6 month old wakes up crying from naps

[mom2william]

I have a 6 month old who has always seemed to have daytime sleep issues.  I am at my wits end to try and get help!!  :oops:  He sleeps wonderfully at night- 11 hours usually.  However, the daytime is a totally different story.   He will sleep sometimes an hour in the AM but sometimes wakes up crying.  Sometimes he sleeps like an 1 hour/15 min. or so and wakes up happy.  If he wakes up crying or happy in the after the AM nap, when I get him, it seems like an hour or so later he's ready to sleep again!!  He just doesn't seem to be getting enough sleep in his first nap even though it is sometimes a little over an hour.  Then, I try and make it to the next nap but he is sometimes overtired and may sleep for an hour but will wake up SCREAMING!  I try to keep him awake for about 2 hours in the morning before his first nap but that doesn't seem to help make him sleep better.  I have briefly tried going in at the 30 minute mark (at PM nap) to see if I can help him through the transition but if he wakes up crying, I still can't calm him down.  Most every day, he is cranky and exhausted by 6:00pm.  We have had days (sometimes 4 in a row) where he sleeps good and wakes up happy.  But then he's right back to terrible naps!  I am not sure if I need to extend his awake times or what.  Also, I would like him to try and keep his naptimes similar from day to day but it is practically impossible with him being overtired.  I do put him down awake for naps and have a consistent wind down routine.  He can put himself to sleep it's just staying asleep.  So...I guess my questions are:
1.  How to get my son to get all the sleep he needs so he wakes up refreshed
2. How to get him on a "nap schedule"
3. Are these constant ups and downs with naps normal??

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!   

Suzanne
William born 3/23/05

[chell]

Hi Suzanne,  I'm not an expert, but I will try to help  you. It does sound as though your bub is overtired and needs to have longer naps. If they wake crying it is usually a sign that they haven't had enough sleep. There can be a lot of change at  6 months developmentally and this can affect sleeps and routines. Tracy says that at this age they should be getting 10- 12 hours at night plus 2 naps of about 2 hours. I'm not sure what personality your bub has, but I found that with mine (touchy/textbook) I had to extend his awake time very gradually and at that age 2 hours was too long for him.
Do you swaddle?
How many naps does he normally have and for how long?

Cheryl

[mom2william]

Cheryl,
Well, to fill you in on how much I know about Baby Whispering, I have skimmed thru Tracy's first book and have not read her second book.  However, after all the trials we've had, I am ready to look for help!  From the beginning I have done the EASY but have struggled with keeping him on it because of him waking up prematurely.  William is a very hard to read baby as far as knowing with his naps if he is overtired or not tired enough.  I try to look for "sleepy signs" which for him are rubbing his eyes and pulling on his ear.  He also gets fussy. 

We do not swaddle him anymore.  He kicks furiously in his crib and won't stay swaddled!  I swaddled him when he was very young- up until about 3 months old. 

As for his naps, he takes usually 2-3.  He sleeps usually for at least an hour in the morning and it's hard to say for his afternoon nap.  It sometimes is only 40-45 minutes, though sometimes can be an hour.  As I said before, sometimes he has good days but mostly not.  He wakes up crying usually in the afternoon.  But he also wakes up crying in the morning occasionally.  He probably could get by without a third nap if he would sleep good in the afternoon.  Usually what ends up happening is he sleeps bad for his second nap and then I can't get him settled back down so I get him up and try to put him down for a third nap later.  He will do the third nap but usually it only lasts about 30 minutes and he wakes up screaming again.  I then just usually get him up and keep him up until bedtime (6:30-7:00).   Hope that gives you something to work with!  Thanks in advance, 
Suzanne

[chell]

Suzanne, I'm having problems with my computer at home, can't log on to net at all. At work, so can't stay . Will try again tonight.

Can anyone else help out please

Cheryl

[chell]

Hi back on line, still got problems, so I will post my message in stages!
45 minutes is the length of average human sleep cycle, so you will need to teach your bub to get himself back to sleep on his own. I'm not sure what methods you have been using,

[chell]

but at 6 months you can use pick up put down. I used a combination of pat/sshh and pu/pd. It depends on what suits you and your lo, so you may want to see which suits you both. The most important things with sleep training are to be:
Consistent
Persistent and
Patient

As long as you stick to your plans, i'm sure you'll get things sorted.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheryl

[Matthew's Mommy]

I'm here.

