30 minute naps for 6 month old

[Devonfirsttimemum93]

Hi all

I’ve been trying for what seems to be forever to extend my 6 month olds naps. He currently has 3x30 minute naps a day. Only place he’ll ever nap longer is in the car, which obviously isn’t practical (or cheap!) day to day. Even in the pram he’ll now only sleep 30 minutes, which used to be my only other place that he do it!

I’ve blacked out his room completely, he self-settles for each nap with a dummy and comforter, I wait 10-15 mins before going in after he wakes up, he’s always got a clean nappy/not near a feed, tried wake to sleep, we keep him active during his wake windows, so I’m at a loss!

I tried to put him down earlier to shorten his wake windows as he’s obviously overtired but he won’t sleep unless he’s had at least 2 hours since his last nap! And the last nap is always a struggle for him to settle anyway.

If he does get 2.5 hours a day (if I drive around etc) then he sleeps through the night, otherwise he’ll usually wake around 4 and be much more unsettled!

I feel at this point I’m looking for a magic wand… is it just wait until he grows out of it now?!

He's overtired.

Can you shorten his wake windows particularly the first one of the day? If he normally struggles to sleep earlier could you really try to tire him out- lots of physical movement- crawling or tummy time, lots of rolling etc. whatever stage he is at.

@JustWonderingIfYou I constantly try to shorten his wake windows and keep him super active so he’s tired - but he just won’t go down, it’s like he watches the clock!

You will need to actively settle him into the next sleep cycle on his middle of the day nap to make this longer - easiest would be in buggy to start with probably. Make sure he's had a good feed before he goes off to sleep and persist with rocking and replacing dummy until he settles back to sleep. White noise machine and snooze shade on buggy might help as well. It might take 10-20 mins to start with but if you persist his body clock will hopefully adjust and it will become easier for him to extend the nap himself as he is less overtired. This is what we've had to do with our baby and it has got easier now.

I've tried everything I can think off with my 8 month old and she still does 30 mins
Today two times 15 ish mins
My first was the same as well 😂. Sorry to say it never got better . She used to throw in the odd good nap but then always back to 30 mins.
She was doing 1 times 30 mins by 11-12 months.

Eurgh. It's more to say you are not alone and this is normal. I have heard a lot of babies do naturally start to lengthen though

@MGee123 I have tried this so many times with the buggy now, as it used to be one of the only ways of getting him to snooze longer and I was gutted when it stopped working! I used to go on walks for hours so he’d sleep lol! But none of this works now 😭 the car works but even if he has an hour and a half in the car it has never translated to his sleep elsewhere!

@jupitermars1345 yeah I’m starting to wonder if it’s fruitless attempts now! I feel I have tried every technique under the sun. Only thing I haven’t tried is controlled crying and I just don’t think I’m comfortable with it!

I did controlled crying with my first
It helped for the nights massively and I don't regret it at all
She self settled for naps but still wouldn't do longer or do more frequent naps to make up for the length 😬

It's bloody relentless

@jupitermars1345 yes I’ve heard this a lot about CC! His nighttime sleep is actually pretty great. He sleeps 12 hours and occasionally wakes for a feed but then goes straight back to sleep. It’s normally when his naps have been really bad that he wakes!

Could you try the opposite then? Maybe he is over stimulated when you try putting him down?
Have a really boring 1.5hrs after he wakes up and then try putting him down for a nap.
How does he go to sleep? White noise, pitch black was the only way my DS would nap at that age.

@Devonfirsttimemum93 he will grow into it. Mine was the same. Focus on getting him used to the cot and hopefully by the 10-11 months he will be on 2 good naps

@JustWonderingIfYou yes we could try this I suppose! I sing a lullaby, put him in his sleep bag, pitch black, white noise then put him in his cot with his dummy and comforter and he settles himself. He’s often wide awake when I put him down so I’m fairly confident in his self settling!

On another note with my first I wish someone had told me they don't all grow into it
She had white noise, cot, dark room and self settled.
Always 30 mins .
Month after month went by and at 18 months she was dropping that still 30 min nap .
She did sleep well at night though.

But I do hear that a lot get better in there own time at napping

I wish someone had told me too that they don’t all grow into it - I dread to think how much time I wasted trying to extend DD1’s naps! She self-settled but still only did 3 x 28 mins at 6mo, 2 x 28 mins by 8mo, 1 x 28 mins by 10/11mo and was starting to drop naps by 18mo. Started sleeping 12 hours a night the week she stopped napping.

Sorry, I know that’s not helpful, but I didn’t want you to think like I did, that the naps are somehow your ‘fault’. DD2 just turned 6mo and currently does 3 x 30 mins a day and still sleeps terribly at night. It’s relentless and you have my sympathy!

My 6 month old also only naps for 30 minutes, she has 3x30 a day at the moment. I read somewhere that possibly when they start crawling they might be tired enough to nap longer? but I don't know how true that is. Most places just say that it's normal to have a cat napper so I have decided to embrace it as opposed to fight it!

@Devonfirsttimemum93 my goodness I absolutely feel you , my 6 month old is exactly as you describe yours
I honestly think it’s something they will grow out of. My sister tells me that my niece ( now 8 ) was exactly the same and she grew to be a great sleeper.
Hang on in there X

If he needs the dummy to get to sleep for naps that might be part of the problem. Or it may not be due to that. Mine started sleeping longer at 9 months, nothing I tried before that made any difference.

Hi OP,

I have the same problem with my baby.

Have nap's lengths increased now??

Thanks!

I have the exact same with my LO! Has anyone seen any improvement with time?

@Sammy1204 did you see improvement? We’re in same boat x

Yes, thank goodness. Unbelievably at around 8/9 months he was having a two hour nap in the morning and another hour in the afternoon!
He's 16 months now and still does the same!

We didn't do anything different, I think you just have to ride it out
I'm sure it will sort itself, good luck, I know how frustrating it is!

Thanks for updating me @Sammy1204 and giving me hope! Did yours sleep in cot, pram or carrier? So far mine has only slept in carrier or bf to sleep. X

Yes mine was the same, sometimes he'd nap longer if on our bed but it wasn't ideal!
His sleep improved when he was in his own cot and room, better/longer naps and sleeping through most nights