Breaking the 45 minute nap cycle!

[Jodie259]

I first took my DS to sleep school when he was 4mo (for a day stay). and again when he was 6mo (for a week stay).

Consistancy will help. Ideally his cot, in a darkened room, and going through the same procedure each time.
The operation would have unsettled him. So does things like teething or illness. It's frustrating when you get a great sleeping pattern - then a tooth raises it's ugly head and throws it all into turmoil!

And as you said... putting them into their cot while they are awake is also something they recommend. If they can go down awake, then fall asleep - this helps them to resettle themselves if they wake up later on.

Good luck with it all.

[Liz]

JoMarie - hooray on the longer sleep! As always - mummy knows best.. you knew he needed that extra sleep DS was always a happy content baby, even with the shorter sleeps (people always asked if my baby ever cried!) so I never had the need to try and make him sleep longer through the day. The shorter sleeps annoyed me more than him, so who was I to fight it? hehe.

srv - how old is bub? has he been this unsettled all this time? or could it be a phase? I know we went through certain phases where more comfort was required, and IMO, cuddles are just what a baby needs, and it's not that tiring if you're happy to do it. These phases do pass. We found the most unsettled times were teething, and the beginning of the separation anxiety age! Have you ruled out possible reflux or something if he doesn't like lying down, or seems quite distressed even in your arms? Sorry - 20 questions LOL. But I would look into the reason why he's crying like he is before putting it down to just bad sleep habits.

All the best Remember, they're not babies for long in the big scheme of things!

[srv]

Liz, he's 4 months. He's never been a great sleeper during the day but a fantastic night sleeper. He sleeps through nearly every night. He does have reflux and is on losec and the symptoms that he gets with reflux are under control. His cot is inclined and we keep him upright after feeds before going down in the cot. In fact at night when he is fed, kept upright and put to bed he has no problems at all, compared with during the day when he may have a play first. In fact this morning he lay awake in his cot talking to himself for nearly an hour before going to sleep (his first day sleep today) The crying is always associated with his first wake after going to sleep 30-40 mins after falling asleep.

He has had an operation in the last month although even before that he would rarely sleep more than 1 sleep cycle and wake up crying. He may have started teething but has no trouble sleeping at night...we don't hear a peep out of him from 10pm till 6-8am. It just seems like he can't get into a deep sleep during the day cause if I watch him sleep he jerks and startles a lot as opposed to night when he's zonked out - I have tried wrapping him but it makes no difference.

[Liz]

Sounds like you're on top of it then I was just thinking out loud with my questions.. hope they didn't come across wrong! hehe.

You're lucky he's a great night sleeper My DS has only recently started sleeping through. He was never a problem at night, in that he was easy to settle back to sleep.. he never thought it was playtime in the middle of the night!

I was usually happy to just go with whatever worked, be it rocking, or using the pram, or wearing a sling. DS was never happy in the cot.. and in fact hasn't slept in a cot since he was about 8 months old LOL.

I hope he settles for you a bit more soon. At least you're getting sleep at night - makes it a lot easier to persevere when your'e not overtired yourself

[JoMarie]

Nicholas slept from 7pm to 6am last night! I wonder if that was due to his longer sleep during the day???? Anyway, today was a bit funny as he only slept for about an hour, so I tried to resettle him, but he wouldn't go back to sleep, so I got him up and kept him up until his next bottle. Then he played for a bit longer, then had his lunch (solids) and I tried to put him back for another sleep. He wouldn't sleep! He was really tired, but twice when I tried, he had a dirty nappy one! He's had 3 today! Anyway, it was getting later, and I had to do the groceries, so I put him in the HAB and he fell asleep while we were shopping. Anyway, when we got home, he had another feed and a play, but took about an hour to get him to sleep! Anyway, he is still asleep now, after an hour and 15 mins, so that is good. I wonder if his different start to the day has put him out of whack?? He usually wakes at 5am and feeds and goes back to sleep until about 7am.

...well, it is now 6.15pm and he is still asleep! He is normally in the shower now, then getting ready for bed! He has been asleep since 4pm!!