Too young to CIO for nap?

[tmarie]

DD is 15 wk old. She was born 4 wks early, so I consider her a 11-12 weeker. Since smiling and cooing have appeared, it has become increasingly difficult to put her to sleep. If I don't go to extreme soothing efforts in a quiet dark room, she would not nap at all during the day. She sleeps from 9-10 hrs at night with no waking. Day time naps are the biggest problem. After rocking her to sleep (which can take 30-60 minutes), she will often wake up as soon as I transfer her to the crib , or only sleep for 30 minutes. It's pretty frustrating to put in 60 minutes of soothing for a 30 minute snooze! :) Is it too early to let her cry it out for nap time? I really loved Weisbluth's book for my dd#1 (who was an easy sleeper). But I'm unclear whether I should be letting her CIO yet to establish more naps. I am not concerned about getting her on a "schedule", I just know she isn't getting enough sleep during the day.

TIA!

tmarie

[elektra]

I started reading Weissbluth a few months ago to help my now 18mo DD sleep better and we've had good results too. I think Weissbluth recommends waiting till at least 4 months before doing any form of CIO.
IMO, giving a 3 mo a few minutes to try to settle down is something I would try (and did try), but I wouldn't let them go longer than a few minutes at that age.

[brigeet]

My son did the same thing as you're describing. When my baby was your age, I tried CIO but didn't see results. I thought he was too young. I ended up giving in and started co-sleeping but only for daytime naps. It was wonderful sleep! I think we napped about 4 hours each day together. At night he was tired enough to accept the crib and slept through the night. We got great sleep and both of us were rested. Every once in a while I'd just try the crib or put him in in the day time and play with him so he wouldn't think it was so bad in there. At our 4 month doctor's visit, I asked about the crying in the crib and naps, and he told us to CIO. I still wasn't ready. I finally did CIO a few weeks ago (5 months). He falls asleep almost instantly in the crib now but only sleeps for half an hour. I miss the two long naps! I am not sure how to increase the napping time b/c I know he needs at least an hour for each nap!

And by the way, sorry I don't have a clear answer, but I know what you're going through. I just like to read others mom's stories so I hope mine is at least helpful in knowing that you're not the only one.

[ahrimie]

LOVE his book.. my fave from the too many i read :P

i really think it depends on your baby and never the exact age. i mean, every baby grows and develops differently so i always use age requirements as guidelines--not absolute truth. i don't think that exactly 6 weeks your baby will go through a growth spurt and stuff like that, u know?

i started a little bit of CIO around 12 weeks.... just do what you're comfortable with. for naps, weissbluth suggest CIO up to the hour.. just do 20 or 30 to start, if you think that's okay.

what i tried in the beginning was to soothe until drowsy and i put her in her crib and let her figure out the rest (i swaddled and used a pacifier too). the first few times, it totally didn't work and i ended up soothing longer.. but i kept at it and it became a success. i'd start trying a routine for naps.. i read so many sleep books.. one of them suggested using "key words" like shush shush, night night or something like that. when you first introduce it, use it when they're almost asleep or very drowsy--not when they're fussing while you're trying to soothe. maybe it's an illusion, but that seems to be working for me.

now, at 5 months, i just lay her in her crib as i tell her it's time to sleep and give her a lovey (no more swaddling or paci). rarely will she cry/fuss for more than 10-15 min now but even if she does, i'll leave her alone for the full 1 hr... she almost always falls asleep well before this point though.

[Wife_and_mommy]

I wouldn't be opposed to soothing and letting her fus for 10 minutes or less. Before that, though, I'd work on watching for her sleepy cues and putting her down at the first sign. Babies are harder to get down if they are overtired so it might be easier than you think.

Hth.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I wouldn't expect real, crib naps at that age, personally. They will come in the coming months but the baby might not be quite ready for that yet. They may still be in the zone where they need to eat or have a pacifier to go down for a rest.

Beth

[vludmilla]

My DD was a 32 week preemie and I really understand the frustration that can go along with caring for a preemie. I would NOT let her CIO yet. She is way too young. As you know, you need to correct for her prematurity by subtracting how many weeks she was early from her chronological age. I wouldn't do any kind of sleep training until closer to six months minimum. I know it's hard but the little preemies especially need extra nurturing, attention, and indulgence. Good luck with your little one. Mine is 2 years old now and I can barely tell that she was premature anymore.

[pastrygirl]

After rocking her to sleep (which can take 30-60 minutes), she will often wake up as soon as I transfer her to the crib , or only sleep for 30 minutes. It's pretty frustrating to put in 60 minutes of soothing for a 30 minute snooze! What they don't tell you is that this can be normal. It was completely normal for my baby -- he only took 30-minute naps until he was 9 months old, and it took an hour or so to get him to fall asleep in the first place! In my research (posting on several forums, LOL!) it seemed that half of the babies are catnappers, and the other half take nice, long naps.