How to persuade a nearly 8 month old that afternoon naps are a good idea

[fabulosa]

I've posted a bit recently about DS2, now nearly 8 months, who's sleeping patterns have been all over the place. In contrast to DS1, who was very good at establishing his own routine, DS2 does seem to need much more help in staying on an even keel.

At the moment he'll sleep from 8pm to about 6.30 the following morning (I know that not having night time wake ups at the moment is very good and I'm extremely grateful!) but when he wakes up he's still clearly tired and not hungry. He'll now (usually, anyway) go back to bed a couple of hours later after we've taken DS1 to school and sleep for between 1.5 and 2.5h. But then that's it for the day apart from 15 minutes or so in the car seat or pushchair. Consequently he's awake continually for about 8 hours at a stretch, which is definitely not good.

He seems tired after lunch (yawning, staring into space etc) but when I put him in the cot he just screams and cries. If he falls asleep in the car seat or the pushchair he wakes up when we come into the house or when I try to put him in the cot. I think he's just not used to the idea of a nap in the afternoon, but I don't know how to get him more enthusiastic about it all. If I just continue putting him in the cot when he seems tired will he get used to the idea eventually? I know that as he's a bit older now it could take longer to get him into a routine, but roughly how long is it likely to take?

Sorry for loads of questions, any wise advice very gratefully received!

Hello

I'd try not letting him have such a long sleep in the morning to be honest. It sounds to me as if he is not properly tired enough to settle after lunch, even if he is showing some tiredness signs, because he has had such a long sleep in the morning.

My 6.5mo fights post-lunch naps if I let him sleep any longer than 30/45 minutes in the morning (like yours, he goes to bed after the school run in the morning, falling asleep around 9:15ish). I tend to wake him around 10 and then he is ready to go back down again somewhere around 12:30pm. Might be worth a try with your LO too?

Thanks amberflower, I'll give that a try this morning. He went into his cot at 9.15, so I'll try getting him up at 10.15 and then see if he'll have a sleep after lunch. Is it likely that he'll go for it straight away or are we in for a few days (or longer!) of a hideously overtired baby? Just so I can prepare myself!

I suspect hideous baby!

Just out of interest why do you want him to have a long nap after lunch? I sounds like he's having a good nap in the day at the moment do you really need to mess with that?

If you do, then def start waking him earlier from his morning nap. My DS1 - actually and 2 as well - both struggled with the concept of long lunchtime nap at first. I had to spend at least a week doing sleep training- pick up put down when they woke after 30 mins sleep after lunch. Was worth it though. Pretty soon they both had long naps after lunch and so could I! Also a shorter nap in the morning meant I could get the tidying up done at 9ish then go out to playgroups, on jaunts before lunch.

Sleep-wise he's definitely hideous! He goes from being OK to horrendously overtired in a moment, and this has been the problem now he's more mobile. Until he started moving around a big sleep in the morning and then nothing until bedtime was OK for him as he didn't really do anything and he could relax by just sitting back in his chair. Now he's on the move he gets very tired though and can't manage happily the 8 or so hours between waking from his morning nap and bedtime. Last night he woke at 10.45 screaming and couldn't be settled back to sleep until midnight. This is unlike him, and it made me think of just growing overtiredness. I really feel that a sleep in the afternoon as well will do him good and help him feel more relaxed.

I let him have an hour this morning between 9.15 and 10.15. I put him down again about 10 minutes ago - a few squeaks and he's clearly still awake but not the meltdown I was expecting. Will see how we go. Do you think about a week is a realistic length of time to expect to get him into the habit?

The afternoon sleep went well yesterday, he went down for 2 hours and had to be woken so that we could collect his brother from school! I felt very pleased with myself . Less successful today, he had to be taken out for a walk in the pushchair to go to sleep this morning and a drive in the car after lunch! He does seem to have a cold though so I'm trying not to get too stressed about it! However, he does seem to be asleep now so I'm encouraged by that.

You may have guessed I'm not great without a routine so I hope we can continue with a shorter morning nap followed by one after lunch will continue so that I can start to relax and plan the days a bit more!

CAn you lie down with him? Worked for mine (plus you get to have a rest/sleep)

Oops, no, my mistake, he's squawking away to himself up there. I'll try leaving him for a bit and see if he settles back down.

Thanks for the suggestion Adair, unfortunately he's not a very cuddly baby and closeness to someone else seems to stimulate him rather than calm him down. If he's extraordinarily tired then he might doze for a bit but that's all.

Shit, that's turning into crying, I'm going to have to get him up. Hello horrible overtired baby, we're in for yet another grim afternoon.