My 17-month-old son takes very short naps, 30 to 45 minutes. I suspect that the problem is that I nurse him to sleep, but I have let him CIO in the past and it didn't seem to help (four or five days of screaming through nap and I threw in the towel; now if he falls asleep nursing I just put him in asleep). He sleeps all night for the most part (after we did some nighttime CIO), from about 7:30pm to 6:30am. He will put himself to sleep at bedtime for some reason, but rarely does for naps. I nurse him three times a day on average. Overall I am finding it very challenging to wean him, very challenging to get him to sleep for naps, and he is generally so clingy and whiny. I am sure it is all interrelated. Anyone have any tips? I would like to get pregnant again in a few months but I would prefer not to be nursing and pregnant at the same time. Sometimes I think he only needs a short nap but I would like to have a little more time for myself and for my three-year-old to have some one-on-one time. Thanks.
How many naps are you trying? At this point, your little guy should be ready for just one nap, so he might not be tired enough for more than one. Try putting him down later and later until you get to 12:30pm or so. That may help getting him to sleep better. Hopefully some other moms have some weaning tips!
Whatever you decide... do NOT wean or change the routine of a baby/child... when they are going through a growth-spurt. WRONG timing. It will not bode well.
AT about 18 months old... this is a growth-spurt time and a MAJOR time of developmental changes and hitting milestones and/or teething. Which tweaks their sleep as well. Because, ALL of these things may be happening at the SAME time. That is a LOT of things for a baby to deal with.
Also, some babies cannot nap, because they are either OVER-tired and past the "window" of when they should have napped... and then because they are OVER-tired, over-tiredness makes a baby UN-able to sleep nor to sleep solidly, and it causes them to wake more. OR, the baby is over-stimulated to close to nap/bed time. Use a consistent routine, everyday, PRE-nap.
And, maybe... he is just hungry.
It's all about timing....and going by your baby's cues.
All the best,
Susan
My daughter stopped napping around 17 months and didn't start up again till 21 months --major development milestone period, Just hang in there. He's probably not napping because of developmental reasons, rather than nursing reasons, especially if he sleeping through the night.
How long ago did you try the CIO? It might be time to try it again. There are different ways of doing it;
Supervised Crying--(Moving the chair father and farther),
Checking Method- (frequent checks at progressively longer intervals)
Gentle Approach- (putting him down and leaving, doing frequent checks with out picking him up but if he wakes in the night you sooth him the way your normally would)
Or Complete Cry IT Out- (adopt a good night time routine, snuggle, hug and kiss lay him down and leave, and don't go back in until morning)
Any of these methods will work as long as you are consistent, so if you are ready, pick one you feel comfortable with and go for it.
Nurse him at the start of his nap or bed time routine and then lay him down.
For naps it sounds like he is waking up after his cycle of Active sleep and relaxed sleep patters. One cycle is about 30-45 min. Since he wont put himself back to sleep, then he cries for you and then the nap is over. He should be getting about 12 hrs at night and 3-4 in the day. So I definitely think it would benefit you both, to see if you can get him to go back to sleep during nap times, using one of the methods above.
*side note: A good time for naps this age are 10-12 and 2-4. after 18-24 months, just after lunch is a good time for a three hr nap.*
Once your baby can fall asleep on his own then just drop one feeding a week until you are down to one. then I just do every other day then every three, and so on, until one day I realize that I have not nursed in a long time!
Getting more sleep will totally help with the clinging and whining too. I think you will find you have a totally different happy child on your hands in a few weeks if you can do these things,
Best of luck!
E.
