Friday, August 22, 2008

I turn to you

I'm turning to you, Internets, for help.

Here's the deal. Carter has not napped in over a week. Every once in a while he'll sleep for 45 minutes or so, but it's rare. He's obviously tired (whining, rubbing his eyes, laying his head down) but when I put him in his crib, he stands right up and starts screaming. I've tried putting him back down a gazillion times, holding his little butt down so he can't get up (this starts to work but then he pops back up as soon as I remove my hand 10 minutes later...a girl gets tired!), and letting him yell (which just makes him even more angry and eat more of his crib).

If I take him out of his crib, he's fine. Not yelling or screaming, although still obviously tired. If we get in the car, he falls asleep immediately in his carseat.

Nighttime is fine. He goes down without a fuss (please don't let this be a jinx!) and sleeps 11 hours or so. It's just napping.

Any suggestions?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember girl-child doing this. Her older brother would sleep 4 hours of an afternoon but she wouldn't sleep at all. I was exhausted. Like Carter, she would lay down if my hand was on her, but that was it. In the end I dragged a pillow and blanket into her room and lay down beside her. It wasn't the most comfortable position laying on the floor, reaching up through the rails of the crib, but she would nap and so would I. It took about a week of me napping on the floor beside her before she was back in the swing of napping and I had recovered from the no-nap phase. I only managed 18 months of napping with her, but I couldn't have coped if they stopped at 9 months. Good luck.

I'm Not Skippy said...

We only had this happen for a couple days. The first day he just went without. The second day, I sat in a chair with him and he fell asleep, I put him in his crib and he was out for a couple hours.

My mother-in-law, his babysitter, had a couple days of rough naps, but then he got better. I'm pretty sure she did the same thing I did. That and he is losing his morning nap so he's REALLY tired when the afternoon nap come around.

Does he snuggle? The surefire way to get our Rip van Winkle out is to give him a cloth diaper, he rubs it on his face, chews on it, and just passes right out.

Lynn said...

I agree it's likely a phase. Also I've found that if Handsome is REALLY tired then he will cry when I put him down, but if I know he's been up for a certain amount of time and should be tired, whether I see signs or not, I'll just put him down. He'll talk to himself for a little while in his crib and then just fall asleep on his own.

Anonymous said...

When Bailey goes through one of these phases we let her cry. I will go in every so often and hug her and lay her back down. It usually makes her madder, but it makes me feel good to check on her I guess. If I "rescue" her then the next time she cries even longer because she knows someone will come in to get her. Sounds like Carter's got you figured out ;) Good luck!

Holly Everton said...

With Timothy I have a routine everyday that I do with him and he was going through a phase like that not wanting to sleep that when I started trying different thing and finally got it. He has a music box on his crib that he plays with is he isnt going to sleep. But I get him ready for a nap and turn a CD on with lulaby music on it while playing that I rock him for a few minutes and put him down in his bed and let the cd keep playing till its over. He has something to distract him the music really helps. When I first started the Music thing he would clap his hands but now he know that the CD music means sleepy time. Hope this helps sorry to hear he doesn't want to nap I know that can be frustrating but also I was reading a book that said use a 3 minute rule if he is crying close his door and leave and if it goes on longer than 3 minutes go back in and rock him some more and we have never gone past a minute or so.

AshliAGMG said...

Ditto to "two lines on a stick"... How long do you let Carter cry before you head back in? 30 minutes? If he's truly tired, he should conk out. He'll exhaust himself from all that screaming and trust me, once he falls asleep and then you go in to see him when he is awake, he will be smiling and still loving his mommy :) It's tough, really tough, but babies need sleep and Carter has got your number, knowing that you'll come to his rescue! Don't let him drop his nap now or it will be a long few years... Give it a try. Call someone on the phone as he is screaming in the background to distract you, or even turn off the monitor. I remember these days and it DOES SUCK, but I believe in the cry it out method, and have a 3-hour napper these days :) You can do it!!

Anonymous said...

heHehe. I wish I could help you on this. However, My two did not nap at all. Brandon did not sleep. and Kaitlyn would sleep for 10 minutes here and there. they both would sleep in the car but not stay asleep. boy was I tired.

Daily Verses said...

Hmm. That's a tought sitch. With A when she went through these phases, I never really let her cry to sleep. I'd rock her and hold for naptime, or take her to my bed and nap with her. With G, he started out as an awful sleeper, and it came to a head at 9 months (you might remember some of my desperate posts). I finally had to let him cry. It was terrible for me and I don't want to ever go there again, but it was the only thing that worked after months of frustration. Since then, he's gone to bed and naps like a pro. I truly feel your frustration. It's draining.

Marty, a.k.a. canape said...

CC must be copying Carter. He has napped for only 20 minutes at a time in his crib this week.

Since I HAD to get the house ready to go on the market, I didn't have the luxury (and oh, how I love it) to sit and let him nap on my lap when all else failed.

So I strapped him in the BabyHawk and went about my business. He slept in the carrier and I got stuff done.

Anonymous said...

You need to read the book on nappping... the idea being... sleep begets sleep. Try putting him down earlier. See if that works.
Hugs
Rooth

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