Need Mommy advice...my Baby's Not Napping.

B., I am having similar problems with my 4 month old, but (not to brag) he is sleeping from 9p-6a without waking up. I think it's just a phase. They are getting so much better at controlling their movements that all they want to do is play and not miss out on anything. My other theory is teething, but I would assume night sleep would be interrupted by that. I'm just trying to get him to do as much day sleep as possible by taking lots of walks and trying to tire him out with fresh air. Good Luck!

Try putting a fan in his room or outside his door so he can have some "white noise". Maybe he's having trouble sleeping because he doesn't want to miss anything =)

B.; yes, just learn to enjoy your little bundle of joy, and dont be afraid to hold him, soon you wont be able to, also, some kids dont take naps , each child is different, so i would suggest getting someone to sit with him for a bit if you need a little time out, its ok, just have fun and enjoy , D. s

My baby was the same way. The swing saved me. Also try a Baby Bjorn.
The good news is it is a phase and she will grow out of it.

My baby likes to sleep on her stomach but I wasn't okay with that. I propped her on her side and covered her up to her nose with a blanket. For a time that was the only way to get her to sleep. You know your baby best. Listen to your instincts.

Dear B.--

My daughter (now 20 mths) did that too. Advice I received was to leave her in bed for the required nap time. So, for example, she went down at 9am, and stayed in bed until 10. She stayed awake at first, but at least both she and I were getting a rest! After about a week she began falling asleep again, and has been fine ever since. I think she was thinking that being up was far more fun, and if I ran in and got her if she was singing or crying, then why sleep?

Hopefully this is just a phase for you, too. All the best!

The swing worked wonderfully for both my babies. It would knock them right out for about 3 hours at a time.

You could always take him to the chiropractor for an adjustment. I know people who have even taken newborns in to see the chiropractor and they like the results. Find one that is known for working with infants. It is a totally non-invasive treatment and probably covered by your insurance anyway...and some chiropractors may only charge a very small amount (if anything) for a baby that young if you're paying out-of-pocket.

I also want to mention that it sounds like he may have an ear infection. You can bet he misses his sleep as much as you do.

I wish you many awesome napping days in the future!

It sounds like he may have started teething. I would give him a little Tylenol (ask the ped for correct dosage) and see if that works. My daughter is going through the same thing, sometime I just leave her in her crib and she will eventually fall back asleep after yelling for a while. Of course I get her if she is really yelling, but most of the time she will calm herself down. I put a musical toy that hangs on the side of the crib and she turns it on with her feet and that helps her calm down too.

I had the same problem. Usually naps were about 30 minutes and sometimes she would take 3-4 and sometimes non. Then I read an article that changed everything. She now takes 2-3 naps a day. One is at least an hour long. Yesterday she slept for 3 hours and the second nap was only 30 minutes.

This is the advice, starting at four months of age:
Put your child down for a nap two hours after she wakes up in the morning. Put her down again two hours after she wakes up from the nap. She may need one more nap in the late afternoon. They also suggested doing a modified version of your bedtime routine. If your child refuses to sleep, do more quite play and try again in a hour. Eventually your child will be tired enough to sleep. It can take up to 2 weeks to get used to.

I used this method when she was 5 months old and within a week my child was taking naps in her crib. I did let her cry and fuss but only for about 10 minutes. Sometimes she would fall asleep. Other times I would get her up and try again in an hour, and again in an hour.

Other things I did that seemed to help. When she fell asleep in her bouncy chair or on the floor I moved her to her crib. Usually she woke up. Then I would put her to bed in an hour. I invested in room darkening shades. They were 35 bucks at Lowe's. Best money I've ever spent. I always put her in a sleep sak at naps to keep her nice and warm.

