getting a new crawler to nap??? please help!!!!

[lizajane]

the noodle can now crawl forward and backward and can sit back up on his own. when i put him in his bed for a nap, he SCRRRRRRRRRRRREAMS, sitting up, pulling on the crib rails. he used to be the eaaaaaaasiest napper. just put him down when he rubs his eyes and bam, he went to sleep.

a bunch of folks told me he was transitioning to one nap and that he wasn't tired. BUT he rubs his eyes, he yawns, he get cranky... all around the same time as before he learned to sit back up. but he will scream and fight FOREVER when i put him down.

i am positive he is tired and ready for a nap, because i finally gave up and nursed him to see what would happen. bonk, passed out.

i really don't want to start a nurse to sleep habit at 9+ months when i plan to wean at 12-14 months. and i don't want to be the only person who can get him to nap. but if i don't nurse him, he WILL NOT sleep.

should i nurse him to sleep for a week or two, to re-estalish the schedule and then start to work on napping without nursing? or do i need to just keep lying him back down a billion times until he "gets it" that nap time is NOT sit up time?

puh-lease!!! i just don't know what to do here. my sleepy guy needs his rest and his mommy needs her free time to clean up the "been sick right before the holidays then the in-laws visited" house!!

[cchavez]

I am sooo sorry. Dont' know what to tell you... does he have a lovey? Maybe that will be a cue to him that it is nap time?

[janeybwild]

Liza, I'm with you. We have the same exact problem. DH is a crawling fool who is so obviously tired but just won't lie down. Her naps have gone from 2-3 a day (1-1/2 hours each) to 30 minutes per nap max, and she fights every one. I can't wait to hear peoples suggestions. I did try a lovey in the crib with her this a.m. and she played for a while and then went off, but she only slept for 25 minutes. The real test will be this afternoon. Hang in there and I'll let you know if we figure anything else out.

[MartiesMom2B]

Liza:

We can commiserate together.

The ped. told me that this is normal for babies our age. He said that it's seperation anxiety. Which makes sense to me because I can definitely tell that Martie has it. She just seems to panic when I'm not around. He said to make sure that we put her down while she's tired and go back into the room after a period of time (5-20 minutes)to reassure her that I'm still here and that I'm here for her.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[peanut4us]

Several people have told me that whenever your baby reaches a new physical milestone the sleep gets all screwed up. The best advice I was given was just to wait it out for a few days. Sara has always been a freak about sleeping, but moreso when she learns a new trick. Usually after a few days of her mastering her trick, she's back to her normal freakish schedule! Good luck!

[jennifer13]

We've had the same issues. Norah was always a great napper but a few weeks ago when she started getting mobile and started some separation stuff, she started screaming her head off. I, too, resisted the nursing because we are also in the process of partially weaning. I sort of did a ferber method- just put her down, checked back in a minute or two to reassure her, checked back a few minutes later, etc.. If she was really screaming I would pick her up and soothe her, and then put her back down. And sometimes over and over. It depends on how much crying you can handle. But, the good news is that it only lasted about a week. And she actually would settle down after less than 5 minutes of crying, but before this I had never let her cry that long. Mostly what helped was my own attitude- she can always tell when I'm waffling! So I go in with the attitude of this is DEFINTELY your nap! It did stop. Good luck!!

Jennifer
Mom to Norah 5/23/03

[jd11365]

Must crawl...must crawl...this is Schuyler's new mantra. Yep, he found something new to do and now wants to do it ALL the time. This whole mobile thing is a pain in the rump I gotta tell ya... I can't offer suggestions, just someone to commiserate with. It's not all the time...if that makes you feel better. Sometimes they are tired enought to just give in... Of course this wasn't the case last night at midnight when she wouldn't give in for anything...

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[Sarah1]

Try not to get too frustrated. This will pass, I bet you anything. I wouldn't try and lie him down after the initial lying down. My feeling was, when this happened w/DD, was that she needed to learn how to lie down on her own...and she did--pretty quickly. I wasn't going to make a habit of going in there to lie her down over and over again.

[lizajane]

thanks for your support! i think this has been going on for almost a week? so i will see what happens next week. we did a ferber kinda thing last night, which went on for an HOUR and i finally cried. we went in at 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes and he went to sleep around 55 minutes. we will see what happens tonight. sigh...

i gave in and nursed for both naps today. i think i want to get bedtime back to normal and then go for naps.

oh, and he does have a lovey. but he holds it and shakes it while crying. :( when he is ready to sleep, he snuggles up with it.