My 2 1/2 month will rarely sleep for longer than 30mins at a time and not more than total 1 1/2hrs during the day. He gets really grumpy in the afternoon because he is so tired. He sleeps well at night (7pm to 7am with feeds at 10, 3 and 7), but i am starting to despair during the day because i can't get anything done and there is no hint of a schedule forming for feeding and sleeping. It's a struggle to get time to prepare and eat lunch some days. Anyone else with the same issue / tips? Am i expecting too much from him at this age?

My son is also 2.5 years old (will be 3 in April). We recently cut out all of his naps since he was giving us a harder time than usual at bedtime and was waking up a little on the early side. He has been functioning well without naps though thanks to a very strict schedule (especially in the mornings). We recently potty trained my son as well and the naps seemed to interefere with his progress. 10, 3, and 7 are also somewhat odd times a day to feed him breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You will especially run into an issue if you haven't already when it comes to potty training because he isn't getting any significant time between his dinner and bedtime. I would try feeding him almost immediately after he gets up (like after you dress him and stuff) and then the rest of the meals on a strict schedule. I always fed my son lunch around 11:30 and put him down for a nap (when he was still taking one) immediately after lunch (and after potty time of course). Moving his meals to a more realistic time will also get him ready for preschool/school. He will be eating much earlier then!

Thanks Heather but my son is 2.5months and the feed times are me breastfeeding during the night!!

Joanna - my little girl was also a difficult napper, but a great night time sleeper.  The only way she would sleep for anytime at all during the day was if I held her.  I work during the week and she would nap in her crib at the babysitters, but if we were home she would not nap unless I held her.  I finally got tired of this when she was aobut 8 months and just started letting ehr cry it out...only a couple days of crying for 10-20 minutes and she was fine!  It does take quite awhile for them to get on a schedule, so I wouldn't worry too much.  Just keep working with him.  Swaddling and a white noise machine helped Sienna nap.

Joanna you are so lucky that your 2 month old sleeps at night!!  My three and a half month old has just recently started sleeping long stretches through the night.  We have gotten her on a pretty good schedule during the day as well and it just takes time.  We found that if we got her up in the morning, played with her, dressed her, and rocked her for a while, she would get sleepy.  I would rock her to the point where she was almost asleep and then put her down in her crib, making sure she had been fed, changed, cuddled, etc.  At first she would fuss for about 15-20 minutes before falling asleep but she did finally fall asleep and would sleep for about an hour.  When she would wake up I would repeat the process of changing her, feeding her, playing with her, etc until she started to show signs of getting tired (for her it was fussiness and yawning) and i would rock her again until she got almost to sleep and i would put her down again.  After a few days of doing this she began to realize that when she is tired she gets put down for a nap and now she falls asleep immediately upon being put down.  Also, if you want your baby to nap longer, try soothing him when he wakes up from a short nap, but don't pick him up.  For us turning on a little music and a white noise machine worked.  Your baby may still cry for a bit but once he realizes that you're not going to pick him up he will probably go back to sleep.  Good luck!  The sleeping thing is so complicated! 

I've been having the same problem with my daughter..she's only a month old, so I don't expect too much from her...but I have found that swaddling is totally necessary...another thing is when Grace is gassie, she'll wake herself up every 5 minutes until it passes...I have started giving her the gas drops, and it seems to help...

I've been having the same problem with my daughter..she's only a month old, so I don't expect too much from her...but I have found that swaddling is totally necessary...another thing is when Grace is gassie, she'll wake herself up every 5 minutes until it passes...I have started giving her the gas drops, and it seems to help...

Joanna, I feel your frustration, my daughter is going to be 4 months tomorrow and I still can not get her to take naps during the day, unless I'm holding her, in which I still can not get anything done. By the evening she is so miserable and cranky she can't stand herself. I wish you the best of luck, if you find any advice that helps PLEASE let me know!

Hi Mandy, I'm using a Moby wrap most days so i can still get some things done. Kai will sleep in it for up to 45mins and he seems to like the motion of me moving around, so I tie him on and get a drink, make a sandwich... Even when he doesn't sleep, it soothes him when he is fussy. Other than that, I can get him to sleep if I go out for a walk with the stroller (I just have to keep on walking!). I do that for an afternoon nap and it takes the edge off the grumpy evening baby issue! Hope it helps, good luck

Hi Im new to this group, but by reading all of these post seems like we have much in common. My daughter is 6 mo and she barely naps during the day its like she has too much energy or she likes to fight her sleep. But at night shes a great sleeper. Its just a matter of her fallin asleep..its takes forever. She doesnt like to fall asleep on her own I have to rock her still and when I place her down she wakes up. It takes a few times of doing this before she actually falls asleep. Anyone have any suggestions??

Betsy, 

Have you tried setting a really regular routine with her at night?  We have found that helps our 3 and a half month old fall asleep easier.  We feed and bathe her around 6 pm, then rock her or carry her around till she's relaxed, and then she ends up going down pretty easily by 7 pm.  After doing this for a few weeks she is totally ready to go to sleep at 7. Sometimes she'll cry, but for no more than 5 minutes or so. It is great.  Also, have you tried white noise or a lullaby CD?  That has helped with our little one.  Seems to soothe her right to sleep.