only wants to crawl, not nap!

[Mrs.Nerd]

Hi, I am having trouble getting my 7 month old to nap, simply because I put him on his back and he just flips onto his front, gets onto all fours and tries to practise crawling. He ends up all over the place, and when I go up and put him onto his back again, he has rolled onto his front by the time I get downstairs! (I have a webcam in his room).

I don't follow a strict EASY routine, but did use shh/pat to get him to sleep when he was teeny as he wouldn't nap then. He usually goes to sleep entirely on his own. I thought it was because I was letting him stay up too late and he was getting OT, but this morning I put him down for a nap as soon as he was looking tired (he sucks his thumb and grabs anything soft), and he napped for 1hr (usually he only naps for 30mins). Before he discovered 'crawling', I could just put him down and he would nap (albeit for only 30mins).

Yesterday I resorted to putting him in his carseat to keep him still to get him to nap!

Has anyone got any tips? Or do I just have to ride this out until he has got crawling out of his system? I am also doing BLW if that makes any difference....

Thanks!

[Papaya]

Sorry this got missed 

Can you post your routine for us (in EAS format if possible)?  Has he just recently learnt to crawl?

[Mrs.Nerd]

hmmmm... as I say I don't do a strict EASY routine, but today was as follows:

A 6.50
E 7.30 (milk and breakfast)
S 10.05-10.40 (pram, out while watching olympic torch)
A 10.40
E midday (milk and lunch)
S 13.15-14.15 (went down pretty easily in travel cot in nanny's house, scratched side of cot for about 10-15mins before going to sleep, woke after 22 mins, cooed, went back to sleep for 30mins or so)
E 4.40 and 5.15 (milk first, then tea)
S 7.20 (late bedtime tonight as hubby was having problems lowering his cot, so bathtime was later, so on and so forth.....)

He isn't quite crawling yet: goes onto all 4s from tummy time, rocks, and scoots backwards. Recently started flopping forwards a bit too.

The problem was with his second nap of the day, and I think tbh I was putting him down too early, as I have been waiting for him to get sleepy/ratty, rather than looking tired (thumb sucking)

thanks ladies!

[Papaya]

Is the first nap typically that short, or was it just because you were out yesterday? And how does he usually wake from a short nap - happy, or still tired and grumpy? He must be getting OT by the end of the day with the short naps so I would try to bring bt quite a bit earlier if you can - it looks like the last A yesterday was five hours (!), I would have been inclined to have him down by 6.

At this age, the average awake time would be around 3hr -3hr15, after a good night or nap. If the first nap is short, I would shorten the next A time slightly

The crawling can mess everything up though (as will standing in the cot, walking, etc ) - lots of tummy time and crawling practice during awake time can help!

[Mrs.Nerd]

Hi, sorry I haven't replied. I went onto the activity time for babies and realised I was putting him down for naps too soon (after 2-2.5 hours, rather than 3). Since moving his A time to 3 hours, he is napping a lot better. In fact, on *most* days I can get a 1-2 hour nap out of him! This tends to be the morning, but will be in the afternoon if the morning one is cut short (he has this tickly cough). I am also getting out of the habit of putting him in his stand up actvity centre while I am doing housework in the morning, and instead put him on the floor so he is sitting or roling

I know his last A time of the day is way too much, but he seems to me to cope with it OK, he just gets very whiny when I get him out of the bath and before the last bottle. I can't really move BT to 6, as his tea is at 5, and as we are doing BLW, it can take him 45mins - 1 hr to eat!

Sorry if I seem ungracious posting on here and then making up my own mind about it all..... Hope that's OK xx

[Papaya]

Of course it's ok - you're the parent! Glad to hear you're getting longer naps now