20 week old ds2 - when naps go bad

[vmcd28]

Ugh!
The school holidays have really screwed up ds2's naps :(

I'm trying to do lots of nice activities with ds1 who is off school at the moment, as I don't have so much time with him niw that he's at school and also we now have wee ds2.

The problem is, ds2 just won't sleep in his pram or car seat without a real struggle. Eg yesterday he woke at 0730, napped from 9ish for 45mins then wouldn't resettle. He was then then awake till we went out at 12pm. He was starting to drop off when we arrived at soft play, but woke right up when I got him out the car. He whined and whinged til 2.40pm when he finally dropped off. For 45 mins. When he woke he didn't try to go back to sleep but he was pretty grumpy til he fell asleep at 5pm, for 45 mins.
It's not a lot of fun being out when he is grumpy. But I can just cope with it. However today we're having a lazy morning, and ds2 went down for his morning nap. Usually he'll sleep for 2 hrs but only slept for......yes, 45 mins. So the few days he's been disrupted seems to have affected his naps in his cot too. I tried to resettle him, and it seemed to be working, but no, he just ended up wailing again.

In addition to this he's started waking a little earlier in the morning. He doesn't seem to be hungry when he wakes. He used to sleep 7pm-7ish am, but has started waking at 6am.

Any suggestions as to how to get back on track? Or how to get the naps to be longer, or how to get him to sleep in his pram? We've tried putting a blanket over to block out stimulation but he just stares at the blanket

Anyone?

No answers for you I'm afraid but I share your pain. My DD won't nap longer than 30 mins. Have you looked through the My Baby Won't Nap Sign Here thread? Lots of ideas there. Hope it gets better for you :)

i also have a 20 week old and today she woke at 6.30, napped at 11 for 30 mins in cot, slept on play mat at 2 for 15 mins and slept in cot at 6 for 30 mins, then went to cot at 8, so she is having less than 12 hours per day.

im sure dd1 used to sleep much more but as you say her sleep wasnt disturbed being ferried round everywhere as i fitted around her more.

Are you sure it's the school hols screwing things up? I too have a 20 week old who has always been an excellent self settler. The last few days have been torture. He won't settle for naps (yesterday afternoon i resorted to bringing him downstairs and rocking him in his buggy) and last night decided not to settle at bedtime either - which is unheard of. When he eventually got to sleep he woke up an hour later. I managed to shush him back to sleep and he woke again an hour later so ended up co-sleeping. He'd also got to the point of doing 6/7 hour stretches at night and now seems incapable of doing even 3. Is there a 5 month growth spurt/ regression?

Interesting re others having similar problems...
I'm really not sure if it's being out and about that's the problem, but he's currently in his cot and has been asleep for an hour, phew! However he woke at 530 this morning again! We ignored him cos he was happy enough, and he eventually went back to sleep, then woke again at 7. So the early waking thing is still there. Im not too worried about this as it stands, as he's not waking cos he's hungry, and he's going back to sleep again. In fact, if he wasn't in our room, we might not even know he'd woken at all.

Oh I've just remembered, I gave ds2 a bath before putting him in his cot this morning - that possibly helped too.

Have any of you started solids yet? My hv said one sign of baby needing them is night wakings or not settling at night when they once did. We haven't started yet, will play it by ear

sounds familiar....
dd2 is 24 weeks, dd1 is 4. dd2 has recently started sleeping much better at night (often only waking once at 4ish), but this has been at the expense of her naps. she fights them, crying HARD before each one. then wakes 20-45mins later, grumpy and screaming. she's not a whole lot of fun at the moment.

in fact she's just started now. must dash. but just wanted to say i think it might be a 5mo thang.

Haven't started solids yet - he doesn't appear to be waking from hunger, more from fussiness and in need of comfort. He's not normally a particularly clingy baby. He went through this at 4 months too, but that time it only affected his night time sleep and not his naps. It's very difficult to know what to do to help him. Mostly shushing from afar works, but even that is failing at the moment. I looked in on him trying to get to sleep and he was obviously exhausted but finding it very difficult to switch off. I went in and just rubbed his head, gave him a kiss and put his comforter in his hand. Five minutes later he finally slept - 45 minutes in total after putting him down!

He's now been asleep for an hour though...

Ds2 woke at 545 today, but wouldn't resettle so I had to get him up and feed him at 6, grrr. Why oh why is he waking early when he,was a 7-7 baby for weeks?!

no solids here yet, dd2 isnt hungry enough yet, milk feeds satisfy her. i remember with dd1 suddenly at 5 1/2 months she was realy hungry and even though i offered more milk she just kept waking and waking hungry so i started solids then, so im waiting for the same.