8 month old nap disaster-SERIOUSLY

[ArizonaGirl]

My child won't nap and it is driving me insane... Here is our schedule...

Bedtime 7:45 or 8:00
Wakes at 5:00 to eat back down to 6:30 - 8:30

Here's where it gets dicey, we tried a scheduled naptime where he is put in his crib when he should be sleepy and is showing sleepy signs and that didn't work (we did CIO and he would cry for 45 min to an hour then sleep for 20 or 30 minutes and start over again).

So we decided that instead of a scheduled naptime we would let him be the guide and then he would fall asleep after nursing or when rocking then lay him down. That worked well (at least no screaming), but he will only sleep for at most 45 min to an hour and usually only 30 minutes and he will not go back to sleep.

This is driving me crazy because I never have any time to myself to get things done, and it is bad because he is so obviously not getting enough sleep, he has bags under his eyes.

I have Weissbluth and didn't find it to be very helpfull and we have the Happiest Baby on the Block CD but that doesn't help much either.

Please help us!!!

[ThreeofUs]

Some babies just don't nap much during the day. I have two 30-45 minute nappers myself. I think that laying down with my guys (taking them out of the crib before they cry, nursing them back down on my bed) helps them sleep longer. Unfortunately, that still means I don't get anything done. You just learn to work around it.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution (by Pantley, I think) has some effective strategies for helping your kids sleep longer.

[KrisM]

I think 45 minutes is a pretty typical nap for that age. Mine all started getting longer naps closer to a year. And, once they drop a morning nap, the remaining nap gets longer still.

[pb&j]

DS was a great sleeper, two 2-hr naps per day. DD, on the other hand, does not always nap. That's just how she is.

I thought Weissbluth was a genius when DS was a baby. This time around, I think he's a total quack.

You just have to play the hand you're dealt, unfortunately.

[misshollygolightly]

Sorry, but all I can really do is offer empathy and a little hope! DS was exactly the same way--he rarely napped for more than 30-45 min at a time, and his naps didn't follow a predictable schedule for the longest time. But as he got closer to one year, his naps got longer (like 1-2 hours) and much more predictable. These days we're all much happier :-) But there was definitely a period (around 8 months) when things were rough, so this may just be something you have to deal with for a while (and, as other folks have pointed out, some kids are just NOT good nappers! don't know where this myth started that all babies nap for hours on end!). Some things that may help: adjust the level of light/sound/temp in DC's room (maybe use a little white noise?), try having a pre-nap routine that includes some of the same things you use for your bedtime routine (ex: read a book, nurse, etc.), make sure DC has had plenty of opportunities to get energy out and be tired/ready to nap (I found DS napped much better when we left the house at least once each day--to play outside, go to the store, visit the library, go to the zoo, etc.--afterwards, he'd be zonked). Bottom line, though, is that the more I expected DS to nap, the more frustrated I'd be that I never got the time to myself that I felt like I deserved. We were both much happier and more relaxed once I chilled out about it and stopped thinking of myself as entitled to that time. Instead, I tried to do more things with my awake baby--both things that *I* needed/wanted to do (like laundry, grocery shopping, list-making, coupon-cutting, schoolwork, reading a book, meeting a friend for lunch, etc.--no reason you can't bring a baby along for those things), and things that I could do just for fun with DS.

[neeleymartin]

good advice that i got recently from a podcast was to wait 20 minutes before entering the room, when you think a nap is over. if you are interested, i'll try to find the name, etc. also says that babies will fuss about 40 minutes into a nap due to a sleep cycle ending and a new one beginning. she also said that if the baby wakes up crying, they are still in need of sleep, WAIT!!! before entering.

we have seen an amazing turn-around for our little guy.

on a different note, baby whisperer says that short naps are the result of over stimulation just prior to the nap. so true with ds1. we literally would sit him in front of the slider and let him watch the trees, or hold him in the darkened room, no eye contact (eye contact is very stimulating according to bw), no talking. we found that this was true with ds1.

hope that any of this might help you.

[alirebco]

My guy only napped for 20-40 minutes for the first 15 months of his life. It sucked but he now naps 1.5-2.5 hours during his afternoon nap. It will get better!