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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>7 month Olds Naps
tenderhearts 02:24 PM 08-27-2010
I started a 7 month old a few weeks ago and he's a good baby but his napping isnt' very great. Rarely will he take a nap more than an 1 hour, he always gets fussy and tired about an hour - hour and 15 minutes after he gets up and is just about ready to go down again. So in his 9 hour day he's taking 3-4 small naps. Would you keep him doing this or how can I get him to sleep longer at each nap? I've tried keeping him up longer (which can get challenging since I have another infant) and it doens't seem to effect the length of his naps. When he wakes up I don't go in there right a way to see if he'll go back to sleep. Any suggestions? thanks
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caitlin 02:35 PM 08-27-2010
I had a little guy like this, he's a year old now and still having the same problems but they aren't AS bad. After talking to mom I had a good idea of what was going on. The baby is an only child and is used to silence when he sleeps, I moved his crib to the back of my house and bought baby moniters. keeps his room warm, I keep my house coldish so mom suggested swaddeling him. I still do even though he is a year old. Also white noise! He went from napping 15 minutes 4x a day to an hour 3x a day. And then he goes home and takes an hour nap and sleeps all night. He takes two naps on the weekends for about 2 hours each. I guess the little guy just doesn't want to miss anything at my house.

I would try to change things for the baby and see if you can't get him to nap longer, if not then settle for what works for him.
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tenderhearts 02:51 PM 08-27-2010
Thanks caitlin. At home his naps are the exact same way. Sometimes he'll sleep 2 hours but usually it's on a Monday. I run a fan for noise and he is far enough away that noise isnt' an issue. I thought about letting him lay in there until he actually starts crying instead of going and getting him. He'll wake up and he'll talk and babble in there and I've let him do that for about 20 min then figure well he's not going back to sleep so I go get him so I'm thinking maybe I should just let him lay there until he actually crys. I dont' know, it just gets hard when he starts fussing only an hour after he's been awake because I have another baby too. She is 5 mo and she sleeps great,
2 -2 1/2 or more naps 2 times per day, she gets fussy right about eating time and sleeping time. thanks again.
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MommyD 06:20 PM 08-27-2010
If the waiting until he cries doesn't work, you could go to the other end of the spectrum.

You know that he is going to wake up right around an hour, so the for a couple days you put yourself on stand-by. As soon as he starts to stir do the "laying of the hands" Put a hand on him and just jiggle him a little until he hopefully falls back to sleep. It may not work the first few times, but the goal is to send the message that he is supposed to go back to sleep. Then the first time it works, try to spread the time out more until the next nap.

His sleep cycle is just on a one hour pattern, and something in his environment or in his body is not quite right when the cycle ends and he wakes up. Hopefully, having you there will allow him to be lulled back to sleep.

Good luck!
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tenderhearts 06:34 PM 08-28-2010
thanks, so keep my hand on him until he falls back asleep? I tried going in there because sometimes he looses his binky and giving it to him and just leaving right away seemed to help at first, but last week he started crying really hard when I left the room and he doesn't cry at all when I lay him down for nap. It seems worse if I stay with him opposed to giving him a hug and a kiss laying him down and telling him night night and leaving. I just know he should go more than 1 - 1 1/2 hrs between naps but I have to lay him down or he's way too fussy and clingy and he goes to sleep each time. I need to figure something out.
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MommyD 02:36 PM 08-29-2010
Originally Posted by tenderhearts:
thanks, so keep my hand on him until he falls back asleep?
Yes, that is what I do sometimes. Like you said, it may make it worse, but just try to stick with it for 20-30 minutes(if you have the time) the first few times. Some kids it even takes up to 45 minutes.

You could also juggle him until he is still and quiet, then just keep your hand there, then after a couple minutes remove your hand, but don't move away, then after another few minutes walk out. This gets tricky then though, because if he starts crying you have to choose to go back or not. Then he might expect you to come running every time he cries or if you don't go back, all that calming and relaxing time is undone and he is still crying and tired. You will just have to see what works for him.

Once one way works, that usually helps them learn to lengthen their naps. He may be crying too because he thought you were coming to get him and you didn't, so he got mad.

Good Luck!
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Tags:naps. 7 month old
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