Sudden nap difficulties - 7 mos old

[Carter'sMama]

My son has been a great napper since I started EASY at 8 weeks old.  We went through the whole pat/shush routine to teach him to be an independant sleeper.  It worked really well and I was putting him in his crib awake, rubbing his belly for maybe 2-3 minutes and he would be sound asleep for 1.5 hours morning and afternoon.  Now all of a sudden, for the last 4 days, as soon as he is in his crib he starts fussing and wiggling around and banging his arms and legs.  Eventually he starts crying.  I try talking to him, if I pick him up he gets more upset, I try singing, I try leaving him alone too.  The only thing that works is if I give him a soother (he has only ever used a soother half a dozen times before now).  Before he falls asleep I do take it out of his mouth and he drifts off to sleep.  I have only given it to him a couple of times but I don't want to make a habit out of it.  Today for both naps I refused to give him the soother and it took me 40 mins  :shock:  to get him to sleep!  All of a sudden he just stopped crying , turned his head and went to sleep.

  Also, the last couple of days his naps are 30mins - 1 hr instead of his usual 1.5hrs.  I don't know if I need to increase his awake time or if he is going through a developmental stage ??  I am getting frustrated!!  We just got over 3 weeks of night wakings and now this!!!  I have never been very good dealing with sleep issues 

Please help!!

[Jaime]

hi there,

sounds like one of a few things could be the culprit...

developmental - has he picked up any new skills lately - rolling, crawling, pulling up, or anything else?

teeth - any chance he's getting some?

illness -any chance he's getting sick?

very early separation anxiety?

definitely sounds like something's bugging him & you just need to ride it out.  in the meantime, keep soothing him as you have been when he cries.  sounds like he does best when you soothe him in the crib (as opposed to pu/pd).  maybe just use a calm quiet voice.

it will pass eventually.   

[Carter'sMama]

Thanks for your reply!  He did get his 2nd tooth last week but his sleeping habits were fine throughout the whole ordeal.  He isn't sick and he hasn't learned anything new lately (crawling, sitting etc) ...  I'm at a loss of what to do     
  Hopefully it won't last long!!!

Anyone have other suggestions or experienced the same thing??