my baby..........?

Question

my baby boy is about 8 months and i have the hardest time getting him to take a nap. He will be real sleepy, but will wake up 35 min to an hour later. Any help is would be welcomed

Answer 1

Baby boy may just be a short napper. My son always was. Occasionally I get a long hour, hour and a half out of him, but not most of the time. Try lying down next to him and see if you can sooth him back to sleep.
I have to say - whatever you do - please don't take the advice of 'misunderstood'. Astonishing that anyone could think a baby capable of this kind of manipulative thought. You know why baby wants attention? Cuz he needs it to develop properly! Letting him lay there and scream his head off isn't going to solve anything, only teach him that he can't trust his parents to meet his needs. Sure, by ignoring it, you just may be able to 'train' your baby to stop eventually, but it's not meeting his needs, it's training him to stop expressing his needs, to stop communicating with his parent b/c his parent isn't listening. Not that I'm saying you're doing this, it always gets me going when someone has the gall to suggest a baby is capable of being spoiled, or manipulating their parents for attention, that kind of manipulative thought process comes later.
Basically, he's either getting all the sleep he needs and he's done (add up how much he sleeps at night, plus his naptime(s)) and compare to suggested sleep for 8 month olds - which is 12-14 hours per day. If he's not getting enough, he needs to be soothed back to sleep, or take more naps.

Answer 2

If he is still cranky then you may need to put him down for the nap some where safe like a play pen in the living room that he can't get out of but you can leave him in it for awhile. Take it slow adding a few minutes over a few weeks this way he will get used to nap time being quiet time also. He may start going back to sleep since he has to wait anyway. Make sure you do something special tho at the end of nap time so he understands when nap time is over.

If he's not being cranky from lack of sleep then your going to have to get used to it. He just doesn't need naps as much as you need the time alone.

My daughter got like this when she started getting around better. Seemed as soon as she opened her eyes she had things to do instead of laying around lol

Answer 3

My daughter is 10 mths now, and has from birth, taken 30-40 min or less catnaps. I tried everything the other answerers are saying to no avail. I have now given up on trying to get her on any schedule or longer naps. As long as your baby boy isnt suffering from lack of sleep or not developing normally, this could be just how he is. My son was a wonderful sleeper, hours and hours, some babies are different. As he gets older, and mine too, hopefully their naps will be more consistent and last longer. Enjoy your baby.

Answer 4

I had the same problem with my baby when she was that young and I was told to make sure she was full when I laid her down for her nap. So I started feeding her before her nap ad whe would stay down for 2 hours. If you want to see if that's the problem, go in his room when he wakes up and offer him a bottle or you if you breastfeed, you know, let him eat and then put him right back down. If he goes back to sleep he is waking because he is hungry. But if his is not cranky when he wakes he may not need a long nap.

Answer 5

maybe that's all the time he needs....my baby niece naps from around 1-2 and a half hours....but every baby is different....how long does he sleep through the night? as long as he's not showing signs of lack of sleep it should be fine....another thing is, my niece sleeps longer when someone is around....once, she and i napped together and she slept for over 3 hours....normally, if she takes a nap by herself, she would only sleep for an hour or so....i would suggest staying nearby him....you probably need him to nap so you can do some work without any disturbance....i used to have to help around a lot....you know, washing dishes plus homework while baby-sitting my niece....so what i would do is when she wakes up and i know that its possible for her to go back to bed, i would try to put her back to bed or stay near her and she'd fall back asleep...although, if he doesn't show any signs of lacking any sleep, there's nothing to worry about....

Answer 6

My daughter is the same age and she takes three naps a day which are 40 minutes to an hour. As long as your son isn't cranky when he wakes up, this may be all he needs.

Answer 7

that's a regular nap time for an 8 month old

does he just take one nap? I think (if I remember correctly that around this time babies switch from 2 naps to one)
If you want him to stay in his crib longer and entertain himself just go into the room and say something like ' hi , baby why don't you play with your mobile a while" then turn it on and leave the room or put some toys in his crib and if you want you can tidy his room or something while he learns to entertain himself.

Answer 8

How is he after that short nap? Maybe that's all he needs. If that's not it, try giving him a real work out before nap time. Crawl around with him, play with him. That should tucker his body out as well as his mind.

Answer 9

Very hard to control now..

But in two or three months he will start walking.. getting him to walk around for long periods of time, i.e taking him to the park, usually makes them sleep very soundly.

Answer 10

When your baby cried when you put him in a crib, let him cry. He wants attiention. Parents make the mistake of answering to your baby's cry everytime it does cry! But keep an eye on your baby just in case.