Sleep Consult #5

9 Months

Never learned self-soothing for naps.

Refuses to nap in her crib.

No current disagreements between parents?

At about 6 ½ months, we used extinction at night. The longest she cried was 30 minutes the first and second night. Since then, she’s been going to sleep on her own and sleeping 10-11 hours without any intervention. We would disagree in the beginning; I was more open than my wife to letting her cry it out.

She has not napped in her crib since she was a newborn. We still rock her to sleep and then transfer her to the swing…The only ways that I found she would fall and stay asleep were in my arms, her swing, the stroller, or the car…her naps are typically very short, usually lasting about 30-40 minutes…Sometimes she wakes up from her naps cranky (sleep inertia), but refuses to go back to sleep…By 6PM, she usually needs someone to entertain her…as it gets closer to 6:30PM, she can get a little cranky (second wind) Sometimes she will wake up as early as 4:30AM. In this case, I am very cranky and anticipate a rough day ahead…My husband also has a very difficult time putting her to sleep for naps…so I usually end up taking on this job all the time which makes me frustrated and resentful towards him…I do want him to be able to put her down for naps as well.

One thing we struggle with is sticking to our routine on the weekends, as I’m sure most parents do. Her bedtime, 7PM, is too late so she develops a second wind. This means that when she awakens, she is in a state of higher neurological arousal and this directly causes her to have difficulty napping. She has “sleep inertia” upon awakening form some of her naps so she looks “cranky”. Because she is in a state of higher neurological arousal, even though she is tired, she is unable to return to sleep after a brief nap. Remember, when she naps is most important. Nap quality depends on whether it is or is not in synch with circadian rhythms.

What would you suggest?

Marc

Sleep Consult is available on iBook as well as an audiobook on iTunes

Enjoy!

-Dan and Marc