What does his daily routine kinda look like right now?

How does he fall asleep for his naps?

There will be ups and downs, some days will be great and others will be what I refer to "wonky days". This is completely normal. It's all about of growing and developing.

The best book to look at is Tracy's third book (newest). It's great for problem solving and has all of her techniques in there.

[mom2william]

Hi Jane,

His daily schedule is something like this:

6:30-7:00am wake (sometimes he wakes early like 6:00 or so but will just talk, etc. until I come get him)

7:00am Breastfeed

8:00am Cereal/fruit

8:30-9:00am Nap #1 (usually lasts at least 1 hour, sometimes longer.  Almost never over 1 1/2hrs)

10:00-10:30am Wake up

10:30-10:45am Breastfeed

12:00pm Cereal/Veggie

12:30-1:00pm Nap #2

1:30-2:00 Wake (This nap is usually the one that seems too short. It can vary from 40 minutes to 1 hour.  Sometimes I'm lucky and it's 1 1/2 hours  )

2:30-3:00 Breastfeed (depends on when he gets up)

4:00-4:30 Nap #3 (sometimes he takes it, sometimes not.  I have to be careful not to let him take this after 5:00 pm though, b/c he thinks it's night sleep then!)

5:00 Wake

6:30-7:00pm Bedtime

As for how he falls asleep for his naps, I always do a wind down routine (books, listen to CD, walk quietly around room) and then I put him down awake.  He can always put himself to sleep.  I do not nurse him to sleep, either.  He has recently a FEW times been able to put himself back to sleep after waking up from a sleep cycle.  He doesn't take a paci but sucks his thumb. 

I'm struggling with creating more "set" naptimes for him.  He's very hard to read (especially for the PM nap) for tired signs.  He will sometimes rub his eyes but I more have to watch the clock.  Is it true that after 6 mos. they are more easily able to handle being overtired??  Also, should I just try to extend the second nap and drop the catnap??  The problem is if he wakes up at 1:30-2:00 that's a loooooong time 'til bedtime! 

thanks for all your help!
Suzanne

[Matthew's Mommy]

I would look at extending the wake time between the morning nap and afternoon nap, especially if the morning nap is longer than 1 hour.

He may be starting to get ready to drop the late afternoon cat nap, but it will have to be a gentle transition. Have you read the announcement "short napping after 6 months"? I wondering if this will work out for him.

Also, the best indicator if a change of routine is needed, is his behaviour. If during awake time, he is sleepy, cranky, irritable.. then a change is needed.

[mom2william]

Jane,

I think I am just so confused about all this nap stuff!!  Today was a "wonky" day as you call it  :? !  He is just so hard to read.  He took a very fitful 1 hour afternoon nap. (He woke up crying after 35 min.but went back to sleep and then woke up crying again.  I KNOW he can put himself back to sleep b/c he's done it a few times.)  I'm not sure how long to keep him up btwn his AM nap and his PM nap.  He has been sleeping about 1 hour 15 min. for his AM nap.  So he's up then from about 10:15 and I try to put him down btwn 12:30-1:00pm.  He will at times act tired around 12:00 but if I put him down, he usually doesn't go right to sleep so I am in total confusion!  Is 3 hours btwn the AM nap and the PM nap too long awake time for an almost 7 month old? (7 mos. on Oct. 23).  Also, a problem I have with him is that if I put him down past 5:00pm for the late afternoon catnap sometimes he sleeps past 45 min. and starts to put himself back to sleep and I wonder if he thinks it is "night sleep" and not a daytime nap.  I am so confused!!  Please advise.  Is it OK if they sleep an hour for the "catnap"?  Should I just try to continue the catnap until he won't do it anymore?  I don't really know what a schedule looks like for a 7 month old.  I did get Tracy's 3rd book from the library and am reading it now.  Boy, I wish I'd had it when he was born! 

As for him being cranky and irritable, he is most definitely that way the time between his PM nap and bedtime.  That makes me think he still needs a little short nap before bedtime.  Also, that would be great if he could go to sleep at more like 7:00-7:30 for the night.
Suzanne