3 1/2 month old only takes very short naps? NEED SOME GOOD ADVICE ! - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

halfpint51 · 01-22-2008, 02:46 PM

Hi...I am new to this board, and just neeeded any sort of advice. I have abeautiful 3 1/2 month old baby. He is wonderful except for his no napping issues. He sleeps 12 hrs at night and wakes for two feedings( asleep at about 7pm, awake for feeding at midnight, then back to sleep by 1am, and awake at about 630am for another feeding) So, he sleeps well at night, but in the daytime will only nap for 25-30 mins then is wide awake and crying. My husband held him all the time to nap initially until people told us to try and break that habit earlier than later. Now that we started putting him in his crib he wakes and cries after 30 mins or so. Its weird because he doesnt fuss much when we put him down, and we will put him down awake, and he will fall asleep on his own, but he wakes and then cries, and you can see he is still so tired. I have that Healthy Sleep Habits book, and they say it is ok to let him cry a little at around 3-4 months, but i wonder if he is still too young. The most i could let him cry before going to him today was 2 minutes. My husband wanted to go in after only 30 seconds. Guess we arent so great at thisBut, when he cries for a few mins, i go back in his room, soothe him, put the binky back in his mouth and leave...by the time i get downstairs he is crying again.At night, he sleeps in his bassinet-- he always is pretty drowsy after nursing, and never gives me a hard time when i put him down, and 99 percentof the time he is asleep anyway. We are trying to put him in his crib for naps now, so he gets used to sleeping there soon at night also, since he is outgrowing the bassinet.Also, he is a very big boy. I exclusively breastfeed him, and he almost double his birth weight now (believe it or not), so hopefully the pediatrician will give us the ok to start him on solids at his 4 month check up..maybe that will help. But again, i have to belive that isnt the problem because he is fed every few hrs, and appears tired, not hungry. Ok, sorry for the long post.... we are just new parents that arent so great a this and just need some help. Any help on how to get him to stay asleep so he gets a quality nap??

felix61379 · 01-22-2008, 03:49 PM

I had to put my daughter on her tummy. This may not be something you will be comfortable with b/c of the SIDS risk, but it extended my daughter naps to 3 hours and she slept 10 hours at night after switching to her tummy. Good luck, I know how aggravating it can get when you just need some time to yourself and they sleep for about a second

daddyslilgirl13 · 01-22-2008, 03:56 PM

Same here.. I just started letting my 2 1/2 month old sleep on her tummy, and this has extended her daytime naps. Only thing is that I check on her often. Try it see if it works. Goodluck

sem627 · 01-22-2008, 08:20 PM

I, too, did the tummy at this age for daytime naps. At night my son slept on his back. I wasn't comfortable letting him sleep on his back when I couldn't check on him. I would even let him sleep on the living room floor on a blanket on his belly so I could watch him without always having to head to his room. As he got a little older, like 4 months or so, I put him in his crib and checked often. We live in a one story, so I didn't have to climb the stairs to check. It wasn't a big deal. But I swear that's what makes him a good napper now.

My oldest daughter did what your son does...catnaps. She slept great at night too. I was a freak about letting her sleep on her tummy, so I didn't do it. Even as she got older, she never was a good napper. Even when she went to the one long nap as a toddler, she slept 1.5 hours tops. My son, who definitely would have been a catnapper had I not did the tummy deal, is a wonderful napper. He's 20 months and I usually wake him every afternoon because he'll sleep over 3 hours if I let him.

halfpint51 · 01-23-2008, 12:07 AM

Yeah...we only put him on his back...maybe we will try the tummy thing...We have a very large house, and it seems like a trek to get up to where he is when i need to get there quickly, so thats why i have been hesitant to put him on his belly...still a little too worried with the SIDS thing. I heard that it could also be a "self soothing" thing, and he may not be able to make the transition when he changes sleep cycles. I dont get it though, because i thought they say that after 20 mins the baby should be in a "deep sleep". So, why then does he consistently wake up after 30 mins?