Help with extending 6 month old naps

[Robincoo]

Hi!  I'm new to the forum, but absolutely love the book and the techniques.  It helped me to get my lo to sleep through the night, which he is doing so well now.  The only problem I have is with his naps.
 
  I've never had a routine for naps, I'm a first time mom and had no idea, I know better now.  I put him down at 9am and then I shoot for 1pm for his naps.  Since he is only napping for 30 min, I put him down around 4/4:30 for a cat nap.  The funny thing is, he usually sleeps longer in the late afternoon, going for 45 min to an hour.

  I know he is tired, but when he wakes up, he's smiling and happy and looking around, he looks at me and smiles.  Sometimes he plays with his blanky until I come in to check on him.  I tried the wake to sleep, but all he did was turn over and then all of a sudden his eyes were awake!  He doesn't generally get upset when waking up after the 30min. Sometimes he does, but I go in and encourage him to go to sleep.

  He is really good at self-soothing, I barely have to do the pu/pd.  I talk to him and tell him it's okay, if he's still upset, I put a hand on his belly, if that doesn't work, I put my hands around him and that usually satisfies him, he plops his thumb in his mouth and soothes himself.
 
  What I've been doing is going and sitting in his room when he's just woken up, or right before and I encourage him to go to sleep the entire time he's supposed to be napping, up until his next feed at 11.  He just talks to himself, looks at me, plays with his hands for the first 30 min or so, then he starts to get upset and rubs his eyes and sucking his thumb.  I know he's tired now, but he fights going to sleep.  So I stay in and encourage him to go to sleep.  Lately he's been close to going to sleep, he closes his eyes and is nice and quiet, but the moment his eyes are closed for too long, he jolts himself awake and cries for a minute, before he finds him thumb again.  Then he just lays around looking again, his eyes drooping.

  I'm just wondering if he's one of those babies who just takes short naps.  He really isn't that upset when he wakes, but I know that he is tired, even if he doesn't think so right away.  It may take him 30 min in the crib to realize it, but then he won't.  I have been doing a bit of a wind down beforehand, sitting quietly with him for 5 min before putting him in the crib.  I just find it so odd, since he goes to bed so easily and nicely at night and sleeps through most nights. 

  Am I doing the right thing by leaving him in his crib the entire scheduled nap time, even though he isn't upset?  I don't know what to do, seeing as how he is so good at soothing himself.  I just sit and talk to him when he starts to get upset, and I only use the pu/pd when he can't soothe himself, or my voice doesn't work.

  I'm just wondering if I'm doing the right thing by leaving him in his crib to try and encourage him to go to sleep for the full hour and a half.  Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks so much.

Robin

[Taylor's Mommy]

Hi Robin,

First, congratulations on finding BW and getting the techniques to work for you.  you are doing a great job.

Regarding leaving him in his crib the entire nap time, I think it is appropriate, especially if he is happy.  You want him to know that his crib is a nice place to be and he can have fun and play in there...it's not just for sleeping.  So if he is happy after 30 minutes, leave him in there even to play with himself.

A couple of things to consider as well:
Wake to sleep can sort of backfire on babies 6 months and older since they are so alert and observant.  So maybe just leave him and let him alone even after he wakes up until he cries out to you.

Have you tried increasing A time by 15 minutes?  Maybe he just needs to get a little more tired, but not overtired, to sleep longer than 45 minutes.  What is his current A time?
We find that a short walk outside in our arms right before nap time always works to relax and stimulate her jsut the right amount.

Perhaps let us know a little more about his schedule and we may want to tweak it a bit.

Andrea

[Robincoo]

Hi!

  Thanks so much for replying!  I read another message on the board that suggested increasing awake time and I think that will be a good solution.  Sometimes he sits in his crib for a while before falling asleep and I know that he is tired, but maybe needs some more time up before I put him to bed.

  Right now this is his schedule, I was keeping is A at around 2 in the morning at not more than 2.5 before his afternoon nap.

7am - Awake and bf
8am - solid foods
9am - go down for nap, generally wakes up between 9:30 and 9:50
11am - take out of crib for bf
12pm - solid foods
12:30-1pm - go down for nap, wakes up between 1:15 and 1:45.
3pm - bf and snack
4-4:30pm - go down for catnap, up between 5 and 5:30
5:30pm - solid foods
6-6:15pm - bath
6:45-7pm - bf
7pm - bed

  It makes sense to keep him up a bit, so I'll try that over the next few days.  If there is anything else you can recommend from looking at my schedule, I would really appreciate it.  Thanks so much!

Robin

[Taylor's Mommy]

your routine looks quite good actually..very textbook in fact! :wink:

let us knwo how the increase in A time goes.

One last thought that came to mind was, how long is the wind down routine?  In my experience and from hearing others as well, as they get older a longer winddown is not as necessary.  Not saying you should go from watching baby einstein straight to the crib, but do low activity for the last 15minutes or so and then walk into the room, dim lights or whatever you do, and gently lay him down.  With Taylor we walk into the room, cuddle for a minute or so, turn on the white noise machine and in her crib she goes.     
Apparently as they get older, a longer winddown can hinder because they are goign through the stages of sleep in your arms rather than in their crib.

Just a thought.
HTH

[thitz]

Robin, I also recommend increasing A time between nap 1 and nap2.  With the aim of eliminating the catnap soon.

Tarri