napping suggestions?

[jhrabosk]

So, for reasons that I can't now remember, I didn't get DD in the habit of napping in her crib. She mostly napped in her swing. Now, at almost 4 months, we're having a really tough time getting her to sleep in her crib (or pack-n-play) during the day. Overall, she sleeps beautifully there at night.

Also, it seems to me that she still really needs to be swaddled in order to sleep well. When she's not, her hands and arms seem to distract her and wake her up.

She's in daycare 4 days a week, so it's really difficult to work on a habit. And, while I'm willing to let her cry in the crib a little bit during the day if necessary, they won't do that at daycare.

Anyone else have this experience? What are your tips for good napping? For all the books out there about sleeping, it seems as though there's very little to help with naps!

Thanks!
Jessica

[Sillygirl]

Oh boy, I had the same issue with my son. I was home with him for his first eight months and loved to cuddle him, so he always took his naps in my arms. He screamed bloody murder if I tried to put him down for his nap, but at night he slept beautifully in his crib, no problems. Then I started gearing up to go back to work and started having our nanny come to the house. She watches one other child as well so it wasn't possible for her to hold Jonathan for naps. That week of transition was soooo hard. I tried to let him CIO and he screamed for thirty minutes straight.

Well, my fellowship started and I had to leave the house. Our nanny started with holding Jonathan until he fell asleep and then gently lying him down on the couch, well barricaded with pillows. After a couple weeks, she would put down once he was sleeping into a Pack and Play in the basement. I really think that made a difference - he was willing to accept a nap anyplace EXCEPT the crib for some reason. Finally, she got to the point where she could lay him in the playpen while he was awake, but sleepy, and he would nap. He's now almost sixteen months and we only got him napping in the crib a few months ago. He still cries for a minute or two at the start of each nap, but then he settles down and sleeps.

He's never been a child that will fall asleep on a blanket in the living room if tired enough. And when we were stuck in an airport for nine hours this weekend, it took a good twenty minutes of tantrum before he finally fell asleep on my shoulder. So while he's always been a fantastic nighttime sleeper, naps have been a challenge.

What does your daycare do if he won't nap without crying? If they've got the staff, do they just hold him? You may need to let him cry on your days home with you and hope that's enough for him to learn to nap on his own. I do wish I'd listened to my mom and started trying to get Jonathan to nap on his won from a younger age - by the time we started, at eight months, his preferences seemed to have been well established. Good luck! Napping doesn't seem to get a lot of attention at times but it was the most stressful thing I've dealt with to date as a mom.

[juliasmom05]

We didn't get DD to nap in her crib until she was around 5 months. Before that she napped in the swing or on my nap. It has been a struggle as she is very resistant to taking naps. What finally worked for us was to put the hairdryer on (a CD) while she naps. Most days she still cries for a little bit before she falls asleep, and up until a few weeks ago, she was consistently taking 3 naps a day. I think in the beginning we were letting her get too tired before trying to get her to take a nap, but around 5 months or so, we started to put her down for a nap after she had been up for only 1 h to 1 1/2 h. Initially, we were surprised that she would need a nap so soon but this seem to helped quite a bit.

We have the daycare problem as well and haven't quite figured out a solution for this. The also are reluctant to let her cry a little in the crib and usually end up having to rock her or rock the crib. They always comment on how resistant she is to naps and how she didn't nap very well. We are still trying to find a way to get her to nap more at daycare because she is much happier when she gets her naps.

Hang in there and I hope you find something that works for you

Marci

Mom to Julia 4/05

[cchavez]

My DD is not quite 2 months and she has been napping in her swing for about a month. I don't know when I will make the transition to the crib. DS didn't nap in his crib until around 4 months. I used to rock him and then set him down...it usually worked but his naps were very short. I did let him CIO for naps at around 6 months. He was still a short napper but at least he learned to fall asleep on his own. DS has never been a good napper but did go through a decent nap phase b/w 1-2 years. He seems to have given up his naps recently....he will be 3 at the end of April. So I fear, once a bad napper always a bad napper....we do the best that we can. Good luck!

[jennifer_r]

I've asked my ped. about this multiple times with both of my DDs (can't remember as far as back with my son). He tells me that until they are at least 4 months old, you really can't expect them to fall asleep by themselves. They don't have that ability and CIO won't work. He said that I don't really have to start working on it until 4-6 months and probably closer to 6 months. DD1, 18 months old, is now a great sleeper (she still takes 2 naps a day or at least "rests" there, will mostly wake up and play in her crib in the morning for 45 minutes which is when I take her out (still happy BTW) and goes to sleep at night with zero issues). I'm hoping that DD2 sleeps as well as that! At nighttime, DD2, who is 3.5 months old, goes to sleep w/almost no issues in her crib and will often sleep 8-12 hours at a stretch. Daytime naps in her crib are very iffy. I usually nurse her, she falls asleep, I put her in the crib and more than half the time she wakes up and can't get herself to fall back asleep - the rest of the time she takes a nap, sometimes short, sometimes long. I try to wake her up a bit when I put her down so she realizes that she's in the crib and gets used to the idea of falling asleep there.

HTH and if I come across any other words of wisdom, tips or anything else that works for me, I'll let you know. But it doesn't sound like it's too late for your daughter to learn to take naps in her crib at all!

Good luck.


Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

[jhrabosk]

Thanks everyone! This has all been very helpful...it's good to know that she's really sort of at the transition point and not behind the curve, so to speak.

She really sleeps beautifully in her crib at night...we're starting to get a 10-hour stretch about once a week. And just in the past few nights, I've been able to put her down when her eyes are still open (as opposed to rocking until she's pretty well asleep) and she drifts off on her own.

I'll just keep trying to get her used to the crib and maybe have a chat with the ped when we go next week.

Thanks again!
Jessica

[sidmand]

I don't know where your swing currently is or if this really helped in our case or was just a coincidence, but...

I started by putting his swing in his room so that he associated his room with naptime. He really shouldn't have been in the swing anyway anymore, but naps were SO difficult and we were finally getting one in the swing that I was very hesistant to switch.

But we got back from a vacation and I said, "no more swing after vacation." We also were determined to get a nap in the crib to work. It's a bit trickier when you can't have the every day consistency, though, I know.

He was sleeping great in the crib at night so I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work in the daytime. I think we still have to work on getting his room darker and we're looking into room-darkening shades--I think that is a problem (we can sneak out without him seeing us leave in the dark and not in the daytime).

Also, now we do the ENTIRE nighttime routine at naps. We thought we were before, but he goes in a sleepsack at night that we weren't doing--so into the sleepsack, get a bottle, read Goodnight Moon, turn on the lullaby CD and crib...it works more than it doesn't.

Good luck!

Debbie

Mom to Sawyer!
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