tantrums at naptime

[new momma]

hi all,

I have a 6 mo old who has always had trouble with settling for naps.  Recently it's gotten worse, particularly for his afternoon nap.  I start his wind down and quiet time, which he does fine with.  But then as soon as the light dim and I hold him like I always do before naps, he starts crying and throwing his head back, pushing away from me.  Throwing his head back and arching his back make it difficult to hold him and calm him...I cannot get him calm.  I usually give up and put him down in his crib which makes him cry even harder.  No matter what I do (patting, rubbing his back, etc) he just screams and kicks.  Today I gave up and just got him out of his crib.  He is playing now, but pretty crabby and fussy.  How do I deal with the arching back, fighting sleep thing?

Thanks for any thoughts!

Lisa

[brenda2]

hi
what is his routine like?  how long is his A time?  this happens with my LO too when she isn't ready for sleep yet and needs slightly longer A time before nap.  what happens when you take him out and let him have a bit longer A time?  will he go down after this easily for his nap when he's ready or does he fight all naps no matter what?

[new momma]

hi brenda2,

Most of the time he fights naps...no matter what.  Yesterday I did take him out of his crib and let him crawl around for about 10 min, then I put him back to bed.  He cried for 4 minutes, then was asleep.  I do think that sometimes he's not quite ready for a nap, but other times he seems OT so I can't seem to get the timing right.  He has been having about 2 hours of A time, but lately can go a bit longer 2 hr 15 min to 2 hr 30 min.

Here's his schedule:

Awake 6:45/7am
E 7-7:15
A 7:15-9
S 9-10:15/10:30

E 10:45/11
A until 12:30/1
S 1-2:15

E 2:30/2:45
A until 4:30
S maybe a catnap, 30-40min but last week he had two days in a row when he skipped this...is this too soon to cut the late afternoon catnap and go to just 2 naps a day?

E 5:30
A until 7, jammies
E 7-7:30
S bedtime 7:30

[brenda2]

i think he's ready for slightly longer A times.  usually at 6 mo A time (if taking long naps which he is) is about 2 hours 20 to 2.5 hours.  try extending his A time by 10 or 15 min and see if this helps.  you can also shorten the catnap to 20 min before you get rid of it altogether if this is easier for him to transition.  it's not too early to start the switch, usually it's about 7 to 8 mo where Los drop it but there can be a period before this where they may or may not have the catnap every day or the catnap is really short.