My son is almost 9 months old and he sleeps great at night. Usually goes down between 9 and 10:30pm...it's a little late but we've tried to get him down earlier but he wakes up after about 2 hours and wants to eat again. He is bottlefed with babyfood 3 times a day. He gets up around 8:30am, eats, and usually goes back to sleep for another hour or so. Then he's up for the day. The problem is that he fights naps during the day really bad. He will rub his eyes and get pretty cranky...but won't go down for a nap. He will close his eyes for a second and then open them right up and start fighting to get out of my arms. We've laid him down in his crib....and he just cries and cries. We settle him down and then he just cries again. Most of the time we have to wait for him to pass out somewhere and then put him in his crib. Are we putting him to bed too late....not sure. Any advice would help. Thanks
ok...well first of all I want to thank everyone for their advice. Overall, I've learned to do what works best for me and my family. The first day we played outside for a while and then went for a walk in the stroller. By the time we got home he was asleep. I moved him to his crib and he slept for an hour and a half. That night was pretty bad putting him to bed though. Once you figure one thing out it becomes another!! Night after night it got worse and worse. I believe we are putting him to bed too late. We are busy doing other things ie. eating, visiting family or going out to eat and starting the 'putting to bed' process around 9:30pm. I finally hit rock bottom and my old techniques were no longer working. So tonight (night #1) we started the 'putting to bed' process around 8:30pm. Fed him his last bottle, read some books and sang to him. Then we kissed him and said our goodnights and put him in his crib. We also bought a sound machine for his room. He cried immediately. We let him cry for 7-8 minutes. I went in, laid him down, paci in mouth and patted his back. Left the room and he whinned for about 2-3 minutes and then nothing! I only went in ONCE! By 9:15pm he was asleep!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok beginners luck maybe....but we will see how it goes. USUALLY, once we get him to sleep, he sleeps fine all night long...around 10 hours....i'm just curious to see what time he wakes up in the morning. Thanks again. I will keep you posted!
When I was a SAHM and my children showed signs they were tired and wouldn't lay down for a nap I would take them for a drive around the neighborhood and this would put them to sleep.
Hi M. - my daughter is 2-1/2 and will be 3 in July. Too get her down for daily afternoon nap - I put her in the stroller and we go for a walk. Not only does it put her to sleep - but I get exercise and stay in shape. We have been doing it since she was a baby and it works perfectly for us. Hope it helps!!!
Maybe you could put some favorite toys in his crib to occupy him? I do that for naps during the day when he doesn't want to go down and my 9 mo old usually plays and then falls asleep. If your son isn't used to playing at all in his crib you could try staying in the room and playing with him and then gradually work up to him playing by himself. Even if my son doesn't actually fall asleep I'm happy if he just plays quietly and I get a little sanity break!!
Sounds like you got great advice from everyone.
One thing that comes to mind is that it sounds like (if he is rubbing eyes and showing other signs) that he is over-tired when you are trying. If he is starting out a bit cranky - it is tougher.
My thought is that whatever time he starts to exhibit being tired - back that up by a 1/2 hour and put him in his crib so that he can relax down and fall asleep before he gets irritable and resists it.
I hope that made sense! It works for me w/ my little ones. People will say 'oh well she doesn't LOOK tired' when I want to put her down for nap. For me, that is the idea! She can play quietly in her crib for 10 mins and fall asleep happy.
With that said - the teeth do definately cause some changes to interrupt that schedule from time to time!
Good luck!
personally I would rather have him sleeping at night than in the day, but I understand he gets cranky, and you probably need a break too!
I would put him in there, darken the room amap, put on some soft music, and tell him its rest time. If you plan on resting, do it near him, or lay near his crib until he calms down. If that doesnt work, you may want to consider laying him down earlier in the day, skipping the 830 nap and making nap from 11-1. That way he still goes to bed at night.
Good luck!
I am having similar problems with my 9 month old. He used to nap great in his crib at least 2 times a day, but not in the last couple of weeks. His 2 front teeth are coming in and I'm blaming that. I'm hoping that once the teeth come in he will sleep better during the day. He is a great sleeper at night. Good luck! I wish I had some great advice for you, but I'll definitely being watching this post!
I completely agree with the last posting by Sarah S. We made changes similar to hers when our little one was 9 months old. I had previously never let him cry at night due to his reflux. However, I realized he had gotten better and I needed to change my approach so that both of us would get more sleep and be happy. I read Marc Weisbluth's book as well, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". My son is now happy, curious, outgoing...a totally different child...because he's finally getting good sleep--11+ continuous hours of sleep a night and two 1 hour naps a day. Enlist your husband's support and a good group of friends. I would call my sister each morning, report in, get encouragement, etc. Wow-sleep is a beautiful thing!
light blocking curtains and soft music can do wonders! Keep trying, it could also be a difficult nap phase.
He's only fed 3 times a day? How much per feeding? Is he gaining weight appropriately? Maybe he's cranky because he's hungry.
Hi M.,
I'm sorry to hear about your little boy not napping, because I have the same situation and I know how stressful it can be! I keep telling myself how lucky I am though, that he sleeps well at night. I would suggest trying to put him down a little earlier. We started doing that and it took a few days for him to get used to it and he definitely protested, but we let him cry for a little bit and he finally settled down. We actually started making his bedtime at about 6:00pm because he was SO cranky in the afternoon due to not sleeping at all during the day (he's been like this since he's been about 4 mos. old).
He is better about napping now. But I have to rock him to sleep. That's the only way he'll settle down and actually go into his crib (I don't have to rock him at night before bedtime though). I also darken the room, use a sound machine and play lullabies for him, to let him know that it's naptime.
