Need advice on getting baby to nap longer and sleep better at night.?

Question

my 5 month old wakes up a lot at night and only takes half hour naps, any ideas of techniques to get her to sleep longer and better. I have tried baby whisperer and ferber method some what. Any advice.

she gets 8 oz bottles a day and is already on pablem so putting cereal in her bottle is not an option nor would i do it. Has anyone tried the ferber method with sucess or the baby whisperer, maybe I am doing something wrong.

okay well eliminating her naps is totally absurd and out of the question she needs her naps she gets really really really cranky without them and most mothers should know that good day sleep equals good night sleep,, some of these answer are great and some of them are absurd. sorry but it's the truth

Answer 1

I tried almost everything to get my son to nap longer to no avail. Eventually, I did what Dr. Weissbluth suggested in "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" which is I put him down for two naps, didn't fight the length and pushed the bedtime early....like 5:30pm early! Sounds crazy and counter-productive, but it actually helped my son sleep better at night and he woke around 5:30 or 6am....which is 12 hours straight and about what they should get. As he grew, his naps naturally got a bit longer around 8 months(but not by much) and he dropped his A.M. nap at 10months. It took until 18 months to get him to take one 1.5 hr nap. As the natural progression occured, I pushed the bedtime back gradually. Now, he's 2, goes down at 1pm for 1-1.5 hrs and night-night is at 7:30. The best thing I EVER did was early bed time....I know a lot of people whose kids are up at 9 or 10 at night and my hubby and I get those hours to ourselves-which is important now I'm expecting #2!!!

It also helped that I did Ferber and taught him how to fall asleep on his own. It took a while and I didn't do it until around 5 months, but if you stick to it, it does work. That is key for sleeping the night b/c when they wake, they are able to put themselves back to sleep. Good luck! Naps are TOUGH!

Answer 2

Your 5 month old may not need as much sleep as some other children might. I would eliminate all naps and see if the nightime rest increases. They may have acid reflux, allergies, or may need more noise in the home when sleeping. Yep, I said noise. Most new parents think a perfectly quiet home is best, but in fact, the opposite is better. I always had a radio on in the babies room. Soft music sooths a baby. I always gave a warm bath just before bedtime, and massaged them gently. They may also be hungry, how often are they eating? My son didn't sleep well either. He had acid reflux. It took some time to figure it out, but once we did, he slept normally 10-11 hours at night. He also took 3 naps during the day. Does your baby cough at night or at nap time. Clear his throat, or cry when lying down flat? Does he/she sleep better when in an upright postion, like in a car seat? Try different postions.

Answer 3

Sometimes there is not much you can do but wait for your baby's body to grow and mature a little more. My baby is over 6 months old now and has JUST NOW started sleeping 5 or 6 hours at a time in the evening. He goes to bed at 8pm and usually wakes up around 1am for food, then goes back to sleep until 6am. But up until this time he was eating consistently every 3 hours. Not all babies are like this - you may have the baby that will "sleep through the night" when he is 2 or 3 months. It is a different experience for every mom and baby! Not much you can do right now to extend your baby's sleep, because he is still so young and his body really does need to eat often. A pacifier will do a hungry baby no good - just frustrate him more!

Answer 4

Optimally we would all love a baby who follows the general guidelines, but unfortunately each baby has their own agenda. I have been a mom for 28 years to 4 kids plus I have provided child care in my home for 20 years. I've had a pretty good mix of children who would be considered "good" sleepers along with a good number of not-so-good sleepers. I have a 6 month old grandson who I care for. He is very much like your daughter. You can set the clock by him as he naps during the day only 45 minutes at a time. He didn't read the books that say he should be sleeping 2-3 hour naps 2 times a day. At night he generally only sleeps about 4 hours at a time, but sometimes will go 5-6 hours. Published methods for getting a baby to sleep don't work for all babies. Some parents swear by methods using "cry it out", others (both parents and babies) just can't bear it. Routine will work for some babies, but not for others. Some babies just don't need as much sleep as others. The one thing that I have consistently done that works a lot of the time is make sure the baby has a clean diaper, a full tummy, and is well burped before putting down to sleep. Then, in a modified "cry it out" method, I will let the baby "fuss" for awhile, waiting until her cries signal distress and not merely unhappiness with the state of things. Sometimes a baby will learn quickly how to soothe himself, others won't have any part of it. Lots of "experts" and all moms have techniques they recommend or swear by, but truthfully, it often takes a lot of trial and error to find what works best for your baby. As your baby gets older, she will settle into some resemblance of a schedule that you may be able to rely on for a while, but schedules change as she and her needs grow and change.

