I have a question: on mornings when we are home, LO naps in her crib. I rock her, lay her down when she's asleep, and leave. On a good morning, I get close to an hour. Usually it's around 35 minutes. Tuesday, since DS was at school, I picked her up when it seemed like she was awake and done. Sat down in the glider. She slept for another hour. Is there a way to get help her get that nap in the crib? Or is she just too young yet?
Post by notagoddess on Apr 26, 2017 21:44:49 GMT -5
S only naps on me for any length of time. She will wake up quickly when put down. But at night she's fine in her cosleeper. What gives? Why can't I get her to nap off of me? I want to be able to do stuff...
Post by flyinghorses6 on Apr 26, 2017 23:09:46 GMT -5
So what works for us is finding the right window of sleepiness. Babies this age really only tolerate being awake 1-1.5 hours at a time. R gets sleepy right before the 1.5 hour mark, so I watch her...and the second she wakes up I note when an hour and half from then is. About 15 minutes before that time I change her and do an abridged version of bedtime routine. She usually goes down for her longest nap first thing in the morning. They get shorter and harder to get her down as the day progresses. We usually do the first two in the crib. Sometimes 3. The evening nap is usually in the carrier or my arms.
I also put her on her belly for almost every nap. Keep the room brighter than bed time, but still use the sound machine.
I must say she is a really good napper, but we have worked on good sleep habits since day 1. (I learned from my mistakes with K because the 4 month regression rocked our world).
S only naps on me for any length of time. She will wake up quickly when put down. But at night she's fine in her cosleeper. What gives? Why can't I get her to nap off of me? I want to be able to do stuff...
Post by shawnabm1320 on Apr 27, 2017 2:19:25 GMT -5
I think you know that I'm a fan of the swing for babies of this age. Especially babies who have to nap while being rocked or held. I'll post a link to an article. It's great if you can put baby down awake at this age, but I think it's much more important that they're getting naps so they aren't overly tired. Nap length really varies right now, but a swing will tend to get you at least an hour. Around 4 months it's common for naps to drop to 45 minutes because babies develop a more consistent sleep cycle. And then they have a hard time connecting them during the day (and sometimes at night). The swing can help with that. So can getting your baby to put himself/herself to sleep from an "awake" state.
Post by flyinghorses6 on Apr 27, 2017 3:27:11 GMT -5
I was going to also suggest the swing like shawnabm1320 said. It's important for baby to somewhat start learning to put him/herself to sleep (this can be a long process) because essentially they fall asleep in your arms, rocking, moving and briefly wake up realizing they aren't where they were when they fell asleep and nap is over or you're starting again. Once they can settle into sleep themselves they can put themselves back to sleep and hopefully nap longer, more independently. This will all help with overnight sleep too, especially in a month or two when they become more "wakeful".
Post by oldbaylover1024 on Apr 27, 2017 7:59:56 GMT -5
We also do the swing for naps most of the time. C will nap for about an hour in the mamaru (the 4moms swing). Or we put him in the bouncy seat without the vibration on and he'll also sleep in there.
Usually we put him down drowsy, but sometimes he passes out hard after a bottle and he's asleep when we lay him down. It just depends.
He doesn't nap a ton, maybe 3 or 4x/day. Usually a morning nap, an early afternoon, and another around 4, 4:30.
I wanna start naps in the crib, but MH is fighting me. Whatever... C sleeps flat in the PnP bassinet at night and does huge stretches. MH can deal with the sleep training this time... I did it with J and it was not fun.
PAL May '17 Siggy Challenge: Picnics - Feminist Picnic
Two MM/C 1/09/12 & MM/C 4/26/12 BFP#3 - Rainbow #1 born 5/11/13 via unplanned C-section Two CP 11/23/15 & 5/13/16 BFP#6 - Rainbow #2 born 2/10/17 via planned C-section
Post by shawnabm1320 on Apr 27, 2017 8:02:08 GMT -5
oldbaylover1024, if you want a middle ground, you could start reducing the swing speed gradually until he's basically sleeping in a non-moving swing? That would make the crib transition for naps a little easier. Or you could put it on H to figure out
Post by shawnabm1320 on Apr 27, 2017 8:26:11 GMT -5
Major irony here that my baby has fought me pretty hard the last few days on going to sleep in the swing. I'm still sticking with it because I like the idea of a relatively "easy" crib transition instead of the sleep training we did for DS at 6.5 months when we were at the end of our rope. I'm going to assume this is either Leap behavior (according to wonder weeks), or just because she is not quite 8 weeks old and this is peak fussy area.
