Author Topic: Teaching Sleep to Babies over 6 months old  (Read 26761 times)

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Offline Caroline-Charlies Mummy

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Teaching Sleep to Babies over 6 months old
« on: February 17, 2007, 23:29:24 pm »
TEACHING SLEEP 6MONS +

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Title: Teaching Sleep to Older Infants
Post by: Matthew's Mommy on August 18, 2005, 05:57:07 PM
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Hi everyone.. I've created this thread as a resource area for parents to gain information on how to teach sleep to older infants.

Please don't post questions or situations on this thread.. this is primarily a resource area. If you have questions or need support, please feel free to post a new message.

Thanks!

Babywhisperer.com
SLEEP => Naps => Topic started by: Matthew's Mommy on June 07, 2005, 07:03:18 AM


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Title: Teaching sleep 6mos + and overcoming the 45min naps
Post by: Matthew's Mommy on June 07, 2005, 07:03:18 AM
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Hi there.. I just answered a post under the Getting Back on Track board, regarding extending the morning/afternoon nap and eliminating the late afternoon cat nap. After I posted it, I realized that it would probably be helpful to many moms on this board. The response is case-specific, but I'm certain you can adapt it to your situation.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php/topic,34310.msg219362.html#msg219362


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Title: Teaching sleep 6mos + and overcoming the 45min naps
Post by: JaneD on June 20, 2005, 08:41:22 PM
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Hi Jane,

Thanks for your advice. I am a new member having only just discovered the Baby Whisperer book and this forum on the weekend. I have a very alert 6 1/2 month old who has only ever catnapped during the day and altough he used to sleep all night, he has started waking again about 6 weeks ago. I am trying to extend his day sleeps first, with the hope of him then being better able to resettle himself overnight as well. The hardest thing is working out where to start and what to try first!

Josh is on a 4 hourly routine with sleeps scheduled for 9am and 1pm, and a nap in the pram aroound 4-4.30pm. Sometimes he will settle to sleep himself quite easily, other times he will play for a while then protest for me to come and get him. At this point I try the shush/pat to calm him enough to go to sleep, but either way it only lasts 30-45 mins. I am not sure whether to try the PU/PD method to resettle him or just go straight to trying the sitr and resettle before his typical wake time. Also, I am afraid this might wake him all together - how do you avoid that?

many thanks for your advice - it's nice to know you are not alone!!!


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Title: Teaching sleep 6mos + and overcoming the 45min naps
Post by: Matthew's Mommy on June 29, 2005, 12:23:17 PM
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Whoops I didn't see this! My apologies!

Alrighty, first extend his awake time. When they start solids, it's actually a 4+ hour EASY. So when he wakes, he has a feed. An hour later then breakfast. Another hour of activity time and then a winddown routine to relax into sleep.

When you put him into his bed, make sure he is more wakeful than drowsy. You want him to go through the stages of falling asleep in his bed. After 6 months of age, the game kinda changes-- independently falling asleep at the beginning of the nap, makes it easier to get past the 45 min mark, since an infant will partially arouse at this point.

Either go in at the 30 min. mark and do wake to sleep, or hold back and give him a chance to fuss and stir about at the 45 min. mark. It takes about 10-20 min.s for an infant to reenter the sleep cycle (go back into deep sleep) after the 45 min. wake up. If he continues to fuss or moves into full blown screamfest, then I do recommend pu.pd.. just be sure that you understand pu.pd and are completely 100% confident and will see it through to the end! (never start something if you feel you can't finish it!)

Hang in there, you're almost there! Hope this helps!


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Title: 6 months old and doesn't want to sleep
Post by: emmasmommyinia on July 17, 2005, 01:19:52 PM
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My daughter is a few days shy of 6 months. She was never really a napper from the beginning. I, too, have just recently discovered the baby whisperer book and trying to get into the EASY life. My daughter will fight going to sleep. I try putting her down awake but she gets frustrated after a few minutes that she will start crying eventually getting into a scream. She then gets SO overtired that she gets inconsolable. Once she does go to sleep, after I have held her and maybe even fed her, she wakes after 20 minutes. I want to break this chain, but I don't know where to start.

