5 Month Old Won't Nap Unless I Hold Her

Updated on August 13, 2010
L.F. asks from Brick, NJ
5 answers

Hello everyone! I am in need of some advice, suggestions or just some words of encouragement! My 5 month old daughter will only nap max 30 min in her crib. As soon as I see her getting tired I take her in her room and rock her to sleep. I put her in her crib and exactly 30 min later she is up...usually she is smiling and laughing ready to play..but sometimes she does wake up crying. I go back in and give her her pacifier and leave...she will not go back to sleep...she will just cry and cry. She went on for almost an hour one time. I kept going in to reassure her and give her her pacifier..but as soon as I left the room she would cry again. If I just continue holding her and lay in my bed with her she will sleep for hours! I don't mind doing that now but I am going back to work soon so she is going to have to learn how to nap on her own. I don't know what to do. I know it is not an issue of her not knowing how to put herself to sleep because at night she is great. At bed time II give her a bottle and when she's done she goes in her crib still half awake and falls asleep fine...and usually sleeps 9-11 hours! I don't know what is different during the day! At first I thought that maybe she didn't need as much sleep since she sleeps so good at night...so I would just let her take a couple of "cat naps" through out the day and by night time she was miserable! Is this just a phase? Is there anything I can do to help her sleep more for her naps? Anyone else gone through this? thanks!!

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B.M.

answers from Washington DC on

I can tell you that my daughter was the same way.. If I lay with her and give her my breast she would sleep a good while.. That or hold her .. But it's a bad habit.. Cause at 15 months I didn't break her of it sooner.. I'm not getting any sleep cause she still doesn't sleep through the night.. But when she gets a little older I would try the let her cry thing.. Because they do get use to that .. I put my daughter in bed and she will whine for a couple of minutes and then she goes to sleep.. It is hard letting them cry but it does in the end help. GOOD LUCK!

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J.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Do you have a set nap time routine? You know, I was looking over a site earlier and they had some very interesting ideas for getting kids to take a nape...you should check it out, I think it'll be very helpful!

http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/naps?utm_campaign=th...

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C.M.

answers from Syracuse on

My 4 1/2 month old son does basically the same thing! I'm interested to see what people say because I need help, too!

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C.O.

answers from New York on

My son is 4 months and I had the same problem. He would sleep at night fabulously but nap was horrible. He now wakes at 8ish and is ready for a nap around 10. I put him in the crib awake he takes a little to fall asleep put he does it on his own. Then another nap at 1:30. Both last about 1-2 hrs. But keep trying... it takes time and patience but put her down awake if she continues to cry for more then a few minutes pick her up console her then right back down. I wasn't one for the CIO method. Hope she naps soon.

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F.W.

answers from Cumberland on

I went through this with my daughter--seems so long ago now. I read books by the Baby Whisperer which helped me. I too thought, "Oh my daughter just doesn't need that much sleep" but I was wrong. She sleeps more now at age two then she did at your daughter's age. It took awhile to get her back on track though. This method is not a leave the room CIO method. She will still cry but your there to help her by picking her up until she stops crying then placing her back in a sleeping position. Repeatedly---depending on the habits she has formed thus far you could do this many many times before she falls asleep.
First though, if she doesn't need to be rocked to sleep during the night, then she could probably fall asleep in the first place on her own at nap time too. Try using a simiilar routine during the day as at night but condensed. Maybe the room is too bright as well? I am a daycare provider and it seems like the children sleep sounder if I don't rock them completely asleep. It is almost like if you fell asleep in someone's arms when you come out of the first sleep cycle (approx. 45 min long) and you are not in arms anymore but in a strange bed you'd be disoriented too.

Also, if you are worried about daycare and her napping, she'll probably fall right in with whatever routine they do at naptime. That shouldn't be too much of a problem--I've had children start here that had one routine at home and a different one here. They know I'm not mommy and don't have the same expectations of me that they have of you. Your daughter, even at this young age, associates daytime sleep with being rocked by your completely to sleep and when she wakes and is not in your arms she is disoriented. It seems like you go in to her if she wakes up whether she is crying or just playing. If she is playing, let her go ahead, she'll probably fall back asleep. If she is crying try the "pick up put down" method from Baby Whisperer. Just be patient--it is hard--I nursed mine to sleep for naps and she used to literally suckle her way through nap time so by the time I got her in the crib she had already partially napped on my breast and was all full of milk whenever she didn't really need it in the first place ( I was mixing up her cues) My daughter fought me about changing this lovely routine because she had clear set of expectations about napping and sleep. I too was okay with this routine until I was about to start my daycare--I knew she and I needed a better one. Your daughter has a certain set of expectations too! Changing this will require Patience Patience Patience:) Hope this is somewhat helpful!

As for the cry it out method, at 5 months you might wind her up so much with crying it will have the opposite effect. Its much different to let a toddler whine for a few minutes than to let an infant scream for much longer periods--definitely recommend Baby Whisperer for a more gradual less traumatic method

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