Sometimes lately she'll resist sleep until I'm basically putting her into the swing asleep instead of awake. I'm just trying to put her down awake every time, but if it doesn't work I try not to sweat it for now. She's still young, and there's plenty of time to transition.
Post by billybumbler on Apr 27, 2017 8:45:27 GMT -5
Since I've gotten the swing T has done almost all his naps there. They have stretched from 45 min to two hours or more. He's happier because he's not overtired all the time.
I'm not worried about later. I'll sleep train if need be after six months. Honestly my DD never napped more than 45 minutes before six months or so and it made my mat leave pretty stressful.
My baby does not fall asleep eating. Basically ever. I guess except MOTN? It's so different from DS. I nursed him to sleep for his naps until he was 18m. I guess it's not a bad thing that she doesn't associate sleep with my boob, but it would be nice sometimes. Even at bedtime she eats about 45 minutes before she goes down.
DS took most his naps on me until summertime (he's also a February baby). I had nothing else to do, and I loved the snuggles. He ended up being a great napper (still is!) and a great night sleeper. I just don't have the freedom to hold this baby as much.
Also I worry our schedule is not helpful to her napping, but I'm also not willing to dramatically change DS's routine. We are out of the house almost every day. But it can't really be helped.
Post by oldbaylover1024 on Apr 27, 2017 9:21:15 GMT -5
shawnabm1320 - Sometimes the swing isn't on at all. I think he likes to be snuggled. He loves being swaddled, too.
And then moments like this happen and I remember he's only 11w old and I go back to work soon and he doesn't go to DC for another 5 weeks... So screw it. Snuggles it is!
PAL May '17 Siggy Challenge: Picnics - Feminist Picnic
Two MM/C 1/09/12 & MM/C 4/26/12 BFP#3 - Rainbow #1 born 5/11/13 via unplanned C-section Two CP 11/23/15 & 5/13/16 BFP#6 - Rainbow #2 born 2/10/17 via planned C-section
The morning nap is becoming the longest/best for us as well.
Hes normally up at 6 and back to sleep for this nap around 8 I tend to put him on his tummy, and he falls asleep himself. I use pacifier and ocean sounds.
Throughout the day as @flying horses6 mentioned it gets harder and harder and they get less long, and normally one ends up in my arms
Last night he fought it for a whole hour and i tried the swing and after another ten minutes he was asleep. I slowly reduced the swinging speed until motionless and let him stay until he woke up.
The tummy naps are definitely the best ones we get. I have to stay close by to watch him, but it's better than no naps at all. He sleeps better at night when he naps during the day.
I was having the same issue of naps always on me, and from suggestions last week from shafwilson and shawnabm1320 I tweaked some things I do and have been more successful - side sleeping has worked as well as using sound machine during the day and giving him pacifier earlier in the process.
Post by flyinghorses6 on Apr 27, 2017 9:42:01 GMT -5
shawnabm1320 8 weeks is definitely young for her to fall asleep on her own every time, but kudos to you for attempting it every time! That's serious commitment.
shellbell R doesn't eat to sleep either! And K did every single time. It's much easier for me since I'm not taking my boob out/ warming a bottle every single time she wakes herself up. And I feel like I held K all the time because she was my only baby. So basically in a similar situation. Usually while K takes her 1 nap I snuggle and let R nap on me uninterrupted by her big sister. It's my fave nap.
notagoddess how long did it last? She looks so adorable!!!
- B naps in/on something that's moving (swing, carseat, carrier) for pretty much 100% of his naps with me. This is the result of 2nd child syndrome. He's always napping on the go while we're running errands, out at a park, or traveling somewhere with DD. We're like flyinghorses6 though and typically get him prepped for a nap around an hour and 20 minutes from the last time he woke. He can only tolerate about 1.5 hrs of awake time in between naps. He typically does 4 naps per day, sometimes 3 if he takes a long one. - He sleeps flat on his back unswaddled at daycare during the week. (These are typically crappy short 35 min naps). - He sleeps flat on his back swaddled in a crib at night. (Pretty decent stretches)
I frequently remind myself that time flies and as soon as I know it B will be down to 1 nap a day. This time is fleeting and it doesn't gain me much to stress about being the nap drill sergeant. I'm cool with being more relaxed about napping this time around.
R is an hour into her second nap of the day. And I'll be putting K down within the hour. The toddler nap is my fave time of day. Does that make me a bad mom? Lol.
R is an hour into her second nap of the day. And I'll be putting K down within the hour. The toddler nap is my fave time of day. Does that make me a bad mom? Lol.
Girl, I live for DS's naps. I love him. We have a fun time together. But OMG child, go to sleep.
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