I thought naps were supposed to be easy. (long)

[Moneypenny]

I'm coming out of usual lurking mode to seek some advice. DD is nearly 5 months and is a great night sleeper. I put her in her crib awake about 7 pm and she promptly falls asleep until 5:30 or 6 am. We just can't get this nap thing down, though, and I keep hearing that by 4 or 5 months most babies have a fairly regular 2 or 3 naps-a-day schedule. We're nowhere near that. We have two issues:
1) Falling asleep. She shows sleepy signs (rubbing eyes, sucking fingers) and if we can get her to sleep within the next 30 seconds, great. If not, much screaming and crying (with real tears, no less) ensues for 30-40 minutes until she finally calms down and nods off. That period of time between awake and content and overtired and hysterical is but a brief, fleeting moment that DH and I have yet to successfully catch. Once she gets to this hysterical point, what can we do to help calm her down? We've tried walking, bouncing, singing, rocking, feeding, swaddling, even leaving her alone, and nothing works. We end up just holding her and talking to her until she stops and falls asleep.
2) Timing and duration of nap. Unless she's being held, she wakes up after exactly 20 minutes (seriously, you can set a timer by her). This happens whether we put her in the crib, the PNP, the bouncy, the swing, or the car seat. We've made sure the room is dark, warm and quiet. We've tried no noise, white noise, heating pad in the crib to warm it up before we put her in it, laying her on a blanket that smells like me or DH, etc. Again, nothing works. If we hold her, she'll sleep for 2-3 hours. Also, she has no schedule as to when she gets tired each day. She ends up taking several 20-minute naps a day at various times, and seems overtired and cranky by evening.

Is it just a myth that babies her age nap well? Do we just have a girl programmed to be a short napper? Is there something else we should be doing to help her get a couple good naps a day? Right now, DH, who is a SAHD, is holding her for all naps to try to at least get her on a schedule. We figure once we get that set, we'll work on getting her in the crib. But, we're not sure this is the best way to go about it. Any advice, suggestions, or support for us? Thank you!!

Susan
DD - Avery, born 8/5/04

[nwaddellr]

No advice, because we're always having nap issues here. Just wanted to let you know that sleeping is never as easy as you think it should be. I mean, really, all they do is eat, sleep and eliminate, and yet sleeping is SO HARD. Be glad you have a good bedtime routine (although I'll warn you that everything will change multiple times, so don't be surprised when it happens!)

[Moneypenny]

Well, it's good to know we're not alone! I am very thankful for the good night sleep because mama gets rather cranky when she doesn't get her 8 hours. DD was just so easy to get onto a good night routine that this daytime trouble has me perplexed.

Susan
DD - Avery, born 8/5/04

[steph2003]

I don't have a lot of advice but I did want to say at 5 months my DS's naps weren't that great. There were a lot of 20 minute "cat naps" his naps really didn't start lengthening out until he started moving around/mobile at about 8 months. So while I think some get lucky with great nappers at 5 months I also think what your DD isn't completely out of the norm! as frustrating as it may be....

and just wait! now that my DS has a morning & afternoon nap I am a slave to that schedule :) what I mean is now it isn't so easy to drag him around because he will not sleep in his stroller like he did at 5 months!

[jayali]

I was so glad to read your posts and the responses. My DS never napped as an infant and everyone thought I was crazy. We had and still have a great nighttime routine, 6-6:30 and right to sleep until 7:30 the next morning, but napping was a different story. We had the 20 minute catnap syndrome. I will say that now at almost 8 months things are better. He will nap in the morning for an hour or so and then a longer nap in the afternoon about 2 hours. All I can say is try to stick with a schedule (I know how hard it is) and hopefully it will get better. Everyone used to say be grateful for the nighttime, but I know how hard it is not to get a break during the day and then to have a cranky baby - I can totally sympathize. I would try to do the crib on a schedule and hopefully soon, it will pay off.

Good luck.

[KrisM]

At 5 months, DS slept for 45 min. naps 3 or 4 times/day. At 8 months, he's up to 1-2 hours 2 or 3 times/day.

My only suggestion is to try to anticipate the sleepy signs. I think that if she's rubbing her eyes, she's just past the optimum point of being put down for a nap. Try to get her in the crib 5 minutes or so before that.