Anyway, good luck!! I know how frustrating it can be! I keep telling myself it's just a phase! :)
K.
It sounds like he is fighting naps because he is overtired. My son (now 11 1/2 months) did something very similar. When we put him down at 7pm, he would wake up after 45 minutes, then again between 10 and 11pm to eat, then again between 2 and 5am; sometimes more. His naps, when I could get them which often involved the car, would be 45 minutes or less.
The only thing that worked was to meet his needs and then let him cry. My pediatrician told me that it is hard to do, but that if I didn't, I would be robbing him of his lifeline.
First, we worked on eliminating the feedings. I started sleeping with him and only giving him water when he woke up. Then two nights later, I was with him when he woke up, but didn't feed him. Then a few nights later, when he woke up, I went to him and sat or laid in the room (wearing earplugs) until he passed out from crying. Then eventually I stopped going to him. The crying went from 37 minutes to 20 to 15 to 10 to 5 and then 30 seconds. He still has bad nights and I do go in and lay with him, but it only starts the cycle over again and I have to let him cry it out the next time.
This was a horrible, very difficult thing to go through, but I had hit a wall. I was a grumpy impatient person, a bad wife and a resentful Mom. I have no regrets and you just have to tell yourself that it will be a week from hell, but you will get through it. The naps relatively fixed themselves. I now put him down at 9am and 1pm and let him play until he goes to sleep. Sometimes he fusses or whines, but it only lasts a few minutes. He still fights bedtime and will cry so hard sometimes he'll throw up. But, it is so much better than it was. I would recommend "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" because it helps you decide an approach and does not only preach the cry-it-out method. Good Luck.
Sounds like my own son...7 years earlier. I wouldn't say you are putting him to bed too late. I believe you just haven't established a nap routine with him. It's never too late. I work in daycare and if we can get 6 kids between 4 yrs.to 11 months old all on the same nap schedule, then anyone can. It takes time and effort though....as well as a deaf ear to start with. Start paying attention to when he's tired, to start settling him down. You don't want to wait until he's overtired, then he'll pass out, as you said.
You could rock him for a few minutes, or read a story, then tell him it's time to sleep now, and lay him down. I also recommend a toy that plays music or a cd player with lullabies turned on low volume. All the children conk out within 15 minutes of me putting on their nap music. That's it. Yes, he'll scream. Yes, he'll cry... maybe for 10 minutes, maybe for an hour. I'm willing to bet though, if you do this every day, at about the same time, after 2 weeks (or less; some of our kids adjusted to the new routine after only a few days; depends on their personality) he'll be more than happy to go down everyday for you.
Children really thrive on routine. It makes them feel safe because they know what to expect. Also at 9 months, he's starting to associate words with actions, so he'll learn "time to nap" pretty fast. Good luck, hope you find what works!
My son did the same thing at this age. I think that it is common for his age and there are soooo many factors that can contribute, ie teething, bedtime, eating habits, development. My son has never been a good napper and at 9 months he did not want a nap at all. At that age, he wouldn't let me even rock him. I tried it all, but in the end, he just out grew it. From 9 to 11 months it was a battle. The ONLY thing that I could do is just put him in his crib and leave him for one hour and if he hadn't fallen asleep after an hour, then I would get him up and we just wouldn't have a morning nap that day. He wasn't crying, just playing. It usually resulted in a somewhat better afternoon nap. Your son may be the opposite with wanting his nap in the morning. My suggestion is to just put him in his crib at the same time every afternoon. If he naps, he naps. It's difficult, but I swear at about 11 months, he just changed over night. He just came up to me one morning, threw his arms up in the air for me to pick him up and laid his head on my shoulder as to say "Mommy I'm ready for a nap now". Go figure. He continued taking two naps until he was about 14 months when he cut the morning one out all together.
Sounds as though you have a night person on your hands. My advice is don't fight his natural inclination to go down later.
During the day don't try to force him down. When he starts getting cranky sit him is a dim room that you have pit a large fish tank in. Have the chair or sofa which should be one that he can just relax into a lying down position in, have it facing the fish tank.
My bet is that if he needs the naps he will take them in that room on his own.
The gene that determines if you are a night person is most likely one that goes along with some sort of artistic talent. If he likes soft music have a radio tuned to the soft jazz or classical station. This may bewcome a favorute room of his & he may take to going in there himself when he needs it.
S.
I have a 4 yr old and an 8 month old. The little one goes down at 7:30 and sleeps till 7:00ish. He takes 2 naps a day, one at 9:45 and one at 2:00. If I put him down too late, he fights it terribly and cries. Put your baby down before he gets overtired- it makes a big difference.
No two children are the same, and if you're reading "baby books", your baby may not be one of those babies.. I had five, yep, count 'en: 5!! Each one was different, and each one slept differently.. I do think that babies need naps, and sometimes, I've noticed with my little ones that some good old fashioned exercise will tire him out. Sometimes you may take him for a ride, since they seem to fall asleep with the movement. I would never put a baby down and let it cry, but that's just me.. A lot of moms do it. Maybe some soft music, rocking chair, and mom is all he needs.. That worked for the youngest two.. Good luck.. Give that baby kisses... M Cook
I don't think he's going to sleep to late. My daughter is 3. I've always put her to bed around 10. It works very well with my schedule. If he gets to sleepy in the middle of the day. I would cut out the morning nap. Keep him awake and he will be sleepy later in the afternoon. My daughter never wanted to take naps. Usually, the only way I could get her to take one was to ride around in the car until she fell asleep.
