Daytime Naps

by Kristen
(Canada)

My son is 6 1/2 months and is a wonderful nighttime sleeper. He falls asleep on his own at night around 7:00 p.m. and sleeps until 6:30 a.m. the next day. However, his daytime naps are a completely different story.

Within about 1.5 to 2.0 hours after waking up for the day, I see signs that he is ready to go to sleep for his morning nap. He will yawn, rub his eyes and become generally disinterested in his toys. I proceed to do his nap routine and put him down in his crib. He goes to sleep immediately on his own but at exactly 45 minutes of going down for his nap he wakes up crying and will not go back to sleep.

I've tried going to him right away and soothing him back to sleep but that doesn't seem to work. I also have tried letting him cry to see if he'll settle himself but that doesn't work either. Eventually, I end up getting him up even though I know he's still really tired. I know this is not what he needs because within an hour of getting up he's yawning again and looking as though he wants to sleep.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me on how I can get my son to sleep for longer periods of time during the day?