We are on Day 4 of CIO - it is working great for nightime sleep but naps seem to be geting worse (the crying that is). 7 month old used to sleep no more than 2 hours at a time and now sleeps from 7:00 pm to 3-4 (feeding) and then up at 6 for the day.

He is sometimes able to go down for his 8 or 9 am nap but stays asleep for only 30 min and crys for the rest of the hour (following Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Chhild Book).

I try to put him down at exactly 2 hours after wake up - is this too early? Also I let him fall asleep with pacifier for naps (after a 10 minute nap routine) - the book doesn't address whether this is ok. (For night he usually nurses before being put down drwosy but awake).

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Hi and Welcome!

I'm glad to hear the night sleep success story! That must be such a relief to have your son sleeping so well .

The nap training takes longer to work than night training, especially in regard to lengthening the naps. Are you watching the clock and your son's sleepy signs, or just the clock? The times given are a guideline, so make sure he shows sleepy signs, too. Some babies are difficult to read, and it may take time and practice to figure out what is the best time for him.

What is happening with the short naps, is that your son is waking after his first sleep cylce- a sleep cycle is 30-45 minutes in length- when he naturally wakens. Normally this would be a brief waking, and he should return right back to sleep. Instead, he is unable to return to sleep.

There could be varying factors in the reason for short naps- either he is still learning to put himself back to sleep during the day (daytime and nighttime sleep are in different parts of the brain), he is going down when overtired or undertired, or he is losing the pacifier and not able to return back to sleep. If the last reason seems to be the reason he is waking, then you could train without the pacifier. When he's first learning to nap, if it's a hindrance, this is the best time to break the habit. However, many children's sleep is not directly affected by the pacifier, and in that case, it's not a problem.

All in all, it's probably just that he's still learning. Nap training on average takes 2-4 weeks to fully work. I would give it at least another week or two before trying to make any changes. Over time, you will learn more and more about his sleeping patterns, and since this is such a new thing for him and for you, I think you should relax for now and see if things improve.

Hope this helps and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask .

__________________



SAHM to Gabrielle 9/98 and Alec 4/04
Wife to Jeff since 3/96

Thanks so much for your reply. This is a great board! It is a relief that nap training takes longer.

I've been putting him down 2 hours after first wake up. Then 2 hours after second and maybe 2.5 for third to try and get 1 or 2 afternoon naps. I have heard a lot about awake times - not sure if I am putting him down too early or late - I am now trying to alter wake times by a few minutes earlier or later to see if this helps. Our nap rountine consists of rocking and a song and I put him down drowsy but awake. He just recently started taking the pacificer (about 2 weeks ago - otherwise he would want to nurse or rock until asleep). We only use the pacifier for naps - not nightime sleep.

I am concered that I may be making him too overtired (crying to one hour during morning naps and sometimes the afternoon nap also) so I usually try to lie down with him for one of the naps and nurse him to sleep so he can get some nap sleep and not become too overtired for nightime. I know consistency is key so is this reinforcing the "nursing to sleep in Mommy's bed" association?

Thanks again

It is just fine to nurse him to sleep for one of the naps, so that he doesn't become overtired. Until he gets the hang of a naptime routine, you could nurse him to sleep completely for each nap and then nurse less and less as time goes on. Weissbluth has putting baby down completely asleep as one of his methods. This becomes a problem if it takes an extraordinary amount of time to get baby to sleep, or if short naps (30-45 minute "snaps") become the norm.

How long does he sleep if you nurse or rock him to sleep?