End of my rope - Help with CIO/Sleep Training

[McQ]

Well Declan drove me crazy all weekend. He's now starting to fight his naps. He didn't take an afternoon nap Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Alteast on Friday and Saturday he did sleep from 10am-12:40pm in the morning. But Sunday it was only 1/2 hour in the morning. And he's been so tired in the afternoons that he falls down when crawling and is a real crabcake. He goes down okay at night and sleeps through the night which I'm not knocking but what can I do for the naps during the day? The old stand-bys of the stroller, sling and swing no longer work :(

So does this sound like he's transitioning himself from 2 naps a day to 1? But he's so cranky I know he's tired and needs sleep.

Maybe he's teething, but I'm not so sure. He's had these 4 buds for 6 weeks now.

So I'm thinking it's now time to consider CIO/sleep training. I know there are lots of different methods out there. Can some one please give me the quick and simple of each so I can figure out what I'd be most comfortable with before going out and getting the book. I guess I'm looking for the method in general, did you modify it (and how did you do that), how long did it take, results etc...

And can you do this for naps only without mucking up night time?

Thanks! We're a very tired mommy & daddy.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[Jen in Chicago]

I keeping saying I AM GOING TO ENFORCE DR W, but an illness or teething always seems to get in the way. I am a zombie and am paying for it.

I give you credit if you do it. I am a pushover. I think I have the Working Mom guilt going. I have a Ped appt Friday and they are going to ask me about his sleeping and I will have to confess. I feel like they will call Dr Weissbluth in the room and I will get a ruler to my knuckles!- all possible b/c I go to his practice.

[COElizabeth]

I think James transitioned from 2 naps to one around the same time, and it was hard, because he'd be really tired in the afternoon (he dropped the afternoon nap instead of the morning one). However, I am not sure that sleep training will help in this instance. With James, anyway, I could leave him in his crib for an hour (fussing off and on, sometimes just playing) in the afternoon, and he would never go back to sleep.

Eventually the morning nap shifted later and later and is now usually an afternoon nap around 1:30 (or as early as 11 or so if he falls asleep in the car). So you may just have to wait it out...

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02

[ismommy]

Allison,
I would try transitioning to one nap before I would try sleep training. I think Bella tranistioned to one nap at about this time. She was in daycare but Sandy started having her nap with the big kids. After lunch they all went down. Maybe feed Declan an early lunch around 11 and then see if he will nap 12-2 pr smomthing like that.
Bella eats at about 12:30 we watch a show and read books then she naps 1-3 or therabouts.
HTH
Helene
mommy to Isabella

[Momof3Labs]

Colin was about 11 months old when he went from 2 naps to one, and it sounds exactly like what you've described. He dropped the afternoon nap, and we gradually moved the morning nap later, so now he's taking his one nap at around 1pm and it lasts 1.5 hours most days (but going on 3 hours today!!!).

[McQ]

Wow. I thought I had 6 more months or so of two naps a day. Argh! Although yesterday he did nap for 1 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 hour in the afternoon. I'll take it as long as I can get it. And this morning he blissfully slept until 7am. Ahhhh!

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[peanut4us]

Hmmm Allison. That stinks! We've done CIO--amodified versoin--for about the last 3 or 4 months. And she's having better naps now than she ever has. First, if he's got those teeth buds, dope him up on Motrin. Seriously, 99% of the time at our house it is the difference between sleep and no sleep. What we do for naps is try to make it within the same hour each day... She goes down around 9 am everyday (cause she's waking at 5:30). She can sleep anywhere from 1-2 hours. In the afternoon, she naps around 2 also from 1-2 hours. She goes to bed at 6:30.

Our CIO method is:

For naps:
Feed her a bottle if she's hungry, take her to her crib, give her a lovey, rub her back and tell her to have a good nap. IF she freaks out, we let her go for about 10 minutes. Then check on her. Usually, she poops. Odd, but true! We change her, she settles down, lather, rinse, repeat. And she goes to sleep. IF she cries for another 10 minutes, we bring her back down stairs and let her play until she gives us tired cues and do it all over again. We almost never have to let her play for awhile again. Am I cursing myself here? *Knocks on wood*

For nightime waking:
Go in check on her, don't pick her up unless something is wrong, give her back her lovely and binky and pat hre on the tush and say nite-nite, I love you. Close the door, let her cry for 30 minutes, go in again, lather, rinse, repeat. She doesn't really wake up anymore unless something is really wrong, so I guess it worked.

I'm pretty sure that I got these suggestions from Burton White's Raising a Happy, Unspoiled Child.

I hope this helps. Or someones suggestion does. Ooh... another thought... is he walking or trying to? I know that people have told me (and I've seen it with Sara) that when they are working on a milestone, it can screw up their sleep.

Hang in there honey!

[peanut4us]

FWIW, the average to go to one nap that I've read and my ped reinforced is 14-16 months.