8 Month Baby Does Not like to Nap-need Help

Hi C.,
I read a book that changed my life when my daughter was about 10 months old. Maybe it will be helpful to you as well. It's called, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. Good luck!

She sleeps from 7:15 at night to 6:30 in the morning!! Count your lucky stars and pray that continues! My daughter was very difficult to get sleep but would sleep through the night once we finally got her down - never as long as your daughter though. We struggled with naps too. Until we realized that she was just a cat-napper. 15 minutes here and there, maybe 30 minutes if we were lucky. If we really needed her sleep (because she was sick or just overly crabby) we'd take her for a ride in the car. Overall she was a very happy, healthy baby. She gave up napping all together at about two.

All kids are different. They don't all need long naps. If she is consistently getting a good, long night's sleep and getting in a couple of cat naps, she is probably getting all the sleep that she needs for her. I wouldn't worry about trying to force her into taking naps.

Good job on the night time sleep!!! Do you have a method you used for that which can translate to nap time. I could not live without the book "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" Weissbluth. So awesome. It might be too late to get her back on the 2 nap thing.
BTW my daughter slept from 7:30 pm until 7:30 am at that age and took 2 naps.
You can do it. I don't know what kind of mom you are "cry it out" , "attachment" etc so that is why this book will help. It has techniques for all styles of parenting.

Good luck.

R.

I was hoping to read some good responses. Unfortunately, I don't have any good advice. My oldest son who is now 4 years old was like this. I tried everything and finally had to accept that some children just aren't good nappers. He started napping better after he turned one and I switched him to one nap. Then we had a great few months after he turned 2 where he napped for 2-3 hours. We always had to soothe him to sleep. I rocked him to sleep then laid him in his crib until he was 3 years old and stopped napping. A great book to read is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." It has lots of great ideas to work through problems. I honeslty hope something will help you! On a positive note my second son is a great napper and all we do is just sing him a little song and lay him down and he goes to sleep. It goes to show kids are just born differently when it comes to napping. Good luck.

Hi, C.. My son was the same way! He would sleep long at night (10 hrs) but for naps he would only sleep for like 20 minutes. I thought that was just the way he was but my husband happened upon the Amby baby hammock supported by Dr. Sears' son. We bought it and my son started napping 2-3 hrs straight, no joke! I was amazed and let me tell you, it was a huge blessing. Check it out... www.ambybaby.com

You have gotten some good advice. It sounds to my like your child just doesn't need as much sleep. I have known a couple of babies that took short naps like your child. I even knew one child that only needed about 9 hours of sleep total per day. My best friend's son took 10-15 minutes naps for a long time. If she's sleeping at night, she should be fine. :)

Sleep isn't something that happens without a reason, it's based on exhaustion and a need to sleep, especially naps during the day. Give her an opportunity to play out, get some exercise, then a calm down period that will lead to a nap. Some babies will nap after a full tummy, so after you nurse her or give her a bottle. Not to give her a bottle in bed, but holding and feeding her. Or tell her a story, rock her. She's a baby, she needs your comfort, your touch, she's dependent on you at 8 months. In the timeline of her life, this is such a speck, so spend the time with her. The chores, the walks, the 'me-time' aren't as important as the time you spend with her. It goes by too fast. Cherish it. Use the quiet time as a time to re-charge your batteries as well. Sometimes all any one needs is a 30 minute nap. It works.

I have read so many queries regarding sleep, and have had issues of my own. Another mom suggested a book, and, I have to say, I love it!!! It is like the bible of sleep! Try it out, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Babies" by Weisbluth. So helpful.

My son is turning 8 months in a few days, and he is down to just one long nap in the late morning/early afternoons. If he happens to take a short nap in the morning, I don't get good naps from him the rest of the day, if any! My daughter was the same way. My husband and I are both high energy people. We don't need a lot of sleep, and my daughter was that way from the beginning. She's only three and she's down to two naps a week pretty much. When we let her take a nap, she doesn't fall asleep until midnight! I have girlfriends who are blessed with toddlers who still take several naps a day. We've decided some kids need more sleep, some need less. Try holding off her morning nap a little later each day until she's going down around 11 a.m. She she should then sleep for a couple hours. As she gets older and is more active, she might go down around noon or after lunch and sleep 2-3 hours. I'm not strict about our nap schedule, because the beauty of being an at-home mom is that we can do different things all the time. We just try to be home after lunch for naps. Just be glad your little one is sleeping through the night, because that's a rare thing around my house...

Well, the good news is that she sleeps at night. Try to consolidate the afternoon naps to one. It may take a week or more to do that. Put her in a very dark room, and use one of the machine that make ocean sounds.

It may sound cruel to keep her awake when she wants to sleep, but a long nap of an hour sure sounds good, doesn't it. Start by keep her awake for the first nap. Just do interesting things for about ten minutes or so.

Also see if you can find swimming lessons for her twice a week. Adding exercise will help her sleep. And the fresh air walks you give her are really great. If you can find one of those bouncing things that hangs from the ceiling it will keep her active.

Soon she will be crawling--that will increase her activity (a lot!) others things will be influencing her napping.

You have lots of good ideas and advice below. But I also just want to say that I my daughter had off and on periods with napping - where she napped well and then would barely nap. I don't recall the timing, so I don't feel I can offer anything specific there, but I can offer one thing - read the book "HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS, HAPPY CHILD" by Weissbluth. There is a wealth of information on sleep habits based on study groups so you can get an idea of what's in the norm and what's not, as well as how many hours of sleep children get on average and at 1 and 2 standard deviations from the mean, etc. Also, he has lots of good advice on how to establish healthy sleep habits, and not one-size-fits-all answers. I think there is something for everyone to gain in this book. Hope that helps. :)

I suggest you read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." My daughter was taking 2 solid naps a day at that age. One started around 9:30 or 10, the other around 2 or 3. In all likelihood, your daughter is overtired. My advice is to make sure your daughter sleeps at home, in her crib, with all the light blocked out. As the day wears on , your daughter is getting more tired and amped on anrenaline and then unable to sleep. Sleep cycles that are beneficial are about 45 minutes long....anything less isn't really a benefit. If you don't know already what sleepy signs, learn them and follow your child's cues. Rubbing eyes, glassy stare, 1 yawn, less activity, more activity, more impulsive, jerky behavior, loss of coordination. Following their sleepy signs, you respectfully lay them down to sleep as their brain waves are slowing down. Their need for sleep is essential and you have to get them recognizing that when they are sleepy, they get to go to sleep. The book lays it all out, but I've given a few highlights that may help. My daughter is 2.75 and sleeps 2.25-3 hours a day and 10-12 at night. Good luck.