Answer 5

Does she go to sleep on her own? If babies are rocked to sleep or if they have a parent to help them fall asleep then when they wake in the night they need you again. Also if they fall asleep somewhere different to where they wake up they will usually feel insecure. So have a bedtime routine and put her down in her cot to fall asleep alone, if she cries you can rub her tummy and talk to her then give her a blanket or cloth and leave. You can keep going back if she cries but only to reassure her then leave again. She will soon learn to fall asleep herself and do this when she wakes in the night. Like someone else said dont run in straight away leave it a few minutes or so, sometimes she will cry and then settle herself.
Daytime naps are important and stopping them will not help a baby sleep better at night. I would say a 5 month old needs two long naps, morning and afternoon about 1.5-2hrs each. try leaving a bit longer before going in to her if she wakes and as i said before give her a blanket or cloth to hold and make sure she has a full tummy before putting her down.
Hope this helps.

Answer 6

"Has anyone tried the ferber method with sucess or the baby whisperer, maybe I am doing something wrong."

Quite possible. Throw those dreadful books out, and read some Dr. Sears books on attachment parenting.

"Beware of baby trainers
Attachment parenting teaches you how to be discerning of advice, especially those rigid and extreme parenting styles that teach you to watch a clock or a schedule instead of your baby; you know, the cry-it-out crowd. This "convenience" parenting is a short-term gain, but a long-term loss, and is not a wise investment. These more restrained styles of parenting create a distance between you and your baby and keep you from becoming an expert in your child..."

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t130300.asp

Answer 7

Does she like pacifiers? I found just getting up and popping a pacifier in her mouth calmed her right down. I also have a battery operated mobile with lights, so at night if she was really awake I'd turn it on, and she'd suck on her paci and watch the lights/bears. She's 5 months now and usually sleeps 12 hours through the night, and takes one 2 1/2 hour nap. For naps the room has to be dark and she has to be in her crib-- napping out in the living room = a catnap.

Also be sure she has a full belly of warm milk before bedtimes.

Answer 8

Don't go get her right away. Let her fuss for five minutes before going in. Sometimes she'll soothe herself back to sleep. Don't let her sleep for those half hour naps. Keep her awake for as long as possible and phase out some of the naps and she should be down to two naps...an hour or so in the morning and about two hours in the afternoon. She also should be fed bigger bottles (6 oz instead of 4) before going down and throughout the day. If she's fed more, she'll sleep more because she won't wake hungry.

Answer 9

My son also would only cat nap during the day. I don't think you can change that. But, when she wakes at night, do not pick her up. Just rub her back for a minute and then walk away. She needs to teach herself to go back to sleep. If she continues to cry, wait 5 minutes and then go back and rub her back again. Repeat this until she falls asleep. They will seem like the longest 5 minutes of your life. Though, each night should get better. Good luck.

Answer 10

sweetie you dont want her to take a long nap in the day because then at night she will not want to go to sleep ok and at night time give her a worm bath with that bedtime bath soap play with her in the tub for about 20 min get her out rub her down with bedtime lotion make her a worm bottle with her milk and add a little cereal to it where it is a little thick but not to thick just right feed her and rock her to sleep i would say give her bath around 7:30 then do the lotion right after and by 8:30 put her down she should sleep longer this is what i do for my son it works everytime