morning nap - help!

[mudder17]

Okay, like Tarah, I have a problem with lack of sleep, although in this case, it's for day time naps.

I started sleep training a la Weissbluth when DD was about 17.5 weeks old and DH and I were at the end of our rope. She was pushing her bedtime later and later and then she was waking up every 1-2 hours at night. I was particularly exhausted because she is EBF. She was also getting really fussy during the day because she was so sleep deprived. She is now almost 6 months old.

Well, after a couple weeks...actually after 5 days we noticed the difference! In any case, we played around with bed times and have finally discovered that she does best when she goes to bed before 6 p.m. (she usually fusses and falls asleep by 6) and wakes up around 6:30 (+/- 30 minutes). She wakes up once (anywhere from 12:30 until 4:30) for a feeding in the middle of the night.

We're having trouble with the first nap. Our LC (and sleep expert) says that she should be going down for her first nap within 45 minutes of her wake up time. I've tried within 1.5 hours, within 1 hour, within 45 minutes, and within 30 minutes and she still stays awake quietly, fusses or cries or screams (or a combo of all) for 30 minutes to an hour (we usually give up after an hour). Am I putting her back in bed too early? I've tried reading her sleep signs, but at that time of the morning I just can't seem to get a good reading on her. When she ends up missing the first nap (because she was awake and complaining for an hour), it just throws off the rest of the day. I'd like to solve the rest of the day as well, but I think if I could get her to take a solid nap first thing in the morning, the rest of her day would improve dramatically.

So what should I do? Should I take her for a walk right after she wakes? Should I change her and feed her in a darkened room and put her right to bed? Should I let her play for a while before putting her back to bed? Also with regards to the night waking, should I make her wait a certain amount of time (I usually wait until at least midnight) before feeding her? I don't mind one feeding, especially because Weissbluth says many babies may need one feeding until their 9 months old, but should I be doing it after 2 or 3 or what? LIke I said, she usually wakes for the feeding anywhere from 12:30 until 4:30.

TIA!


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya
born 22 February 2004

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[lindalouky]

I had the same problem with DS, David. He just wouldn't nap at all. I bought Weissbluth's book too. For a few weeks, the only way I could get David to nap was to lie down with him and bf him til he calmed down. Now, some weeks later, he can be laid down in his crib for most naps! HTH, Linda

[masha12]

I am a big fan of Dr. Weisbluth and it is working for me.

With respect to her one feeding a night, it sounds like she wakes up to eat, not for social time, so I would feed her when she wakes up and not make her wait. If anything, it is probably better to feed her right away because she will probably stay in a state of semi-slumber.

As for the morning nap, I am at a loss. You could try moving her bedtime earlier on the theory that sleep begets sleep and thus she would sleep later in the morning and then be ready to nap at 9:00 a.m. However, the exising bedtime seems reasonable.

Dr. W. says 1 to 2 hours of wakefullness, so you could try keeping her up for solid activity for 1 to 1-1/2 hours and then put her down. A brisk walk or vigorous activity might wipe her out. If you have noticed that there is a particular time that she falls asleep for her a.m. nap, then that may be her "natural" napping time and I would aim for that time.

[katesk]

I'm bumping this up because I have similar issue and just wondering if any new responses/ideas out there.

I too am following HSHHC book and finding that I can't get the first AM nap down. Especially when I go to work/send jack to daycare. It seems like I am missing his nap window because I can't seem to get everything/everyone ready and by the time I get him into crib at daycare, he seems wide awake and refuses nap. All of the daycare providers are trying to get him to sleep - but he just fights it. And then the rest of his daily naps are short and I end up picking up a baby that hasn't slept in 4+hours - and you know what this means- MELTDOWN. I end up putting jack to bed right away when we get home to try to make up for lost sleep.

Any other ideas out there? He usually wakes up at 7 or 7.30 - should I force an earlier wake up - like 6.30 to get him to finish nap before we leave for the day? That seems like a nightmare - and I hate to wake him up when he's still sleeping...

THANKS!!!

[Timmersmom]

Kate - I couldn't help but notice that Jackson was born the same day as my DD!

I used Weissbluth successfully, with some tweaking, for my son, so I figured I'd do the same for my daughter. That being said, sometimes it is hard to follow HSHHC - life gets in the way! For you, it sounds like it is daycare dropoff, for me, it is dropping off DS at preschool - it seemed like it was delaying DD's nap. I actually find that the guideline about putting them down for the morning nap no more than 2 hours after they wake up does not work for me. I find that if I wait a little longer to put her down for a nap in the morning, it works out better. So she wakes up around 7:15 to 7:30ish and I put her down for a nap 9:45ish, sometimes even later(she nurses to sleep).

I don't know enough about your situation, but maybe you could try waiting longer to put him down for the morning nap? With my DS, I eventually had him taking naps around 10am and 2pm, and it worked out fine (he woke up around 7am).

Oh, and FWIW, my DD's morning nap is always much shorter than the afternoon one, which is usually around an hour and a half. My DS would probably sleep all afternoon if I let him, so I think that some kids are just good nappers and some aren't. . .I guess I got one of each :)

Hope the nap situation improves for you!

Elizabeth

Timothy 3/11/02
Caroline 6/25/04