My turn for sleep question!!

[mommd]

Why won't she take naps? She just won't do it, no matter what I try. She doesn't fall asleep nursing anymore, so I usually rock her to sleep. However, if she falls asleep rocking, she wakes up screaming as soon as I put her down. I've tried letting her sleep in my arms or in a carrier, but she won't sleep for more than 10 minutes that way.

She sleeps fine at night, from 9-6, but doesn't sleep AT ALL the entire day. She's cranky, I'm cranky, it isn't pretty. I know that she needs more sleep. Help!

[deborah_r]

Wow, mine has gone through so many phases, I am trying to remember his 7 month phase...I think he was still just letting me put him in the crib sleepy and he would fall asleep, which he only did for naps. And he won't do it anymore. Is she possibly just really eccited about learning to crawl of some other development or has she never taken naps?

We just exited a phase of the "rock him to sleep, put him down, screaming immediately ensues". I got through that by rocking him longer, sometimes even 15-20 minutes after he fell asleep, and then putting him down very gently, keeping part of my arms/hands under him and slowly moving them. White noise might help too, if you haven't already tried it. Also, maybe you are missing her sleep cues - I've never been too clear about those, but maybe somebody else has some insight on making sure you are not missing them.

I hope something starts working for you soon so she can get some good naps in, and you can get some rest!

[lizajane]

i would try earlier to bed and earlier for naps. she sounds overtired. at 7 months, my son slept from 7-7, 9am-11 or 12, and 2:30-4pm. BUT he slept more than average.

have you tried soothing her to sleep IN her crib? so there is no putting her down asleep?

maybe read marc weisbluth's healthy sleep habits, happy child or (haven't read this one myself) pantley's no cry sleep solution-depending on your parenting choices. (weisbluth has really great information, you don't have to use his CIO suggestions!)

[papal]

I honestly don't have a clue what is going on but just wanted to chime in and say that I hope it gets better and your baby starts napping soon. This sleep thing is so HARD. Why can't they just NAP and STAY NAPPING when they are tired!!! Grrrrr.

[jbowman]

I totally understand your frustration. Naps have NEVER been consistent with my DD (and I always think--"how can you not be tired? I'm exhausted!").

ITA with Liza--it sounds as if she is overtired and needs to go to bed earlier. My DD goes to sleep every night b/t 6-7 pm. I know it sounds early, but it's what works for us (and she sleeps until 6 am). If she doesn't have a great day of napping (that would be almost everyday!), at least I know that she's getting 12 hours at night.

I also have to say that you must really be tired if your DD doesn't take naps and stays up until 9! You're a saint!

Good luck!

[HelenD]

I have a child that would not nap for me almost since day 1. She would have 16-18 hour days without naps. And then, the only naps she would take would be "on me", and if I put her down, she'd wake up and we'd be right back at overtired, cranky, and difficult to get to sleep.

Do I have a magic cure? No. But here are my suggestions. These have WORKED for us.

Get the No-Cry Sleep solution by Patley. You can usually get it from the library or you can find it for free at www.netlibrary.com. I have a free membership via my local library card - I think many libraries offer it too.

Get a routine. Seriously. This WORKS. We have a night time routine and a much shorter nap time routine.

Our naptime routine is this:

At first sign of eye rubbing/tiredness, take her to bedroom.
Close blinds, tell her it's quiet time (or nap time).
Sit in rocker, read one book (we do a very short one - and usually the same one at first so DD "got" that it was quiet time)
Take her to crib, give her a binky (DD only gets binkies in the crib), lay her on her back and tell her "Shhh-shhh-shhh. It's quiet time". If she starts crying, I try and sooth her for a few moments, then leave. I pull the cord on a soothing music toy that's on her door on my way out. If she cries, I let it go on no more then 5 minutes before picking her up and trying again later. There is also a difference between the "not going to go to sleep now" and the "cranky crying that will get me to sleep in a moment". I also do not go and get her if she's quiet or quietly playing until after about 20 minutes. Sometimes it can take her that long to get to sleep. She does not have toys in her crib. She does have a "lovely" and a Glow Worm music box attached to the side. Now that she can stand up, she'll stand up and play that sometimes.

That is a very basic rendition of what we do and it's based mostly on what the "No Cry Sleep Solution" suggests.

Don't count on naps happening at the same time every day for awhile if ever. Be flexible enough to take 'em when you can get them.

