Can't Get Past 30 minute Naps...

[Zoey]

Eeep!  Well I can only tell you what worked for us.  Owen slept later, but it did take a few days.   I also know that one or two days of doing an early bedtime isn't going to fix it, I don't think.  So I guess your options would be to perservere with an early bedtime and see what happens with his naps once he is not overtired, then push bedtime later again slowly.  Or you can add multiple small naps through out the day. 

Sorry I can't be more helpful, I just can't see any other way of getting your baby more sleep aside from those two.

Good Luck!  I hope something works for you.
Zoey

[Zoey]

Hello!  Hows it going over there?

[M and N's Mom]

You're so sweet 

Some good, some bad.  We had a few good naps, and still lots of bad.  I have taken him for a car ride 2 nights this week at 5:30 to give him a catnap.  I actually just put a post on the pu/pd board   https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=79626.0  to make sure I'm doing pd right for this age as he is trying his darnedest to make me a prop again and not going to sleep on his own and I've worked too hard for that.  He sure is a stubborn little guy  .  He is so great when he's awake...I think he just doesn't like sleeping...lol!  You of all people know how hard I've worked at sleep training!

Anyway, still trying to put him down for naps a bit earlier and trying not to get tooooo frustrated with the whole thing.

Thanks for checking in!...off to get him up from yet another 30 minute nap

[M and N's Mom]

P.S.  Should I be using pd to try to get him to go back to sleep after 30 min?  I don't really think it would work, but.....

[Zoey]

Sorry to hear some naps are still nasty!

I would only use PD if you see he is clearly tired and you think he will go back to sleep.  Otherwise Id just get him up then put him down earlier.  But that's me.  Extending NEVER worked for me after 4m old - but that's Owen lol.  Some people have great success with extending.  I'll check out your post in pupd after Owen is in bed if someone else hasn't helped you.

YES YOU HAVE WORKED VERY HARD!!      I am in awe of you and how hard you've worked.

[babyre33]

Question ladies.  I am in a similar boat as M and N's mom.  I've been putting my dd to sleep at 6 pm for the past 4 nights as well.  I've been putting her down for naps a lot earlier and with a lot of wind-down time.  This has worked beautifully 1/2 of the time.  The other half she will scream bloody murder for .5 hr.  She will go to sleep, but it seems my presence makes it harder for her, so I do end up leaving.  I hate it, but if I go in or shh pat, she gets so worked up and any progress made goes down the tubes.  Also she has been woke up at 5 am, I'd be happy with 6, 7 would be a miracle.  She hasn't slept until 7 for over a month.

Are there any suggestions for naps?  I hate this crying thing, it's brand new.
How long do you think I should do a 6pm bedtime?

The amount of sleep she's always needed has been on the low side of normal.  I'm thinking based on her behavior today that she may be getting close to not needing the extra nap or early bedtime.  How can I tell?

[Zoey]

babyre - I think you definately have to watch her.  I think a few days of early everything then try to slowly go back to your normal (or in her case a wee bit less then average) A times.  I also think if things go wonky once back on your normal routine, you can always go to an early bedtime for THAT night to catch up.  I think its most important to watch her because just as you suspect, she coul dbe getting to the other side now and being undertired for naps.  It sure is a guessing game isn't it?  Just make sure, whenever you move times, you go slowly, if you just jump back to what everything was, I would be afraid of her getting overtired again.  Also, be sure to fix what made her ovetired to begin with.

I wouldn't leave her to cry alone for any length of time honestly, there is a better way - stand by her crib so she knows she isn't alone, you dont have to touch her or talk to her to let her know your there.  My gut says for those naps, she wasn't sleepy enough when you placed her in the crib.

Good luck, I hope that helps!
Zoey

[babyre33]

Thanks Zoey.

There have been mornings when I miss her "window" because I had to drop my son off to school.  So when I made my husband do it, I noticed her getting tired at 1.5 hrs awake time.  VERY early.  She took some good naps.  By now, hopefully she's not needing it that early.  I think I've been so paranoid of missing her window that I've overshot it.

