How to get 6mo to take longer daytime naps?

[acornstew]

Hello mumsnetters - my first post...

Anyone got tips? My 6mo is bf and settles himself to sleep for naps and at night...BUT only sleeps about 45 mins (one sleep cycle I guess) during the day.

I don't think I do controlled cying...I leave him alone if he is just fussing/moaning and pick up, put down if he is actually crying. I don't usually have to do this more than once to get him to fall asleep to start the nap. However, once he has woken from his nap he chirrups for a bit and then starts to cry until I go in. After this I cannot get him to drop off again no matter hom much I resettle.

He usually has three 45 min naps during the day. He is fine in between naps, but the problem is at the end of the day - he is usually very tired by about 4.30pm, but will NOT fall asleep then for another nap (I have tried for about an hour for several days) so I have to jolly him along through his exhaustion until bed at 7ish (have a 2yo to feed, bathe etc).

I think the solution is to get him to take a longer nap earlier in the afternoon - but how??

i used to have to give ds2 a feed in themiddle of his nap!

i fed himto sleep, then like your ds he wouldwake about 30-45mins later. if i got to him as soon as he staretd to stir i could feed him stragiht back to sleep for another 45 mins or so

i used to have to give ds2 a feed in themiddle of his nap!

i fed himto sleep, then like your ds he wouldwake about 30-45mins later. if i got to him as soon as he staretd to stir i could feed him stragiht back to sleep for another 45 mins or so

Listen at the door just before he is due to wake up. At the very first sound, go in and pick him up no talking or anything and feed him again to see if you can get it back to sleep. Do it for a week and it should eventually work. They then get used to sleeping for another cycle.

It has worked brilliantly for my two BF children. My advice is also make the second longer afternoon nap later than some books advise I found 1-1.30pm leads to a better sleep especially when they have dropped the 4pm themselves.

Thank you thisisyesterday and iwantitnow, this is really helpful - it seems important for me to go in and resettle him as soon as he stirs, not wait to see if he can settle himself (as he doesn't!).

However he sometimes doesn't want to feed again so soon; and I'm trying to avoid actually feeding him to sleep as this can sometimes mean they become less good at settling themselves...Anyone been able to 'resettle' without feeding during a nap?

don't get too hung up on the not feeding to sleep. i always fed ds2 to sleep, and he sleeps fine by himself now.
ds3 for ages wouldn't feed to sleep and i wished he would! took me forever to settle him otherwise

This may not necessarily help, but with my DS, all of a sudden at 7-8months, he went from a 45minute sleep several times a day, to a 2 and a half hour sleep twice a day. One day he just slept for longer.

He's now nearly 2, and has one 3 hour nap a day. He just changed of his own accord, despite my many attempts to get him to sleep for longer.

get him to sleep longer than stop feeding him to sleep and it will work I promise you. They will do longer naps eventually but it can be a long wait 8-10 months old often. You will find that unless you do so they are then too tired to eat their solids before going to bed, then wake up often at night as they are hungry, and its a viscious circle - I know I've been there.

Ok thanks everyone - a bit late but I thought I should let you know what's happened...

I did try for a coulpe of days to feed and otherwise settle hinm to sleep, but he just cried for about an hour so I gave up! I can't be very consistent as dd also needs me - unless someone is here to help with her.

I think ds is just not ready to sleep longer yet and we're doing ok on short naps.

However he has just coem down with croup, so this is also unsettling his sleep.

Thanks again for your help and we'll try again in future.

I'm with Naetha - my DS never slept longer than 45 mins in the day until about 7 or 8 months. Now at 15 mo he tends to have one long nap of up to 2.5 hours.

I have 2 ds. One was a good napper, one was a crappy napper - and just like your little one acornstew - he would be quite tired by 5pm and always in bed by 7pm. I tried every trick in the book but I soon realized that a)once a kid is awake (for more than 5 or 10min) he's awake and the nap is over. and b) some kids develop a pattern of long naps later than others. By about 9months, my crappy napper had gone from 3 to 2 naps and because the naps were farther apart and he was more tired, he would nap for 1 hour instead of 30 minutes. This happened when he was ready - not when I wanted him to do it. Perhaps my messages are these: it's nothing you're doing wrong that leads your little one to have short naps, and also, have patience because things do change in their own time.

I have the same problem - an exhuasted 7month old who will only nap for 30 mins at a time. Just stopped bf to sleep (about 2 weeks ago) and she is doing ok with this but no improvement in naps. I wouldnt mind but she is permanently knackered and not getting anywhwere with solids as cranky at mealtimes.

So if anyone does have any ideas!! Or do i just have to wait and hope?

I don't think it's unusual to have 45 min naps at 6 months and I doubt there's much you can do about it. Many babies are whingy in the evenings.

Watch you don't exhaust yourself and the baby by spending to o long trying to get him to nap. You might be on a hiding to nothing.