any advice. My twins are 5 months old also and I am having the same problem. DS takes 1-2 naps a day that last anywhere from 5-45 minutes. DD takes 1-3 naps per day, sometimes as long as 3-4 hours. DS usually wakes up as soon as I put him down. If I put him down awake, he cries. Like your twins, their first nap time is predictable, but the rest of the day is sporadic. I haven't tried CIO yet. I'd really like to have some sort of routine. Have you read HSHHC? I haven't because I'm waiting for the twin book to come out. Not sure if I should read HSHHC also.


I've seen the letters HSHHC before but don't know what they stand for. Could someone please share?
Thanks!

 

It's a book called, "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child." It's written by Dr. Marc Weisbluth.

For all of you having problems with napping -- hang in there. It's hard and it sucks to try to figure it out. I stressed WAY TOO MUCH about naps and I shouldn't have. I needed to realize that they would fall into place as the babies mature. And they have...mine are 10 months old and ever since they hit around 8 months they've been good nappers. DS was always a good napper, DD was not. I think primarily because she was more active and didn't need as much sleep as DS, but I tried to get her to nap so that I could have a mometn to myself...I came to the conclusion that they are different people and have different needs...and I'm not stressed anymore at all!!!!!! And ever since that day things fell into place much better

Looking back at those early days I wish I wouldn't have stressed. I used a swing for naps until they were 6 1/2 - 7 months old (they would nap longer in the swing), and we haven't used them since. They transitioned over to their crib easy, and they LOVE their crib now.

Hang in their momma, naps will get better. I promise. BTW - at this age mine were on 4 short naps a day, AND then they went to 3 naps a day and they just transitioned to 2 naps a day when they were about 9 months old.