Why won't my baby nap

[Whereland]

My baby is 5 months old. His naps are just crap. I'm following the advice of him being awake about 2-2.5 hours between naps biting the day. He is breaking my heart with his bawling crying before naps then only going off for 30 mins. Which of course leads to him being over tired.
I'm following all the usual advice. Calm down time before the nap, quiet time, shushing, he's fed and clean but still fights it to the end. HELP

[rubyroot]

I know how you feel!

I have been battling to get mine to nap

Do you have a dummy, it is the only thing that has worked for me. He naps in slings and cars- but this is not always practical.

He cries when I give it to him, but I lie next to him and hold it in and eventually he takes it, now he is starting to take it more voluntarily!

Today he has had a total of 3 hours in 2 naps, and believe me I really have battled to get him to nap. Sometimes he has one nap of over 2 hours a day and that seems to be enough too.

He's still not sleeping properly at night though, keeps waking and won't go back to sleep- in fact his sleep at night is getting worse not better.

[INeedNewShoes]

I thought before I clicked on the thread 'I bet this is a 4/5 month old baby!

It seems to be really typical at this age as they really start taking more of an interest in their surroundings.

I'd reached desperation when I was given this advice: start with a lunchtime nap. Ten days in a row put baby to bed in cot. Encourage them to go to sleep. Even if it doesn't work on day 1 and baby doesn't sleep do it on day 2, then day 3 etc. They'll start getting used to the idea and maybe day 4/5 might actually nap. Continue consistently until day 10 when a habit to nap should have formed.

This worked brilliantly for me! It's a bit of an investment though because for those ten days you need to be at home every lunchtime but once the habit is formed it's ok to break it.

Once you've established the lunchtime nap apply the same process to the morning nap (around 2 hours after waking), then the afternoon nap.

Sleep begets sleep...

[pastabest]

There is no way at that age my DD would have gone 2.5 hours between naps without getting overtired. More like 1.5!

I second trying a dummy.

I also think that it's typical sleep regression age, you might just have to ride the wave for a few weeks.

[Whereland]

Thanks for the replies.
He does have a dummy, he can kind of take it or leave it though- it does work if I hold it in his mouth sometimes and he'll spit it out once he's asleep.
I like the advice of the 10 day habit forming. Think I'll give that a go. I need to feel like I'm trying something different rather than just listening to him crying and shushing him!!
I was doing 1.5 hours between naps but he was starting to be too awake to go down and was getting angry at being out down too soon!!

[INeedNewShoes]

I did the '2, 3, 4' method very roughly. So first nap 2 hours after waking, then a gap of 3 hours then 4, so it ends up looking something like this:

6:30 baby wakes up

-this is the 2 hour gap-

8:30-9:15 nap

• 3 hours awake -
  

12:15-14:15 nap (this tends to be a longer nap)

6:15pm bedtime


I never followed this religiously but it gave me an idea of when to look out for tiredness and I soon realised that DD needed her morning nap much sooner than I'd thought, so I'd been missing the cues and she was ending up over tired.

[Whereland]

Thanks for that, I do actually wonder if the 2.2.5 hour gap is too short for him, especially after his morning nap. I'll keep that method in mind too, thank you!

[MollyDaydream]

Will he sleep longer if he's in a pram or sling?

Many babies only sleep for one sleep cycle of about 40 minutes at this age though - he might just need 4 or 5 naps a day.

[rubyroot]

My baby hated dummy to start off with- but it works every time without fail. I just hold it there until he takes it.
Btw- mine is a similar age

[maplebaby]

Mine is similar - he is 19 weeks and his naps are only 30-45mins long. He gets tired after 1.5 hours though and usually always fights sleep but we just rock and bounce through it and he eventually nods off!

He doesn't take a dummy.

Sorry no advice but just to say I'm in the same boat!

[Mumtolovelyboyandgirl]

We bought a myhummy for my daughter at this age. It is a soft toy that plays white noise. It helped her a lot (don’t get me wrong, it didn’t stop her waking up, but it did reduce it and acted as a calming sleep cue). After a bit of time she got used to it and we still use it every time she’s in her bed. Good luck, sleep deprivation is hard for everyone.