PDA

View Full Version : Nap talk -- how do you develop a good napper?



miki
01-29-2004, 05:41 PM
So far I have been approaching naps with the attitude that since my baby is so young with such brief periods of wakefulness, I just want her to sleep as much as she needs during the daytime so that when she is awake she is happy and not cranky. If she's happy, she gets so much more out of playing. We are still not at a point where she has any kind of predictable schedule. The way I make sure she naps well is to rock her until she closes her eyes for a bit and is sucking her thumb and put her in her swing while it is motionless. And I do all this in a room that is almost as dark as her room is at night and takes 5-10 minutes depending on how well I have gauged her readiness for the nap.

I dream of a day when she will have a morning nap and an afternoon nap and I can just put her in her crib when she's calm and tired and she will sleep. Is this just a fantasy? Do any of you have miracle children who happily sleep during the daylight hours? What are your secrets? Did you do nap training? Did it make a difference once your babies were old enough that they had a predictable schedule? Does that schedule just naturally happen?

Please tell me there is hope!

flagger
01-29-2004, 05:51 PM
We are firm believers in Weissbluth's method of sleep training. We have been blessed with a good sleeper since she was seven weeks old. First at night and then during the day.

What works for us is routine, routine, routine and did I mention routine?

We do much of the same things every day. We lay her down after she is fed by mom and after I shower, I get her up. Sometimes she would fall back asleep, other times she would play happily in her crib. Sometimes she would cry, but I knew she was safe in her crib.

We leave to go on our mall walk and that takes about an hour. We feed a bottle when we get home and she goes down for a nap. We continue a variation of this throughout the day. I really watch her instead of the clock, but generally it is about two hours when she is showing signs she wants to lay down. When she sticks her thumb in her mouth, she is dead tired.

What has happened as we transitioned to two naps is that the longest sleep period has come in the nap in the middle of the day. Usually 2.5-3 hours. The shorter nap comes in the afternoon.

There are times like know when she is teething that the routine is thrown off a bit, but I still give her an hour in the crib at naptime. Sometimes she wails, sometimes she doesn't sleep, but most of the time she drifts off to sleep.

DDowning
01-29-2004, 06:52 PM
DS took about 3 months to be predictable. His first nap is b/w 9 and 10 and last for about 45 minutes. His second nap is b/w 12/12:30 and goes on average about 1.5 hours. The third nap is b/w 5/5:30 and is the shortest about 20/30 minutes. He gets a bath b/w 7 and 7:30 and then is down for good until about 6ish. For me, its generally a modified form of Weissbluth, basically following the 2 - 2 1/2 hour rule but we don't CIO. DS is too stubborn and will wail for 2 hours or more(which he has done) and he gets so worked up that he doesn't get his rest and the rest of the day is shot. To me, its more important that he actually does sleep so I just lay down with him in my bed and he just falls asleep. Once he does, I place him in his crib for the remainder of his nap so I can get some things down. It works pretty well for us.

deborah_r
01-29-2004, 07:44 PM
I loosely followed the 2 hours awake rule and I started swaddling him again around 4-5 months and I would put him in his crib, and he would go to sleep. If he fussed I would come back and pick him up, soothe, put him back down. He caught on pretty quick. I wished I had never stopped swaddling because it was like magic. Oh and he's a pacifier baby, so he won't go to sleep without that.

The holidays threw off our nap routine, but it's getting better now, but he doesn't stay swaddled. I lay him down lengthwise and I find him sleeping sideways - he now plays until he falls asleep.

houseof3boys
01-29-2004, 11:28 PM
So you are still swaddling him? Ryan outgrew his Swaddle Me blanket and then we stopped using it around 4.5 months or so. What are you using that keeps him in it since I know Kai is really active?

He fought me for an hour and 45 minutes today with his afternoon nap! I thought I would lose my mind. I was starving so after lying down with him in our bed for an hour, I had to eat. I put him in his crib and he thought that was playtime and just kept flipping on his tummy and pulling at the aquarium and turning it off and on. I put him back in our bed when I finished eating and it still took 20 mintues. I am on the 2 hour rule with him too since that is his natural pattern of getting tired so it makes it easy. I think it must be a phase he is going through or there are teeth hiding somewhere I haven't seen and that is causing it. He only took 2 naps today and that makes him soooo crabby at night even when I try to put him to bed early. When will it end?!?!?!?!?!!?

deborah_r
01-30-2004, 12:06 AM
I do still start with him swaddled - he's been getting out of it a lot, but sometimes he's so tired he doesn't bother trying to get out. Someone on these boards had recommended to buy microfleece from the fabric store. Then you just cut it to about 45" square and since it's fleece you don't have to finish it at all and it doesn't fray. It's so great! Finding microfleece at Joanne's was a bit tough, as the salespeople were clueless as to the difference between fleece and microfleece, but I finally figured out from one that was labeled microfleece how to tell the difference.

Now the swaddle is kind of my signal to him that it's time to go to sleep. Sometimes I am lzy and just lay the blanket in the crib and put him down on it and do a pseudoswaddle around him, and it usually works. I know what you mean about the playing, he's been doing that too, but thankfully he plays himself out pretty quick. I think we are down to only 2 naps now though, not really sure because I'm not really good with a schedule.

You should try the fleece Debbi - hopefully its not too late!