Hi B.!
I liked the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth. Many of my friends used it, very successfully, too. It has alot of great ideas in it for sleep difficulties, both for naps and for nighttime, but it also gives options so you can choose what might work best for you. Best wishes!

i would like to say that this is normal, and you are doing the right thing by holding him and doing whatever it takes to keep him calm and happy, even if it doesnt seem to work, you are there. crying in mamas arms is MUCH better than crying alone! :D

i think it is probably teething. has he just learned to turn over or anything? cuz that could interrupt sleep too. i would assume that at some point the night sleeping part will change too many many times over the next year. sleep is not ever a constant.

just keep responding to your kid. try a little teething gel, hot or cold rags for him to chew, or tylenol, whatever your preferred teething methods are. i HIGHLY recommend hylands teething gel. its natural, unlike oragel.

but just keep responding to him and stuff. you could get a sling which might help. i LOVED the moby wrap and i can even still use it with my 21 month old son, although he would MUCH rather just walk than be carried LOL. it is comfortable for all different types of weight. thats the best part. i highly recommend that.

listen to your instincts they will never steer you wrogn!

I am trying to remember what it was like at four months with our kids, but my sister in law has a 4 month old right now, and he is the same way. Sleeps great all night, but only naps for short periods of time. You'll see all kinds of changes in your little guys sleep patterns as he grows and starts teething. I remember how mine would do great for 3 months and then they would totally change and go through a bad month, and then back to three months of great. My mom would just say "he/she must be growing", and I think she was right! It's hard to get much done when they are awake so much, but I found that if I would alternate them from swing, to johnny jump up, to floor, to exersaucer, to holding them. They could keep themselves entertained while I got dinner ready, took a quick shower, or got a load of laundry folded... I loved holding my babies, but we just can't do that all the time can we? Plus, when he get all kinds of exercise he might just need a longer nap for you. I babysat my nephew one day when they were here from Idaho, and we played, did tummy time, I held him up while he stood and put weight on his little legs, and then he fell alseep and slept for an hour. She couldn't believe he napped that long. Good luck!

Have you had the baby checked to see if he's struggeling with reflux? If you haven't had this done yet, I'd suggest that you find out. Also, you might want to make sure that there is no middle ear stuff going on because that could also be something that is hurting the baby. My guess is that there is something going on because at this age, babies don't just wake themselves up. It could also be as simple as changing the type of formula that he's on, assuming he's not breast feeding.

Hi B.,

Your baby needs to be *awake* when you lay him down. He should be relaxed, but awake.

When he wakes up slightly or moves a little in his crib, he realizes that he's no longer in your arms, where he fell asleep. If you fell asleep in one room of the house, and then woke up in another, wouldn't you be alarmed?

I don't know if I can really give you much advice, just let you know you're not alone.

My son is 3 1/2 months old and he also takes short naps during the day. He sleeps through the night most of the time so my sleep patterns are getting back on track. He will take a longer nap if he's really tired and he only really cries if he's hungry or overtired. I would ask his pediatrician if this is normal. Otherwise, unless it's affecting his health, I wouldn't be too worried. I'm just hoping this is a phase mine is going through as he grows and I will say a prayer that it's the same for you.

It could be teething, or developmental spurts causing him to have poor sleep patterns.

It could be he doesn't want to nap. My mother told me that I stopped taking "good" naps around 6 months completely. Nothing she did could change it, I just didn't like to nap so I wouldn't.

Some children need more sleep than others. Is he getting enough total sleep during the night?

My son was a terrible napper too - have you tried letting him fall asleep in a swing? That worked for my son. Once he was asleep, we'd slowly reduce the speed and over the course of a few weeks we'd shut the swing off sooner and sooner and eventually he got used to napping without the swing moving. Once he was used to falling asleep in it without it moving, we worked on napping in the crib - a transitional object (blanket or stuffed animal) helped with that.

Good Luck!

Hi B.,

I totally sympathize with what you're going through. From the time she was 3 weeks old until about 5 months old, my daughter had a terrible time napping. The best advice I received was "whatever works". In other words, if they fall asleep in your lap - let 'em. If they fall asleep in the swing/bouncy seat/car seat...that's where they nap. Our girl also spent a lot of time napping in the Moby wrap or the Baby Bjorn. The important thing is that they sleep...where they do it isn't as important! We did the Ferber method for night time sleep around 4 months, and then did it for naps around 5 months. It worked well for our family, but I know that it's not the ideal solution for everyone. Some other moms mentioned putting the baby down after two hours of awake time - we did that and it was spot on. We also referred to Weissbluth's book, as someone else mentioned. What worked best for my family was to read the available information, and experiment with the methods until we found what worked. No matter what you choose to do, if it's right for your family, then it's right!

Good luck...the light at the end of the tunnel is coming!

V.