how can i get a v tired v grumpy ds2 to sleep for longer in the day ?!

[frazzledfairy]

ds2 is 6 months ols, he wakes at 6.30ish in the morning, then naps 9.15 to 9.45ish, 12 till 12.30 ish and 2.45 till 3.15ish. he goes to bed at 5.45/6ish. he is grumpy and tired in the day especially the afternoon, and i am grumpy and tired too cos am pg with no 3!

how can i get him to sleep for longer than 1/2 hour at a time? tia

[compo]

Hi, he is the same age as my dd and the sleeping patterns sound exactly the same. She only sleepins in my arms after a bottle or in the pushchair so if I want her to have a longer nap it only works when we go out. I decided just to go with the flow because she sleeps from 6.30pm til 7am so I'm loath to complain really.
Congrats on number 3 by the way (I don't know how you do it!! - just the 2 of mine, without being pregnant drives me up the wall!!)

[taylormama]

if he won't sleep longer how about squeezing an extra catnap in before bed. I used to do this with my DS (30 mins or so) and used to be enough to get him through bath and bed. He does go to bed around an hour later than your DS so would make sure he was awake by 5.30 pm (ish) for a bed time of 6.45 - his night time sleep was fine btw

[WaynettaSlob]

What happens when he wakes up at 12.30? Have you tried letting him settle himself?

[frazzledfairy]

how do i let him settle himself? do you mean not go in when he wakes?

i did try another nap but he will not sleep after 4pm. his worst time is when he wakes up at lunchtime. the other day he slept for 1 1/2hrs and it was like having a different baby!!

[pops79]

I'm in exactly the same situation with my 3 month old. He will only sleep for 30 minutes before waking. He is then very tired and very grouchy in the lead up to the next feed/nap.

I read that after 30 mins most babies move into a different cycle of sleep and that is why it is so common for babies to wake up after this amount of time. They simply don't know how to go back to sleep by themselves yet.

The way I have handled it is to make my little one's morning and afternoon nap happen when I'm out and about in the car or with the pushchair. That way he definitely has some good naps! I then concentrate on making the longer lunchtime nap work in his bed. Once he wakes after 30 mins I go in and calm him without taking him out of the bed. I then leave the room, returning every 3-5 minutes to re-assure him (if he is crying) until he is asleep again. Today it took 10 mins for him to go back, yesterday it took 20 mins..but in the end he ended up getting a pretty reasonable 1.5 hour nap and being much happier in the afternoon as a result.

Hope this helps!