B.R.
My son did the same thing during months 5 and 6. Teething and constant practicing of new skills were part of the problem. It seemed like he'd cry as soon as he touched the mattress; sometimes he'd be trying to roll or crawl. Some days I couldn't get him to nap at all, but just like your son, he was still good at night.
There was a lot of trial and error, but I kept working at our routine, and it all seems worth it now. At eight months, he has finally settled into a schedule and started to put himself to sleep on his own! It did not seem that any of this was working at all until almost seven and a half months, so don't give up hope! Just be as consistent and patient as you can, and know it will get better. He's going to learn how to do this, just like all the other cool things he's learning.
Here's a routine that seemed to help us. When my son wakes, I feed him and then we play hard immediately. What that means changed with his abilities. It might be tummy time and sitting practice now. Later it might be crawling time and the jumperoo. Then I move him to something easier, like the exersaucer for awhile. We go for one more stimulating thing, like a quick grocery store trip (literally across the street for us) or time in the yard no matter how cold, then we wind down. Winding down usually means that we walk around the house together. Sometimes, I walk dishes to the dishwasher one by one. Sometimes I call my mom and chitchat and pace with him in my arms. He doesn't exercise and I don't bounce and play with him during this time. It's like his muscles just need to be forced to chill out. I give it about 20 minutes or so. Then we go to his room, put on the sleep sack, put on the fan, and lower the blackout shades. He gets ten minutes of rocking and then it's nap time.
Around five months, he started taking only two naps a day, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours each. It was tricky to figure out what times worked for him. He gets up between 6:40 and 7. His first nap is usally around 10:00, and the second one around 2:30. Then he's back to sleep around 7/7:30. It was pure trial and error to see what worked.
Re: nursing. My lactation consultant told me to limit him to no more than 20 minutes per breast, so that I'm not just pacyfying him. I found that he would take the full time in the AM when he was very hungry, and in the PM when he's sleepy before bed. He does fuss when taken off in the PM. But after naps during the day, he only nurses for about 12 minutes per side. I like that he's not dependent on nursing to sleep before naps.
Just know that it will get better soon! Remember how hard it was when he was three months? Give it two more months and you'll see another huge change! Hope this helps!