Watch for the tired signals and jump on them RIGHT AWAY. Do not do one more thing and then start the routine. You have to really jump as soon as you see even one of those (especially at first) tired signs and start your routine ASAP (within minutes) of seeing them.

You DC may be a light sleeper during naps, so just be very quiet if you can until you get the routine down. Sometimes, white noise, like a fan pointed away from the crib helps.

Naps get longer and more consistent the longer you stick to this. At first, it would take me several "tries" to get her to nap. (and I'd wait for the tired signs between tries...that could be 2-4 hours between tries!) After 2 days, (actually the second weekend) she knew it was quiet time and starting taking naps!

I do use a very similar routine (but longer) for bedtime, so I think it might help to have similar bedtime/nighttime routines.

Soothing music helps.

Anyway, that's my .25 cents. Good luck!

Helen

[mommd]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I guess I'm having trouble wraping my mind around going to sleep at 6 pm. It just seems so early! But I will try to get her to bed earlier by shifting her routine 30 min at a time.

Helen - I just tried what you said, read a book, rock her and put her down with some soothing music. She has been sleeping for 30 minutes already, so I have my fingers crossed!

I had been trying to take a shower during her nap, but the bathroom is next to her bedroom so it might be too loud for her if she is a light sleeper. I will just have to take one before she goes down for a nap or after she wakes up I guess.

Thanks again! :)

[jec2]

We had a napless baby too for a long time. From about 4 months to 6 months DS slept from about 6-6 and no naps and the dr. assured me that the baby was probably getting enough sleep, even if he was cranky. At about six months everything changed and we weren't sleeping at all: night or day! We did CIO. Still, up until about 3-4 weeks ago naps were VERY rare and it wasn't unheard of us driving up and down the coast on 101 to get the baby to sleep a little :). Now, they are pretty predictable and I don't know what has changed to allow the naps. I know that my attitude did change as at our 9 month check-up a few weeks back the dr. again said that some babies just don't "need" naps (i use that term "need" loosely). So, I decided that I won't force them...I was going to let the baby stay up as long as he wanted but miraculously the very next day around 10 a.m. he got fussy, I put him down and he slept for 1 1/2 hours! This has now become our nap time and although on some days they are still the 20 min. variety, I can usually guarantee an hour...

You might try putting her to sleep earlier than 9:00. If you have not read Weissbluth, he suggests a bedtime between 6 & 8. We just really started doing a whole sleep routine and it has helped immensly.

Ok, baby is awake, gotta go :) Good luck.

[jec2]

We had a napless baby too for a long time. From about 4 months to 6 months DS slept from about 6-6 and no naps and the dr. assured me that the baby was probably getting enough sleep, even if he was cranky. At about six months everything changed and we weren't sleeping at all: night or day! We did CIO. Still, up until about 3-4 weeks ago naps were VERY rare and it wasn't unheard of us driving up and down the coast on 101 to get the baby to sleep a little :). Now, they are pretty predictable and I don't know what has changed to allow the naps. I know that my attitude did change as at our 9 month check-up a few weeks back the dr. again said that some babies just don't "need" naps (i use that term "need" loosely). So, I decided that I won't force them...I was going to let the baby stay up as long as he wanted but miraculously the very next day around 10 a.m. he got fussy, I put him down and he slept for 1 1/2 hours! This has now become our nap time and although on some days they are still the 20 min. variety, I can usually guarantee an hour...

You might try putting her to sleep earlier than 9:00. If you have not read Weissbluth, he suggests a bedtime between 6 & 8. We just really started doing a whole sleep routine and it has helped immensly.

Ok, baby is awake, gotta go :) Good luck.

[Marisa6826]

Wow. That's a really early bedtime, but reading the other responses, maybe not early enough (which seems counterintuitive to me, but who knows). Sophie usually does (and has done for a long time) 8:30-8:30 or so, with usually one, sometimes two naps (depending on how tired *I* am ;) ).

She just might not be tired enough. Do you keep her room dark enough? I know that if the afternoon sun is hitting the windows, I need to put another blanket on top of the drapes, otherwise it's no go.

Will she sleep in the car or stroller if you go for a walk?

Sometimes when I'm desperate, I honestly will bring the laptop up to Sophie's room and put on Baby Einstein. That way, she has some quiet time and I can catch some much needed rest, myself.


-m

[C99]

Until he was a year old, Nate did not consistently take naps. It drove me nuts, but I just got naps in where I could, moved his bedtime back to really early (6:30 p.m.) and crossed my fingers!