I've been trying to give her a long wind down which has worked sometime, and then getting her in her crib once she's rubbed her eyes or yawned twice.  The problem so far is that when she gets to this point she is pushing herself out of my arms, so it feels like I can't calm her down before putting her in the crib.  Shh pat makes her mad, and I've laid next to her crib where she can see me and it didn't seem to make her any happier, but she did eventually go to sleep.

We;ll see what tomorrow brings.  I'll try extending her A time if she permits
 
I feel like I"m learning how to do this all over again.  It's been along time since I"ve had to sleep train her.  I feel like nothing is working consistently.

Thanks for your help

[Zoey]

You know, most (most not all lol) babies I have found need their shortest A time first.  Like some never get past 2h even at like 10m.  So I don't think thats off at all.  Owen still does his shortest first, in fact I know if I put him down an hour after waking he would definately sleep LOL.  Not to say you should put them down before they give you cues, because that can make early wakings, but that A time may be the shortest of them all and that is ok.  Make sure too that first nap isn't too long - 1.5h tops, maybe even 1h15.

Also, some kids hatewind downs.  Until recently I never had a wind down. Now I read a book before the second nap, but not in his room - we read in the living room.  Sometimes the longer you make the wind down the more aggrovated the baby is lol.  Perhaps you can some winding down out of her room, then go in for the last 5m and change her and put her down.  Maybe she is saying, 'when we get in here, I just wanna go to sleep'?  Also try getting her in the crib 5m before you usually see her rub and yawn - I think that may work better, that way she is in the crib for that sleepy feeling and she can roll over and sleep lol.

Its absolutely always changing.  I feel like once I get something good going, he wants something different.  Watching Owen always seems to make things easier for me, often times he tells me what he needs and I am too dumb to figure it out.  LOL for 2 weeks he has been saying he only wants one nap, and I just got it a few days ago.  Know that this is all normal hun   You're welcome.

Zoey

[babyre33]

I need to relax too.  I'm trying so hard not to miss her window that the "window" has now become an entire "wall"...way bigger than a window

since you're on, how do I upload a ticker so it shows when I post?  I already created one,  I just need to figure out how to put it on this site

[Zoey]

you take the BBC code from the ticker place - copy it, then go to Profile, Forum and Profile Information (same place you added your avatar pic, then at the bottom of that screen, where it says signature, your paste the BBC code there.   Then hit update.

[babyre33]

got it, thanks

[M and N's Mom]

Ok, we seem to have progressed from 30 to 40 minute naps.     Doesn't 40 generally imply not enough A time?  What if he seems really ready for his nap?

This morning he woke at 6:30
Was acting tired most of the morning (had slept 11.5 hours last night)
Put him down at 9:15 (even though 3h is our goal)
Asleep by 9:25, awake at 10:10

Any thoughts, or maybe I should just "go with the flow"...except he'll be ready for bed by 5:00 again 

[Zoey]

How bout sneaking in another 40m nap somewhere?

40m - well actually it could mean overtired, or undertired in all honesty.  Helpful aren't I?


What happens when he is acting tired and you change his activity to something different - meaning could he be bored sometimes?

Is he sleeping through the night all the way with out interuption?

You still have no props right?

How long is your wind down these days?

Is he getting sleep before any naps like in the car dropping off DD anything like that?  Even 5m could be important.

What did you do if anything to go from 30m nap to 40m nap?

Zoey

[shimzy]

This may be a long stretch but it worked with my daughter. She yawns about an hour after waking up, quite consistently. If I had gone by that cue alone, she would have short naps too.

I have to be more of a clock watcher with her, as in I know she shoule be able to handle between 1.50-2hrs of awake time. And it does vary with her. Sometimes its 1.45 sometimes its 2 hours, but she naps like a dream now.