Can anyone help me with a sleeping pattern question, please!

[benjamins mommy]

I've already posted this in "The family bed and nighttime parenting" forum but I haven't received any replies yet, so I decided to post it here and see if I can get any feedback.

My 5 mo. old has such a whacky schedule! He sleeps through the night whenever he finally goes to bed which is somewhere around the times of 11p-3a he wakes up between 10a-1p he goes back to sleep for a nap 2 hours or so after he wakes up. I try to lay him down for naps during the day after that and he only sleeps for 5-15 mins. So he has the craziest times for himself to go to sleep and I don't know how to fix it!! Anyone else ever have this problem?? It's driving me crazy because when it comes to the time that I'm trying to lay him down for naps, I make it the most relaxing, quiet atmosphere so he can stay asleep, BUT it never fails, he's up a few minutes later. I've done a little bit a research on it and all I've come up with so far to do is make it "quiet and relaxing with no disruptions" which I've tried. He's going to the dr soon but I'm not counting on any great advice from him. If anyone can help me out with some suggestions or any personal experience 'do's and dont's' that'd be fantastic!

[Beccadoula]

I just went to a conference where there was a speaker talking about infant behaviors and ways that we missunderstand what is happening...she says that often a baby will actually be asleep, but appears to be awake, and may even make noises and move around, open eyes etc. But this is a light sleep and we're used to thinking of their deep sleep as "sleep" and get them up thinking they are awake or needing to feed...I don't know if this is what your little guy is doing, but if it is you could just let him fuss a little and see if he falls into a deeper sleep after a bit?

[alegna]

At that age dd would only stay asleep for naps if I was next to her or she was on me and nursing. Otherwise- no nap.

-Angela

[Violet2]

I finally set a firm bedtime for DD around 4-5 months. I swaddled her, put her in the co-sleeper, turned on the fan and music and rocked her until she fell asleep.

She didn't like it. She fought and screamed, but eventually the routine worked.

Since your DS is such a night owl, I would start with maybe a 10pm bedtime and then work backwards gradually until his schedule has shifted. If he gets up, feed him and then right back to bed. You may be up for a loooong time until he accepts the new schedule.

My DH couldn't hack it. If I had him put DD to bed, they would end up wrestling and playing. You have to be kind of hard core about it. It is bedtime. We ARE going to bed. I will rock you until you sleep kind of attitude.

Naps are a crapshoot. Some kids do it well, some don't. Just keep trying.

V

[puddle]

Originally Posted by alegna

At that age dd would only stay asleep for naps if I was next to her or she was on me and nursing. Otherwise- no nap.

-Angela

:

As far as bedtime--my fourteen month old goes to bed around midnight and gets up between 11 and 1pm. I don't see any reason to change that--she gets plenty of sleep, and because she goes to bed late, she gets a lot of extra time to spend with her daddy.

[two bricks shy]

Originally Posted by puddle

:

As far as bedtime--my fourteen month old goes to bed around midnight and gets up between 11 and 1pm. I don't see any reason to change that--she gets plenty of sleep, and because she goes to bed late, she gets a lot of extra time to spend with her daddy.

Hey!!! Our kids have the same sleep habits!!! WOO! (sorry, I always thought we were the only ones!)

but more on topic....
I really think some kids are "better" at taking naps than others. I wish I had the magical answer but honestly no matter what we tried our now 2 year old has never been a consistent nap taker. Her favorite sleep method was on me, after nursing down. When she stopped nursing, naps became non-existent unless we had been out for a car ride.

[mandam]

I'm glad to see that my kiddo's sleep habits aren't to freaky. He usually goes to bed around 10 and gets up around 9 or 10. He will NOT take more than a 30 min nap during the day, but usually does an hour in the evening around dinner time.