Edited to add link to the thread with the great info about using microfleece for swaddling blankets...I got the idea from "emmasmama"'s posts...
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=7&topic_id=2794&mesg_id=2794&listing_type=search#2844

houseof3boys
01-30-2004, 12:12 AM
I'll have to try the fleece. I have put his sleep sack on him for naps when I try to get him to sleep in the crib since that is what he uses at night but he still thinks it is a big game in the crib with his new abilities. I am going to try again tomorrow in the crib since the bed is just too scary without me in there with him. Part of me wishes I could CIO since it works for so many but I just don't think I can. I might have to whip out Weissbluth again and reread No Cry Sleep Solution and modify something since the naps are really taking it out of me. I feel like a failed mommy today. :(

egoldber
01-30-2004, 12:14 AM
Some babies fall into a routine around 4 months. It took my DD closer to 6 months to get into a good nap routine. I do like the Weissbluth book, but I would only use as much as you are comfortable with. I wasn't personally comfortable with any training until she was much older. But almost all babies thrive on routines (not schedules, but routines).

Just FYI, my DD took 3 naps a day until she was over a year old. She went to 2 naps a day around 14 months and didn't go to one nap until she was around 22 months. So the number of naps varies from baby to baby (and this is all within the normal range according to Weissbluth).

HTH,

ShayleighCarsensMom
01-30-2004, 12:15 AM
I second the Weisbluths sleep training..the book is titled "healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". I even refer to it with my 2 1/2 year old, its great!
Good Luck!

miki
01-30-2004, 12:27 AM
Valerie and Beth (and other Weissbluth fans),

I can see how a routine helps but I have to say that even though I do let Lorelei cry a bit at night sometimes, I'm afraid to try during the day. She is a pretty good night sleeper so when she cries at bedtime, I know it will be for 5 min. or less. I've tried only a couple of times for naps and she gets so worked up after just a few minutes, I can't imagine that it could work. And Weissbluth says to let cry for up to an hour! What parts of Weissbluth did you use in your nap training?

And the other part of nap training that I am afraid of is that it seems if you do follow Weissbluth's CIO method, it will result in some missed naps. I know that if my baby misses a nap during the day, she will wake up within 2 hours of bedtime screaming her head off because she's too tired to soothe herself to sleep like normal. Does nap training necessarily involve dealing with a baby who is more tired than usual for the duration? Is there a point when the babies get old enough that they tolerate being tired better?

egoldber
01-30-2004, 04:10 PM
My favorite parts of Weissbluth are the part where he talks about sleep signs (how to tell when your baby is tired), the average sleep needs for infants and toddlers at various ages and his suggestions for dealing with various sleep issues. His book is full of great info and I found it comforting. But many people are not comfortable with his style and happier with something like Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution (which has a lot of similar info).

I like Weissbluth, but I have never personally sleep trained or used any type of CIO method. I used the books for info about typical sleep behaviors and for tips and techniques.

kristine_elen
01-31-2004, 12:29 AM
Until Jack was about six or seven months (if memory serves...) he would only nap in his swing, although he slept in his crib at night. One day I tried the crib again for a nap and he slept a whole half hour or something, so I just kept trying it from time to time and pretty soon, he only napped in the crib and the swing went down to the basment. So, there is hope! I don't have any tips, just keep trying. It all works itself out.

AngelaS
01-31-2004, 07:32 AM
Is this just a fantasy? It doesn't have to be!! :D

Do any of you have miracle children who happily sleep during the daylight hours? Yes! Both of my girls have been great nappers.

What are your secrets? I'm a big one for routines also. With both of my girls, from early on, they ate every 3 hours 'round the clock. They'd wake up, nurse, be awake for a while and then when they showed signs of being tired, I'd snuggle them for a few minutes and then lay them down to drift to sleep.

Did you do nap training? I guess.... LOL

Did it make a difference once your babies were old enough that they had a predictable schedule? My babies had a schedule from the beginning.

Does that schedule just naturally happen? Yes! They tell you when they're hungry, the give signs that they're tired and if you know how to read your child, you'll have a happy, well rested baby!

My oldest took two naps a day past age 2. The little one is 20 months and still taking a 45 minute morning nap and a 2 to 2.5 hour afternoon nap. She sleeps 12 hours at night. :D Good sleepers are WORTH the work of teaching them to sleep on their own!!

miki
01-31-2004, 03:16 PM
>Until Jack was about six or seven months (if memory
>serves...) he would only nap in his swing, although he slept
>in his crib at night. One day I tried the crib again for a nap
>and he slept a whole half hour or something, so I just kept
>trying it from time to time and pretty soon, he only napped in
>the crib and the swing went down to the basment. So, there is
>hope! I don't have any tips, just keep trying. It all works
>itself out.

Kristine,

Thank you for posting this! I was starting to feel like I needed to work on how to find a bigger swing. Did you just do your same nap routine with Jack but put him in his crib instead of the swing?

barbarhow
01-31-2004, 03:27 PM
My DS did not get into a good nap routine until he was 5 or 6 months old. He is now a napping champion. During that time he has only been a twice a day napper. I would try for three but it never happened. I decided that he knew what he needed and it seemed that by Weissbluths charts that he was getting plenty of sleep. He wakes up any time between 6a and 8a and goes down for his first nap anytime between 7:15 and 9:30a. He usually is only awake and hour and a half before his morning nap and it will last anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. His 2nd nap usually starts about 3 hours after he gets up from the am nap and lasts about 2 hours.
I personally was never a hardcore sleep trainer and never had to let him CIO-fuss it out a little maybe but not CIO. I think he thrives on routine and I pretty much schedule my day around his naps. Not always easy but in the long run it has been well worth it.
Hang in there. It definately gets easier.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03