Our 4.5-month-old has problems at resettling himself without his dummy
For the past 5-6 weeks we have been experiencing problems with our son’s lunch time nap – he used to sleep for a good 2-21/2 hrs at lunch time and if he woke up we gave him a dummy. However, we have since decided to remove the dummy and for the past week and a half have been trying to do controlled crying with him – this seems to be working well at night time but still not in the day time. His morning nap is from 9-9.35am. I usually feed him at 11.00am if he woke at 7.00 and after 180mls of milk he then has 3 cubes of vegetables such as sweet potato and carrot mixed together, I then put him in his cot, in the dark and leave him to settle himself to sleep at about 12.15. He falls asleep and then after 45 minutes-1 hr he will wake. He settles sometimes after 15 minutes only to wake again half an hour later and even though I have let him cry for up to 25 minutes he will not settle back to sleep – I can’t see that it is hunger as he eats well at 11.00 and doesn’t seem ravenous if I delay his feed till 2.30. Today I have left him for 25 minutes the second time and he still doesn’t settle – how long should controlled crying take in order to make progress? I have been putting him in his cot (not his pram) for this nap for a week and a half and we have made no progress. Could you suggest anything else? I really don’t want to resort to using a dummy again.
Controlled crying should really only be used as a last resort, especially with a baby of this age. Check through the article Gina has written on the site about the problems which do sometimes occur with this nap to make sure you have eliminated all the reasons why he is unable to resettle himself without resorting to the dummy again.
It can take more than a few days before you see a real change in his behaviour as he needs to learn how to settle alone and is not in such a deep sleep as in the night. If you find that your son is getting tired in the afternoon as a result of this disturbed sleep than let him have a short catnap before 5pm to help him through bath and bedtime.
Although hunger may not seem to be the cause of this nap going wrong, it would be a good idea to offer a couple of ounces of milk before going down at this nap to rule out the possibility. Again the article on the site explains how to do this so.
He still may have a strong Moro reflex so continue to tuck him in well, using a cotton sheet over a lightweight sleeping bag. Secure this with rolled up towels down the cot sides so that when he comes into his light sleep after about 45 minutes he may be less likely to fully waken himself.