okay means of extending naps?

[MrsKiwi]

My 6 month-old son used to be a champion cat-napper.  Back in February I took two weeks and charted his naps--they were all over the place.  Sometimes he'd do 2 hours, other times only half an hour.  One day he might get in two good naps and a catnap, other days it was 6 or 7 little naps all through the day.  I tried everything I could think of to extend his naps, with no luck. 

For the past two months, he's also gone from sleeping 8 or 9 hours at night to waking up 3-5 times every stinkin' night.  sigh.  But anyway--naps.

So for the last month, before I picked up BW, I discovered that I can get DS to take consistent, 2-hour naps at the same time every day by letting him nap on our bed.  If/when he wakes after 30-45 minutes, I snuggle next to him and give him his pacifier back.  (He doesn't wake when it falls out, but it helps him go back to sleep during naps.)  At night he still sleeps in his crib, but napping on our bed seems to work for him for now.  Only trouble is, at 6 months he's bound to start the whole rolling thing soon, and I'd much rather he nap in his crib.

This past week, I've been working on transitioning him back to his crib.  Same thing happens though--he wakes up after 30-45 minutes maybe 50-75% of the time.  I've tried tweaking awake times either plus or minus; doesn't seem to make a difference.  When he wakes up in his crib, nothing I do gets him back to sleep other than picking him up and letting him finish his nap on our bed.  (I've tried nudging him out of a deep sleep just before the half hour mark--didn't do a thing.) 

So my question is... am I creating a bad habit by letting him finish his nap on our bed?  Or is it more important for him to get enough daytime rest and just go about it however I can get him to sleep?

[~Alexa~]

Hi there!!
Well, it is not ideal to have your lo nap on your bed!! I would try to transition him to his crib.  Have you tried re-plugging his paci when he transitions to the next sleep cycle? around 30-40 min mark?

If you want, you can post your routine so we can take a look and help you out in case it needs any tweaking.

xxx
Alexa

[MrsKiwi]

Just had our worst-night-ever.  I am so frustrated I don't know what to do with this boy.  We put him to bed at 7:50, and he was up at 11, 1, 3:15, and 5:30.  Except at 5:30 he didn't go back to sleep, so by 6:30 I was a sobbing mess out in the living room.  Arraaahh!  Anyway...

So thanks to last night's lovely mess, today's schedule is pretty off.  Here's what it usually looks like (or at least what I shoot for):

7:00/7:30 ish--wakes up
Nurse
Oatmeal and fruit around 8
Play time
9/9:30 (depending on when he woke up)--down for nap, usually naps 2 hours if he naps with me
11/11:30--awake
Nurse
Veggies around noon
Play time
1:30-3:30--nap
Nurse
Play time
Possible catnap between 5 and 6
6:30 Dinner--veggies, rice cereal, maybe fruit as well mixed in the rice
7:00 Nurse
7:15 Bath, baby massage, jammies.
7:45--in bed drowsy but awake--sometimes takes his pacifier, other times falls asleep without needing it.

I do try to give him his pacifier when he wakes early from his naps, but he still won't go back to sleep.  Yesterday he went down for both his morning and afternoon nap in his crib... slept an hour in the morning in his crib, then an hour and a half after that in our bed.  Afternoon nap was 1 hr. 15 minutes in his crib, so I let him go at that.  Tried to put him down at 5:30 for his catnap, and spent an hour fighting with him trying to get him to sleep.  Gave up in frustration... but then he went to bed at 7:50 last night without his pacifier and without so much as a whimper when I laid him down.  I can't understand this child...

Any wisdom would be so much appreciated--I'm losing my mind here!

[Mashi]

My son was similar and took his naps on our bed, with me, until he was about 6.5 months old.  I started worrying about the rolling as well, and his crib made him scream.  What I did was take his crib away and just put his mattress on the floor.  Put a row of pillows beside it (for me to lie on) and did his naps on the mattress on the floor. (Actually his nights as well). Instead of taking him to MY bed then, I went to HIM on his bed.  He got used to staying there, naps and night, and then one day just put the mattress back in the crib - in the same spot where the mattress was, so the scenery was no different for him. He didn't notice and has been in his crib ever since!

[~Alexa~]

Hi there!! I think Mash just gave you a great idea!! May be you can try that.  It is better to go to your lo than to bring him to your bed.

About the NWs...did your lo wake up crying or chatting and cooing? Did you feed him? There is a major growth spurt at around 6 mo, so may be your lo was hungry. ? 

Your lo's As seem to be a bit short.  So may be if you add some time to those As your lo will be able to transition through sleep cycles by himself.  Also, the first two As are 2 hrs long, but the last A is 4 hrs long (if you don't have a catnap).  4 hrs is too much for a 6 mo.    At 6.5 mo, bubs are able to handle from 2.75 - 3 hrs A, so I think you should add 10-15 min to your lo's As every 3 days.  Does this make sense? If we increase your lo's first As, then he won't need a catnap anymore and he'll have 2 nice naps during the day.  While bubs drop the catnap, they may experience Nws or EWs, so I'm thinking your lo may be ready to drop it, and therefore, he needs more A so he sleeps better during the night.

xxx
Alexa

[MrsKiwi]

Thank you both--we'll give those ideas a try!