Ridiculous short naps

[Shadowboy]

My 5 month old sleeps well during the night 8-5.30am but during the day has stupidly short naps- I can't imagine they would be at all rejuvenating. She falls asleep fairly easily but wakes 15 minutes later. The only way I can get her to nap for longer is in the car but as soon as o stop driving she wakes up. She won't sleep in the Sling anymore (tried walking for 3 miles and she will stay awake the whole time)

She averages 4 15 minute naps per day so in total is only getting about 11-12 hours sleep in 24 is that ok?

[FATEdestiny]

The only way I can get her to nap for longer is in the car

Things that a car journey provide that encourages sleep

• white noise
  
• unstimulating
  
• constant movement
  
• vibrations
  

So try thing a that recreate as many of those as possible. One example would be:

• bouncy chair
  
• on vibration
  
• with rhythmic bouncing
  
• with the vacuum cleaner or white noise app going quite loudly
  
• no other stimulation
  

You could also try a lying down pram walk, rocking pram back and forth in house, baby swing, rocking crib

This is an age when you have to work really hard to get baby to go to sleep and stay asleep. It usually needs active effort from you to make it happen.

Also consider your crying tolerance. Unless you feed to sleep or give a dummy, baby is likely to cry to get to sleep. Personally I favour the dummy, but many are anti-dummy use. You just have to tolerate some crying to get baby to sleep though.

[Peachesandcream15]

This is normal. Sorry! It does change as they get older.

[TheChineseChicken]

Oh god the short naps. We have been through so many periods of these and I'm not sure they can be helped!

[riddles26]

Just over a month ago Fate made me feel like the worst mother in the world for allowing my then 4 month old baby to cry when getting to sleep even though I was lying next to her and soothing her and absolutely nothing else worked.
I was told 'Under no circumstances is crying good for young baby or helpful. The crying is teaching her zero. Nothing. Well, aside from that she's upset and you aren't stopping the upset. Leaving your 4 month old to cry, you there or not, is not teaching her how to go to sleep.'
I am absolutely shocked to see her response here and feel like it is really hypocritical!

Anyway, having now sleep trained my daughter at 5 months, I do agree with her when she says you need to consider tolerance to crying. The light at the end of the tunnel is that my daughter only needs white noise and a dark room free of stimulation to sleep for most of her naps now but I did have to really persist when she came out of a sleep cycle to get her to link to the next one on her own. I used pick up/put down and would continue that until she fell back asleep for her naps. She eventually started linking the sleep cycles and napping for longer. If you don't feel ready to sleep train and her suggestion of the bouncy chair works, I would go with it (unfortunately did not work with my one otherwise I definitely would have picked that option until she was older).

[FATEdestiny]

I am absolutely shocked to see her response here and feel like it is really hypocritical!

I think it's more likely you were taking my posts on your own thread far too personally riddles26.

Getting baby to sleep well is hard. When it's your own child I understand you feeling shitty about it.

The types of things I post on sleep threads is consistent. Your anger has no place.

You feel differently and have a higher tolerance for your baby crying. That's your prerogative. It doesnt make me hypocritical for that I think babies can learn to sleep without crying and you don't. That's just a difference in opinion.

Life would be dull if everyone was the same.

You need someone to vent at because life is/was crappy with regards to baby sleep. Ive bedn there and have a thick enough skin to cope with your fury. So rage away.

You're doing good riddles26.

[riddles26]

Fate what you said to me on that thread was cruel and it was pulled up as unhelpful and unkind by multiple other posters.

You feel differently and have a higher tolerance for your baby crying. That's your prerogative. It doesnt make me hypocritical for that I think babies can learn to sleep without crying and you don't. That's just a difference in opinion.
As I had mentioned at the time, I didn't have tolerance for her crying but just didn't have a choice - she either cried while I tried to get her to sleep or refused to sleep and cried because she was chronically overtired and exhausted. I was picking the lesser of 2 evils at that point and desperately seeking advice. Fortunately I am no longer in that situation and somehow managed to pull off sleep training with hardly any tears thankfully so I am delighted with the outcome

I'm not 'raging' at you. I really respect the level of knowledge you have on infant sleep and the advice you give on this thread but you are being pretty patronising towards me at the moment. I agree we all have different opinions but your post to me and the one to OP on this thread (which was completely appropriate I might add) are far from consistent.

[FATEdestiny]

Your bunfight is helping no-one riddles26, certainly not the OP. It has no place on Shadowboy's thread.

I WILL NOT apologise for saying that your 4 month old did not need to be crying to sleep.

I am sorry for this derailing of your thread Shadowboy. I hope naps have been better today.

[FATEdestiny]

I went to look for your thread, since you are so bitter. Let's explore why my posts were tailored to the specific needs of the OPs.

riddles26: "she now cries every time I put her down for a nap without exceptions. She does eventually go to sleep for anything between 1 and 3 sleep cycles"

OP: "She falls asleep fairly easily but wakes 15 minutes later."

These are not the same situations. There is nothing hypocritical about me noting that you needed help in getting your baby to go to sleep, the OP needed advise on how to make naps longer.

I am no one-trick-pony. I'll offer advice (which can be taken or left) on many different kinds of situations. I have my biased opinions and favoured methods (gentle independant sleeping) just as other posters do here. But offer help on all sorts of other methods that are not my favoured methods.

But that does not mean i will write identical things on every thread

Each situation is different. The OP needed different help from that you did. Their situation, their baby, is different to yours. Just because I don't give identikit advise to everyone does not make me hypocritical.

OP doesn't have a baby crying to sleep every time. Well, they don't say that any way. So I give different advise.

As I said initially Riddles, you are taking my posts far too personally. Please stop that. Now. Nothing I wrote here is personal. It's just me trying to help. If you don't like it, just ignore it. Don't go one other threads just in some form of personal vendetta.

[Shadowboy]

Thanks for all who commented. I appreciate all help. We've. Had a touch of progress today with a 30 min and a 40 minute nap!

[FATEdestiny]

That's more like it Shadowboy. 30-45 minute naps are absolutely normal and time for this stage in development. Try to keep awake time between naps limited to 90 minutes (ish, give or take) to avoid over tiredness.

Whatever you are doing, keep doing it