Any magic tips for lengthening nap times?

[squigglehead]

DS (8m) sleeps a lot but is HELL to get to sleep - it takes ages and then most of the time he only stays asleep for half an hour!

He generally sleeps from 7-7 give or take, waking up frequently for boob. He has around 4 naps during the day of half an hour each, waking up still seeming tired. It doesn't matter where he is - sofa, pram or sling - they rarely last longer than 30 mins. I've tried waking to sleep, nope. I've tried naps upstairs in a darker room, nope - he plays and mucks around and resists sleep until I take him back downstairs!

I know there's probably nothing more I can do but I'm posting here in the hope someone will provide the magic answer anything to stop the cycle of spending half an hour getting him to sleep for it to only last half an hour! He'd be much better off with a longer nap in there, on the rare days he manages it its noticeable. He's so tired bless him!

Sorry no advice but I have exactly the same problem with my 6.5mo. So will be following!

At 9 months we did sleep training with ds and once he could reliable self sooth himself to sleep he could nap for longer until then he was a nightmare for short naps too. Sorry probably not that helpful. ..

Mines younger but we wrap her up really warm (at least 2 more layers than she would need if awake) and have her outside that way when she wakes after 30min we can walk her back to sleep. Once she is asleep again she normally sleeps another hour or so.

How long does he go from waking until first nap? My 9 month DS was a catnapper until about 7-8 months (and would only sleep on me!) then I started leaving him longer between naps, and moving him into his own room helped as it gave him a nap routine. He wakes anywhere between 6-7 so I put him down for his first nap about 3 hours after he wakes, take him up to his (very dark!) bedroom, feed him his milk and he falls asleep on me most the time, sometimes I put him in the cot and he wakes and resettles. Then he tends to sleep 90 mins-2 hours. Then after he gets up and we go and do whatever we are doing, lunch at 12-1 ish and then I aim for an afternoon nap around 2. He does on occasion have a later morning nap and sleep for ages and refuse an afternoon nap, but he will soon be at nursery where he will likely have one nap anyway so he may as well get used to it! He also sometimes misses an afternoon nap if we are out and about on a weekend, he might grab a snooze I the baby carrier or buggy, but he's too nosy to sleep much when out! I used to be terrified of letting him go long without a nap, but once he got used to the longer times between them he adjusted himself accordingly. I was finding I was spending ages getting to sleep an hour or so after he woke because that's what he had needed, but it took so long because he wasn't ready to go. Weaning helped as he has more to do in the morning now so before you know it it's after 9 and naptime!

I mean I always put him in the cot to sleep now, but sometimes he wakes and resettles himself! I don't sit in a very dark room for 90 mins!

What worked for me was co-sleeping naps. So I just got into bed with him and woukd resettle him everytime he stirred for a couple of hours. After a week or so I found he would sleep that long on his own in his cot. Now I miss the naps myself though!

My ds mostly does 30 min naps regardless of method (sling, pram, co sleep, cot (rarely!)) but just recently (he's 9.5 months) has started to have the odd longer nap, on occasion up to 2 hours (when co sleeping and drinking whilst he naps). I've not changed anything, so it must be developmental I guess. He is starting to drop to 2 naps so maybe that's why. Saying that yesterday he only had 2 30 min naps so it's not very consistent!

Mine was a 30-40 minute catnapper until he hit 7 months then magically started sleeping an hour 15 and only needing 2 naps a day.

If you kept him up longer between naps maybe it would encourage him to consolidate his sleep a bit?

I use Ewan the dream sheep if I think dd isn't going to settle or wakes up and it works most of the time.

By 8 months mine was down to 2 naps a day, one of 40 mins in the morning and one of about an hour and 40 mins in the afternoon. She was a 4 times a day cat napper until about 7 months though! What worked for me was sticking to a routine (I didn't so Gina ford or anything like that but a friend did and I nicked her timings!). I was going a little bit insane with the cat napping so had to do something. I think it was something like up at 7, down for a nap at 9.30am and then another nap at 12.30pm (although it was always closer to 1ish with DD) then 7 o clock bedtime. Never let her nap past 3pm at that age.

No advice on your actual question but just wanted to point out that putting a baby to sleep in the sofa is best avoided. They can't roll themselves over at this age, and the risk of suffocation is too great (won't sensationalise, but there have been instances of tragic consequences).

The crib, carry cot and floor are fine. Some people say no to car seat and sling but personally I think if they are used correctly they are fine. Just not the sofa.

Oh it was also at this age that I persevered with getting all naps in the cot. Bit of a double edged sword as it means that at 18 months she will only nap in her cot so day trips are tricky but it certainly improved her sleep.

Probably worth looking at the "no cry nap solution" (at least I think that's what it's called!). My DD was a prolific cat napper, although this is going back a bit. This book suggested that you resettle the baby as soon as they stir and this "resets" their sleep cycle. I did it for a week or so and it worked. Good luck!

At 8 months my ds was having 3 naps a day, he really wanted a strict routine and he always had good naps (slept v bad at night though so doubt im much help!). I found that hed nap deeply for 40mins and then have a teeny wake up and then if he saw me hed go instantly back to sleep, but if I wasnt there hed wake up upset. So i just stayed in the same room when he napped and then hed nap fabulously and a good long nap. He has always napped in his pram which was useful as if he started to wake up i could rock the pram a little and hed go back over.Yes, Like stepfaux says - I just resettled him when stirring rather than letting him wake up fully. I think perhaps he was starting to only need 2 naps a day by then too, but they were nice long naps.

I vaguely remember letting dd1 take quite a few of her naps on my lap at that age so that I could resettle her the instant she roused. That seemed to get her into the habit of sleeping longer even when I settled her into her cot instead.

My DS used to consider 30 mins once a day enough napping. Then he started crawling and then walking. Now we are looking at an hour to two. If your DC is 8m you might find it getting a bit easier soon

Brock thanks for your concern, but he has been rolling for months now. He always sleeps on his side and keeps himself there, he never stays or sleeps on either front or back. I stay in the room with him so he is always supervised, he is definitely not at risk - did you misread and think I said 8 weeks? Most 8 month olds I know roll to be honest!

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. Should have said he won't sleep on me anymore as he seems to want his own space :( might go back to having every nap in the pram for a while so I can jiggle it to resettle him and hope it creates a longer nap habit!

Have a google of the 'Wake to Sleep' method. It is scary as heck but worked on DD at 7ish months.

You might already do it, but I found that putting down to nap in sleeping bag he wore at night made naps longer. Before I would just use a light blanket then found out by chance when I didnt have blanket to hand that it made a difference for us.