[Jen]

I am having problems with Drake. Exactly when do I put him down for naps and how long should he be sleeping. Until lately he just sort of went to sleep whenever he wanted without any fuss. He would be awake til 10pm and up at 6 or 7 am and having catnaps inbetween. Now that he has hit 5 months he seems to be unable to have satisfying catnaps and is quite cranky a lot. He is teething so I figure maybe that is what is stopping him from falling asleep by himself like he used to. I've been trying to put him to be earlier, lately he is usually in for the night around 8:30 - 9pm and is still sleeping til about the same time in the morning.

Does anyone have any suggestions about naps and how I can help him get to sleep during the day without resorting to a bottle of formula? He won't take a pacifier either.

Thanks in advance.

[PNG 2]

While he's teething, it's going to be next to impossible to get him to nap regularly, but you can try setting a quiet time routine at the same time every day, relax with him, talk about your day to him (sounds silly, but it will help both of you) play some soothing music... and then set him down in his crib, with his favorite blankie, if not too warm in your house, put it in the dryer for a few minutes to make it extra cozy for him..kiss his lil forhead, and leave him be for a while...HOPEFULLY, he'll be relaxed enough to sleep... if the pain is too much, you can always try rubbing his gums for a little while before you lay him down, or give him a wet washcloth to chew on for a while...

[dentrassi]

Strange but true- If you put him in the car seat and go for a drive he may nap. Only problem is if he is anything like mine were he'll wake up as soon as you take him out of the car. (That and gas prices are obscene!) Sometimes just that little nap helps take the edge off though!!

[spartanMOM]

Hmm.... have you tried a cassette player in the room with a baby lullibies tape? The first night that I did this, was the first night Katelyn slept all the way through without a problem. It still helps with naps (shes 2 1/2 now).

There are lots of baby relaxation things out there, things that light up soft images on the celine for the baby to look at while it drifts off. There is one my daughter loved, it was like a little fish tank that strapped onto the side of the crib, and the small fishes kinda gently floated and it made a gentle glow, and also played music if ya wanted it it. I think it was made by playskool? You can find it in the toy section, near the infant stuff.

Another thing that helped was snuggly swaddeling her. That's where they are wrapped like a hot dog in a blanket....she used to fuss for a little bit, but after I did that and rocked her for a little bit, she drifted off.

One last thing... there are days where she cried. And as hard as it is to hear them cry, they do need to learn to fall asleep on their own. Obviously you don't let them scream for 1/2 hr., but letting them fuss for 5-10 minutes isn't horrible. In most cases my daughter calmed down when she realized I wasn't going to jump the minute I heard a whimper.

Just my thoughts. Best of luck to you, as I know how hard it can be.

[sam]

I am going to DITTO everything spartanmom said. They need to learn to fall asleep on their own. Since day one, mine have fallen asleep to music and still do. It is amazing the songs the three of them know now.

Crying hurts you more then it does them. Do the 10 minute routine. If he is still crying after 10 minutes, go in an assure him everything is okay and leave, if he is still crying again after 10 mins do it again and so on.

Mine usually had a morning nap (for the life of me I cannot remember what time I put them down) and then an afternoon nap right after lunch. Actually they are all still napping after lunch.

Hope this helps

Sandy

[teach93]

My daughter really quit napping about that age. Just wasn't interested. Since she would get cranky about supper time, we let her play in her playpen or swing for awhile. We also tried to keep the house sort of quiet around that time. She absolutely refused the pacifier , so we didn't push it.

Teething, however, changed everything for us. She would get more cranky, have diahrea (SP) and we just had to live through it. We had an ice ring she would put in her mouth and we used tylenol. This is also been 17 years ago. The one suggestion we didn't use was rubbing whisky on her gums. Old timers remedy. Hope things go smoothly as possible for you. These times do pass, eventually.

Elaine

[Sandi]

Jacob always took a bottle in my arms, then fell asleep, then I put him down. He takes a morning and afternoon nap, I can't remember if that was his schedule when he was that young. Just curious - whyare you wanting to stay away from the bottle?

[Jen]

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions. The reason I don't want to have to lull him to sleep with a bottle is that I don't want him to always need something to fall asleep, I agree with what the others said about him needing to learn how to fall asleep on his own. Generally I have no problems at night, he has a bath, in his pj's and he will go to sleep okay. He will fall asleep easily in his car seat or stroller but not for a nap during the day. I'm not sure that he is having a lot of pain from his gums as he doesn't seem to want to chew on anything much. I think I just need to get him to take a long nap in the afternoon. I don't mind letting him cry it out, I'll give him 5 minutes and if he hasn't quieted down I'll pick him up and soothe him and try it all over again. Wednesday my DH and I were trying for about 45 minutes to get him into his crib for a nap but he just wasn't interested. Then when I took him downstairs and put him in his exerciser he was fine when before all that he had been cranky. I don't know what to do anymore. It seems like he can get along without a morning nap but I am going to try getting him down for a nap after lunch. Let you know how it works out.