Hello,
I have a gorgeous 11.5 month old baby boy. He has never been a good sleeper - silent reflux has now passed but that did cause a lot of sleep problems for many months.
At around 7 months we did some sleep training and he began to sleep through the night at around 8 months. I am so grateful for this.
He is a happy boy but, despite sleeping through the night, he seems tired most of the time and it means that I am anxious all of the time as I want to make sure he's getting enough sleep. I believe his tiredness is due to his daytime naps not being long enough to sustain him. Here is his schedule:
Awake 5am, into bed with me and sleeps until 6am. Or, leave him in his cot until 6am but he generally doesn't then go back to sleep after the 5am wake.
'BOOB NAP' whilst I bf him at 7am (7-7.40am 'boob' nap).
NAP 1: 9.30-10.25 (always 55 mins - wakes crying - still tired?)
NAP 2: 2- 2.55 (always 55mins - wakes crying - still tried?)
BED: 6pm
Other things to note:
** He used to go to bed at 7pm but since transitioning to 2 naps he just can't make it from 2.55pm to anything past 6pm.
** The morning 'boob nap' is a weird thing - he's obviously still tired when he wakes at 5/6am.
** By 9.30am he is very tired and definitely ready for his nap
** For both naps he self settles very quickly with no crying (or very little) within a couple of minutes
** For bedtime he self settles. If we keep him up longer than the 3hr period between last nap and bedtime he does cry a little at this point but if we do 3hr awake time he goes to bed happily.
** The naps have recently become 55minutes long. He had been doing either 40minutes or 1hr 20minutes (1 or 2 sleep cycles). We have only managed to get him to start taking longer than 40minute naps in the last 3 wks. But now the 55minute length still doesn't seem long enough. We have tried to resettle him at 55 minutes but he will not settle again. Yesterday at the 55 minute mark he woke crying. I went straight into his room and offered him a breast. He went straight to sleep for a further 40 minutes....proving that he is definitely still rited after his 55 minute naps.
Anyway - any ideas on what we can do to help him take longer naps? (and yes, I do know that many people would be over the moon with 55 minute naps and a baby that sleeps all night. I, just like all mums, just wants the best for my boy and I know he wants/needs more sleep).
THANK YOU SO MUCH xx