Nap Training - 6.5 Months Old

I personally find the concept of "training" a baby to sleep a bit of a disconnect. It seems to me all we can really do is control the variables enough to make babies comfortable and relaxed enough to sleep when they are tired. Alternately, we can leave them feeling discouraged about the possibility of getting the connection and comforting they may need, dropping them into a baby version of depression. Too early insistence on a child sleeping through the night (if that was your goal) can backfire emotionally as your son develops further. Some babies can sleep alone early, but some can not achieve that until a year, or even older.

Two months is still a very long time away, in baby years. That's another third of his life so far. That's huge, developmentally. Your son is still basically helpless, barely able to move around, or manipulate things, or communicate, on his own. As his physical skills and verbal understanding improve, he'll feel less helpless and dependent on you to meet all his needs, and more participatory. That can make a huge difference in a baby's perception of things, and how much frustration they can tolerate without undue misery.

But he'll still not be able to nap unless he feels secure and comfortable (and in need of sleep!). My grandson was great about falling asleep on a shoulder, but would wake easily when we laid him down. I found that if I leaned over the crib and lowered him very slowly while shifting his weight around subtly and rhythmically in my arms, it gave the mattress a chance to warm up, and it gave his little body a chance to settle into a more prone position with less support from my arms. Then he usually stayed asleep.

I hope you find something that works for you and your son!

Try warming the sheets in the crib before putting him down. Going from your warm embrace to cold sheets will definitely wake him up!

Also, like another poster said, do the last few minutes of nursing by the crib side so you don't have to get up and walk when you're ready to put him down.

Put him down when he's drowsy, not asleep.

Nurse until he is drowsy, not asleep. GENTLY lay him down. I used to nurse the last minute or so standing by the crib, so walking to the crib wasn't necessary. I would hum softly and stroke their hair to relax them and sway back and forth to get them as drowsy as possible, shades drawn so there wasn't bright light coming in. If he stirs still lay him down, gently whispering and patting him a minute to help him relax, then leave. However she taught you to train him to sleep at night in his crib apply those same tips to nap training. The same ways, including the CIO method you used. I prefer to use the Ferber method, go in after 5 minutes of crying, soothe, leave, returning in 10 minutes, then 15, adding 5 minutes each time.

And since he's 6.5 months make sure he's getting plenty of physical exercise so he's tired for a nap. Place him on his tummy, with his toys out of his reach on the floor that he can see and try to get to, moving his body to them however he can...crawling, rolling, scooting, whatever. He'll develop his coordination and tire himself out working for them, which will lend to him not fighting a nap so much.

Yes, he may cry at times, but he'll go to sleep. Just work with him as you did with night training, give it the time he needs. Remember, your mom isn't going to nurse him to sleep.

We didn't do any sort of training or schedule. We fed DS when he was hungry and then put him down wherever we were- on a mat to play, in the stroller if we were out,etc. We never 'put him down' for a nap. We physically put him down when we weren't holding him and he slept when he was tired. He started daycare 3 days a week when he was 9 weeks and we never had a problem. I see no reason babies need to be on any schedule but their own biological one or why this should be an issue for your mom.

Oh and we NEVER woke the baby.

It sounds like you're a stay at home mom, correct? Why the need to have him on a schedule?

That being said, don't feel bad for trying to get him to sleep throught he night, or cry a little bit. He WILL NOT be damaged, as another poster suggested. If you are a loving parent, that's all that matters.

My son is the same age... First of all, take a deep breath! Everything will be ok. For my son, I have a shirt that I've worn that day or the night before in his crib so when I transition him after nursing, he cuddles with my shirt. I've also resorted to putting warm water bottle at his back to simulate body heat :) At this age, I don't have a hard schedule, though I notice he is sleepy in the morning and early afternoon - the minute I see a yawn or eye rubbing, it's off to nurse and nap.

At this age, teething is a huge factor so things have been challenging lately in terms of our son staying asleep at night (he still gets up for 2 feedings usually). Either way, I am not a big fan of CIO. There is a difference between letting him fuss and giving him a chance to work it out vs outright crying himself to sleep. There is evidence suggesting that the levels of stress in a baby's brain stay elevated through CIO even when they're quiet:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/2011...

More experts are now pointing to ancestral methods of parenting - after all, aren't moms/dads/babies hard wired for this and we've just complicated things with methods and modern parenting techniques? Nursing, high touch, responsive... Just know this time is fleeting and he won't need you like this all his life. All stages have their challenges and this is one!

As for your Mom, I have found that my kids seem to develop a different routine with other caregivers. I would have practice runs so that your son gets used to her. She can do the same things you do except just give the bottle before bedtime. My youngest son isn't a huge fan of the bottle (even though he is in daycare 3x week as I work part time) but they learn!

Relax, love your baby and don't overthink it! Good luck!

i had problems with the nap thing and took forever to get him on track but messed up one day and now if i let him take a nap he wants to stay up all night.. but when i first started getting him on track i woke him up at a certain time (for me was 8 in the morning for you may be a different time) and then around 1-2 he would get tired so i tried to put him to sleep at 1:30 or 2:00 and i let him sleep for about 30-45 minutes and then about 9-10 went to sleep for the night.. not to discourage you at all but took forever to get him to do it and he finally started doing it completly by himself but messed up one time he missed his nap and went to bed about 6 in the evening and sleeping habit been all messed up since..
as for the sleeping in his own bed i dont know about that because my son has always slept in his own bed.