Help needed really struggling to get lo to nap in afternoon!

[RyansMum]

Hi, my lo is about 5.5 months old and I think is going through a change as he can stay awake for 3 hours in the morning as opposed to 2 (sometimes even 4!).  I can get him off for his morning nap no problem.  I use a dummy and I leave the room.  I may need to go in after 5 minutes as he crys for me and then drops the dummy so I pop it back in perhaps hold his arms down to calm him then leave just as he is dropping off.  He is fairly good at going to sleep without me there so I am happy with that technique.  He rarely naps past 30 minutes but in the morning seems fine with this.  He is going to sleep around 10.30 - 11am.  He is then awake until about 2ish or a little before and I take him straight upstairs at the first rub of the eyes, I do the same things as I do in the morning but it takes around 40 minutes plus lots of up and down the stairs to get him to sleep, therefore he is awake for well over 3 hours!  He again only naps for 30 minutes but is still tired and I can't get him to nap anymore after that.  Sometimes he will nap on my lap after this time but whilst I don't mind doing this occasionally I don't want this to be the only way he gets the remainder of his afternoon nap.  I need to do things and of course he needs to be in his cot.  Bedtime he is great and rarely wakes up more than once in the night (either at 3am or 5am) so I have no complaints there, its just the flipping afternoon nap!!!!    If he napped for an hour I think he would be less cranky by the end of the day.  Any helpful tips would be gratefully received! Thanks so much!!

[Superman'sMom]

Okay we are having trouble with naps as well. I think it is just that age. I had been putting my ds down after 3 hours. But he was only sleeping 30-45 minutes and then waking up. He would then stay up 2 1/2-3 hours and I would get him back down for only for 45 minutes or shorter (sometimes 15!). He woul;d slowy deteriate through out the day. I decided he was just getting overtired. Today I put him down at 2 1/2 hours in the morning and he slept for 1 hour and 20 minutes!!! Yeah. I read that the morning period should be the shortest period of awakeness. Then after a good nap he should be good to stay up longer during the rest of the day (3 hours). I hope this helps. It is only my speculation and I am first time mother. But I wanted to help if I could. D

[*Natasha*]

Hi Ryan's Mum,

I was having the same problem with my DD about a week ago when i extended her awake time and dropped her late afternoon cat nap. Mornings were no problem she would go down for a sleep after 2.5hrs A time but afternoon she didn't show alot of tired signs so i wasn't sure when to put her down for a sleep. I was putting her down at 2.15-2.30pm and found that her nap was getting shorter until she was waking up at 45mins. So all i had to do was play around with the time i put her down and decided to try 2pm and would you believe it the two days i did this she slept 2hrs&1.45hrs. I got the advise from Michelle on this webite she told me to tweak her routine a bit and it worked. All babies are different so all i can suggest is play around with her A time until you find a happy medium for her to sleep long enough.
I hope all this makes sense to you good luck

[RyansMum]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, los naps have always been short, rarely naps past 30mins but I know he needs more come the afternoon.  I will try and tweak the afternoon routine and see what occurs!  He must have been so tired that last night he slept from 7.30pm to 7.15am!!

[Superman'sMom]

So how is everything? Any better?

[RyansMum]

Hi, things are a little better.  He has managed to get a couple of nice long naps in but then sometimes he only has two 45 minute naps and turns really grouchy by the late afternoon!  Took me 15 minutes to get him to go to sleep this afternoon and then he slept for 1.5 hrs!  We are both suffering with colds at the mo (I am worse than him!) so that could explain why he is napping better than normal.  Will see when he has got over his cold.  At least 90% of the time he can go to sleep without me in the room (though needs his dummy) and the other night he woke around 2.30 and went back to sleep on his own that normally never happens!  I did tweak the nap routine as per your suggestions and I think that may have helped too.  He doesn't like me to cuddle him for too long though in the chair as he knows whats coming and gets a bit upset!

Hoping it stays going well!