What do you do when baby wakes up screaming from nap but they're still tired?

[susan_1981]

My son (11 months old) has one nap a day and he'll go down for 2-2.5 hours, sometimes 3. This works fine for us and he goes to bed at 8pm. But if I'm out - like today - I didn't get to put him down for his nap until 3.30pm (he usually has his nap any time between 1.30pm and 2.30pm).

We were round a friend's house today and other babies were there so I knew he wouldn't sleep there and he was full of life until we left and I put him in the car. Within seconds, he was asleep. We were home within 15 minutes where I put him into his cot and he went back to sleep but he then woke up screaming about an hour later. I know this isn't enough sleep for him. He needs 2 hours at the very least. So I went up and he was wide awake crying. I changed his nappy as I didn't get a chance to do this when we got in as he was asleep then I gave him a cuddle and put him back in his cot. He was crying throughout all of this. I then stroked his head and shushed him but it didn't help so I just left the room for a couple of minutes and he soon stopped. But this doesn't always work. Sometimes he is literally inconsolable. I end up bringing him downstairs for a bit but he'll still be crying, then I take him back up to his cot and he'll eventually settle back down again.

Any advice on how to deal with this? I'm pretty sure that he's waking up crying because he is overtired by the time I've put him down for his nap. But he just doesn't want to nap when he is anywhere other than his cot or in the car.

 

[Noelle610]

I do as you do. It does sound like he was overtired. In the future, could you bring a pack-n-play (travel cot) so that he can nap at your friends? That's what I do when we're out during naptime. It's not ideal and she usually won't nap quite as well, but it sure beats an overtired baby.

 

[susan_1981]

Yep, we have a travel cot. But I think I'm my own worst enemy a bit here as I'd always rather he slept when it was just me and him at home as it gives me some time to get on with things around the house. So if we're round a friend's, I'd actually rather he was awake so he can play with his friends and just be in a different environment. I think he would probably go to sleep on their sofa with his milk but then I know I'd probably have to wake him up when it's time to go which would probably disrupt the nap altogether.

Just wondered if there were any magical tips but I thought probably not. I don't mind doing controlled crying with him but then I think that's only because it never takes longer than 10 minutes. I'd probably find it tougher if it took a long time x

 

[Twister]

I tend to leave her and she will normally settle in less than 10 minutes. This happened to me today when she woke after 15minutes and I knew there was no way she was done napping.

 

[Indigo77]

I do the same thing. Sometimes it works & sometimes it doesn't. It usually means that bedtime is a bit earlier than usual.

 

[susan_1981]

Thanks. He did it again today - although he was ready for his nap so wasn't overtired when I put him down. I just went in and put the covers back over him and stroked his head for a little bit and told him it was still nap time, then left him still crying. He stopped a couple of minutes later and then went back to sleep. When he starts crying, I leave him for a bit to see if he can re-settle because I think he's going through a bit of separation anxiety at times. Mostly he's fine. But sometimes when we put him in his cot, he'll be fine until we leave the room and then start crying. Although he obviously forgets about us pretty quickly as he then starts playing before he falls asleep! x

 

[Flower15]

My LO sometimes wakes up in a worst mood than before she went for a nap! Is it not teething too. I often find when she's teething she wakes up much sooner from her nap in a really tearful mood

 

[Banshee]

When ds2 wakes like that mid nap I put the lullabies on on his baby monitor and that usually calms him down and sends him off to sleep again.

 

[Zephram]

If it's due to going down for a nap too late and LO wakes early I usually just get him up and then put him to bed a little bit earlier that night. Not sure if it's the 'correct' thing to do or not but I find a late nap interferes with bedtime and I'd really rather he go to be early or on time than later because he napped late.

 

[pinklightbulb]

I used to leave Eamon and 9/10 he'd go back to sleep. Sometimes he needed to be told at that age that naptime wasn't finished yet and Mummy would come back later. That usually did the trick-- he'd see me come in and leave and kind of understand that it was still sleeptime if I wasn't taking him back out with me. I think. Lol. Whatever went through his head, it worked, anyway.