6 Month old refuses to nap during day.?

Question

He will start to fall asleep and jerk awake crying till he is fully awake then he will play as long as he can see me.I need him to sleep.What should I do.I thought babies need lots of sleep.My girls never did this.He is my grandson.Are boys really that different.I never had a son so I dont know

Answer 1

I struggled with this for 1 year with my son! I kept saying, "this isn't in the books! Why won't you sleep?!?" I had to actually lay down with my son to get him to sleep longer than 20 min....he would only end up sleeping 40 min twice a day by 6 months and I thought THAT was progress. What I found, in all my reading, was that we all have "natural wakings" during sleep. Most babies, when they wake after 20-30 min, open their eyes but roll over and keep sleeping. However, some babies, once their eyes are open, are immediately stimulated and think it's time to get up. Yeah, none of my friend's babies did this but I know my mom struggled with my older brother so it may be mostly boys.

What really helped was to put my son down early for the night...I mean like at 5:30 pm sometimes! You would think that means an early wake up in the morning, but he slept until 6-7am. He's 20 months now and takes one, one hour nap(my lunch break) and goes down at 6:30 pm for the night. It's a different schedule, but it works for us. Also, try to darken his room with tin foil or something in the window-that also helped. Babies need 12-14 hours of sleep in a 24 hr. period, so as long as your grandson is getting that, he's fine. I hope this helps!

Answer 2

My son is 7 months old and still takes at least 2 good naps a day. Before he wouldn't sleep longer than 20 minutes at a time and drove me crazy. I asked the dr. at his 6 month check up about it...he said that was because he doesn't know how to fall asleep on his own. B/c he was used to me rocking him to sleep that when he woke up he couldn't go back to sleep on his own. So, now at nap time, I put him down in his crib awake but tired. He may fuss a little but he falls to sleep and will sleep for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a time. He is a much happier baby because of it. I say just try different things till something works. Every baby is different. I am keeping a 3 month old little girl a couple of days a week, and trust me, every baby is different. But it is ok to let him fuss. The first time I put my son to bed to put himself to sleep, he cried for about 25 minutes but then slept ALL night long.

Answer 3

I don't know if he may be too old for this, but try swaddling him. That might prevent the jerking awake. I have 2 boys, a 3 year-old and a 2 month-old, and that's what I've had to do with both. As for whether girls and boys are different, I really don't know. I think it's just a temperament thing; some girls may be more difficult than some boys, I don't know.

Good luck.

Answer 4

This is a phase that most babies go through. They realise that there's so much to do and they actually get overtired without us realizing it and then have a hard time to fall asleep. Don't you wish there was a magic wand that you could use to put your little one down to sleep! My little one is now 9months and she did something similar!

Try and stop this habbit asap cause his daytime nap disruption could affect his nite time sleep. I know easier said than done. What I can suggest to you is keep his schedule as predictable as possible. Wake him about the same time everyday, have him take his first nap as much as possible at the same time and the same for his second nap. His day should begin between 6:30 and 7:00, first nap should be around 9 and second around 3hrs after he wakes from his first nap.Now keep your routine the exact same for naps as you do for bed. What I do is give my little one her bottle, then I rock her for about five minutes, then we go into her room and we put the blinds down and keep talking to her. Let her know what you are doing. I put her in her crib and sing the same silly song each time and then I tell her that she's now going to sleep. Predictibility helps them know what we want them to do.

The reason he's getting up could be due to a new mobility in his part. My little one is now stanging in her crib. So I stay with her and do the pick up and put down. I dont hold her though, we did this quite a few times in the beginning but when you are consistant they realize that they will not win. She also woke up too soon from her naps. What I did was go back to my original position when she fell asleep and did the same things as before and she did go back to sleep. The trick is no mater how mad she's when you do try to put her back down keep with it. Cause she's going to remember that the last time she got out of her crib.

It is quite frustrating when you go through it and just when you've figured things out. Everything all changes and you have to go through it again!

Good luck and keep courage! This will all pass!

Answer 5

Your grandson may not want to sleep on his own. I had that problem with my son. I had to tough it out for a few days and listen to him cry but now he takes regular naps every day by himself. I wouldn't let him cry for a long time though just 5 minutes at a time. Then I would go in calm him down and lay him back in his crib. It wasn't easy but it was worth it. As far as boys being different than girls he is very different than my 3 girls. I have twin girls and I never had as much trouble getting them to sleep as I did with him. That could just be my son though. Good luck with everything!

Answer 6

My daughter is 2 1/2 now and she still takes a nap. When she was your grandson's age, I had a noise machine in her room. It had heartbeat, ocean sound (which I used) and babbling brook sounds. You may want to try that. Also, have him in a separate room which is dark or darker. The most important thing is don't give in. Do not get him up when he crys. Let him lie there. He will fall back asleep. I went through that with my daughter and let me tell you, kids that age know how to push your buttons and know what works.

Answer 7

My son gave up a nap at 6 months. He would nap twice. He may, in time, go back to napping. My son, he's 15 months now is back to taking 2 naps---most days.

Answer 8

tell him if he goes into bed and sleeps promise him that you will go out for icecream or he can have a treat like a new toy or something...good luck!!

Answer 9

you need to tire him out early so he will sleep during the day

Answer 10

it is fine just put him to bed early at night