Is it too late to start the EASY plan? She has been attending daycare and I didn't know how to start this with her being there. I will be home with her for about a month before I start a new job. Is there hope for me to turn things around in that short amount of time?


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Title: Teaching sleep 6mos + and overcoming the 45min naps
Post by: Matthew's Mommy on July 21, 2005, 06:38:25 PM
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Most definately. I would take that time to help her learn how to fall asleep independently. In the beginning, it's going to be a little wonky and stressful..but tell yourself that she will learn how to fall asleep.

Take a look at Tracy's pu.pd approach. The "how-tos" are in her new book. Once you decide on a method, stick to it and be consistent. Any method works, just as long as you have faith in it and are consistent. Also, it takes time to implement a napping routine, if it hasn't existed before. Give it the full month that you have off. You will have ups and downs, but if you stick it out, by the time you return to work, she'll have her napping routines in place.

Hope this helps!


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Title: Teaching sleep 6mos + and overcoming the 45min naps
Post by: Megs Mom on September 03, 2005, 06:45:21 AM
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Problem:
When our LO went to 2 naps she immediately cut her naps to 60min each. I didn't fight it, but she woke crying and cranky so she was definitely tired. Note: I didn't think I had the will to do nap training again. You see Meg did the 45min nap thing at 3mos and every time she was ready to drop a nap. Every time we have fixed it by extending A time and shh/pat or slipping paci in as she stirred. Her naps were getting shorter and shorter (down to 30min). Nights- no problem. Why the difference, I do exactly the same thing for day and night?

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Strategy/Result:
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I read every book I could find on sleep from re-reading Tracy's book, Mindel, Ferber & Weisbuth. The reason: I give her a 2oz bottle before naps and after a while I slipped into putting her into the crib almost asleep. This was the problem - As she woke after the first sleep cycle, she wasn't able to put herself back to sleep. The bottle was no longer there! Some how I knew instinctively that increasing awake time wasn’t the issue this time.

We just spent the past 3 days re-training - my plan:
* have set times for naps 9.30 & 2.00 (although now that she is sleeping longer I will try 2.30).
* ensure she is relaxed but awake before putting her into the crib
* change Nap routine to ensure feed wasn’t last thing she did (and eventually eliminate completely).
* when she woke early, use shh/pat for just a few minutes
* let her re-settle herself. NOT CIO but let her put herself to sleep again. Re-checking/re-settling if she was really upset.

IT worked! The past 2 days her am nap has been 1.45 and her pm 1.15 (we are still working on the pm nap).

I am a believer in extending awake time to fix the 45min nap problem, but I had forgotten that you must put them to bed relaxed but awake (hence allowing them to fall asleep independently). Also ensure that your nap wind down does not include a prop that won’t be there when they wake up or transition from sleep cycles?" (for me it was the bottle). I also found that I must combine shh/pat or some other soothing method w/ extending the A time as the 45min thing quickly becomes a habit.


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Title: Teaching sleep 6mos + and overcoming the 45min naps
Post by: Megs Mom on September 03, 2005, 06:47:04 AM
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THANKS SO MUCH for typing this michelle!

when i was reading it, a little lightbulb went off in my head. we had done the EXACT same thing for dd when she was little. (as in 3 months). she always had the same morning nap time until she gave them up. afternoon nap times changed as she got older. she went down okay, slept great, and never had the catnap problem.

i'd been having so much frustration with ds & naps (Now 4mos). we'd been making progress, but of course never as fast as i'd like. i recoginized his tired signs & we have had a constant wind-down routine since day 1, but he still had the catnap problem in the morning & he was still crying (not whining, not moaning, but all out crying) every time it was time to nap.

so i've now set times for him to nap. and it's WORKED!!!!

the key is that he has to be up 2 hours before morning nap. not 1hr45min when he starts to get fussy, but a full 2 hours.

he now sleeps 1.5 hr for the morning nap, i do not have to resettle him at the 45min mark, and the crying when he goes in has virtually stopped. i am in there less than 5 minutes & he goes to sleep on his own.

yay!!! i hope i haven't jinxed this by sharing, but i hope this helps someone out there!!!
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« Last Edit: February 17, 2007, 23:37:14 pm by Charlie's Mummy »
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