Sleep issue

M

mavislohsp

Registered User
Hi,

My just 6 months old any has refused to rake his nap for consecutive 3 days. He would cry for as long as 1 hour plus until I pick him up again. At night I put him to bed at 6 plus and this 3 nights he had been too tired and sleep within 30 mins. Night waking once or twice, I normally breastfeed him n put him back to his cot, he could take up to 2 hours to go back to sleep if he wake up around 1-2 am. If he wake up around 4 plus, normally he is up for the day. If ge cont. Not taking his nap would it be a problem? Does anyone have baby that do not take nap at all?
 
Your child could be going through a phrase. When my first was about 5.5 month, he refused to nap or was naping very short (20 minutes or so). But I still sticked to the age appropriate wakeful time ( it was about 2 hours wakeful ) to put him down to nap. If he does not nap within the hour, would get him up and try again within the hour.

6 month is too young to not to nap at all. Form what I read, a child continue needs a nap by 3-4 years. Sounds like he is overtired too now that he hasn't got nap for a few days.

There is a group on Baby Center that talks about baby/child sleep from which I learn a lot. You don't have to follow their method to sleep train your child. But reading through it would help you to understand sleep needs of baby in different stages.

http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a199215/teaching_your_baby_toddler_to_sleep

Good luck.
 
Hi Carey,

Thank you so much, I will definately read it through. I m really worried here and his daddy keep saying it is ok, if he don't want to sleep just let it be.
 
Hi,

So sorry to hear your little one is struggling.
If your little one is has been sleeping well at night but then his night settling is interrupted since the lunchtime sleeps are not working then it is most probably more to do with being overtired than not needing sleep. Have you tried putting your little one down in his/her cot BEFORE the signs of tiredness are obvious thus allowing him/her time to 'wind down' before going to sleep. It is also a good idea to keep stimulation to a mininum at least 20 minutes before he/she goes n his/her cot in preparation of feeling calm and sleepy.
Best of luck and i hope you get it sorted out soon.
 
Your baby should really nap at least a couple times a day still at this age...my 17mth still takes 2naps (which I think is excessive ;) ) but I can't manage to cut it down to one so I let it slide...anyhow try setting down two times your baby should nap ( times when she gets really cranky) and then ?BEFORE she gets cranky but her down so she can salm down and eventually fall asleep on her own...so for my one she wakes up at 6:30 and usually by 9am she shows some signs off exhaustion, so T 8:45 we start the bed time routine so that she will fall asleep by 9/9:15am on her own....good luck!
 
Your little one could be teething. I know my LO sleeps horribly both naps and at night when she's working on a tooth.

I'd also rule out and ear ache which can be worse laying down, hence the not wanting to sleep.
 
mavislohsp said:
Hi,

My just 6 months old any has refused to rake his nap for consecutive 3 days. He would cry for as long as 1 hour plus until I pick him up again. At night I put him to bed at 6 plus and this 3 nights he had been too tired and sleep within 30 mins. Night waking once or twice, I normally breastfeed him n put him back to his cot, he could take up to 2 hours to go back to sleep if he wake up around 1-2 am. If he wake up around 4 plus, normally he is up for the day. If ge cont. Not taking his nap would it be a problem? Does anyone have baby that do not take nap at all?
Click to expand...

Yep, my son didn't take a nap until he had learned to walk (8-10-months-old) and even then it wasn't a very solid sleep (20-30 minutes? 45 minutes at the most.) He would fuss and cry because he was tired but he wouldn't allow himself to calm down and sleep--it was like he was almost afraid he'd miss something if he closed his eyes for five minutes. I think the reason why I identified with the book Secrets of the Baby Whisperer so much is that the way the author describes her first child (a spirited baby) is almost identical to how my son was/is. He's a very spirited baby/child--which means he's overflowing with passion for life and is intensely interested/engaged in the world--so much so that he has a hard time winding down and letting himself rest. Here is a little quiz about baby personality types from that book.

We found that we had to engage in what we called "letting him burn his batteries out"--this means we had to play with him and stimulate him to the point where he would finally let himself sleep. People suggested that we sing lullabies to him and provide a calm/quiet atmosphere--that totally didn't work. Instead of working so hard to "make him sleep" which left us feeling frustrated we finally said to ourselves, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" and gave him what he wanted--playtime. In the end it was a faster/easier solution than trying to get him back to bed by rocking/lullabies etc.

The only thing that worked was completely, totally letting him wear himself out. Instead of hushing him and rocking him to sleep we would play with him until he was so tired he was about to drop. When it was time for him to lie down and sleep we held him but didn't engage with him--he's the type that is always trying to "talk" with you--if he got your eye contact he took that as a sign that "now it's time to play/talk" so we wouldn't talk or look at him--simply hold him.

Since you're breastfeeding have you thought about co-sleeping with the baby? At 6-months-old most babies are pretty mobile (my daughter is 7-months-old and is now rolling over on to her tummy during sleep) and bigger so the nervousness about crushing/smothering etc. (which, honestly, I haven't had a problem with) the baby seems to be less of an issue. I think that part of the reason why my daughter is a great sleeper and very settled compared to how my son was is partly her personality (textbook/angel baby) but also because we've co-slept with her and she is more at peace with my physical presence beside her. Just something to consider.

Hope you can find the solution that's perfect for your baby and get some good rest--for both of you. :)
 
Hi maternitynurse, lesliefu, erina320 and thanka2 & carey,

first of all, thanks carey for sharing the link to baby center. The sleep training describe in the link is so much better than any book out there ( my personally view). ever since I sleep train him, understand his cues and his cry, he started to improved his night time sleep and slowly follow by his nap. At least he is willing to nap nowadays, which I am happy that he shows improvement. Although he don't sleep that easily, ( quiet, white noise)and if I don't go according to the routine and bring his to sleep, he will continue playing non-stop! A lot says that when baby is tired they will sleep, I am glad that they have a good sleeper but for mine, I think he is someone like thanka2 describe, spirited baby, he won't want to miss a single thing that happens around him.

There are time where he still refused to nap but he will just keep playing in his cot, compared to before, fussing and crying lots. I tried co-sleeping before however it didnt work for us, cos he end up constantly looking for my breast and his sleep is disturbed whenever we move or turn.

Anyway, I have started to see lights and shall keep trying to make things better for both of us, if anyone out there are having the same problems, I recommand trying to sleep train your baby, this is what working for us.

Thanks everyone for your helpful tips and concern, thank you! :)
 
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