Need help - how do you put LO down for a nap?

Re: Need help - how do you put LO down for a nap?

• lajolla09.30.06

  May 2009

  from your ticker it looks like your babies are just now (or not even quite yet) 4 months old, most sleep advice books will tell you to wait to try any form of CIO until they are at least 4 months old, and that is adjusted for prematurity.  If your babies were at all early I'd hold off on that.

   We didn't get a good nap routine going until they were closer to 6 months old.  Before that it was a lot of soothing to sleep but not a lot of long naps.
  

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• lutzcowgirlie

  May 2009

  At that age, most babies still need to be soothed to sleep and sometimes soothed during sleep. When you rock her to sleep, do you try to lay her down as soon as she seems asleep? For mine, I had to wait at least 10 - 15 minutes until they finally hit their deep sleep cycle before I could put them down. Alternatively, getting her calm and then putting her into a swing/bouncy could work for her.

   

  Mine never responded well to anything that said to put them down, then leave, then go back - they hated that. It gradually moved from rocking her all the way to sleep, to rocking her until she was almost asleep, to rocking her until she was drowsy and calm, to rocking her just enough to read a story and cuddle before sleep.

   

  Like pp said, it is still really early for naps to be well established and for self soothing. Count yourself lucky that you at least have one who cooperates, and give your DD a bit more time to get with the program.

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• lib1978

  May 2009

  We had a tough time with one DS.  I did the rocking for a whiel but he always woke up when I put him down and was angry.  We ended up doing a modified CIO - we would put him down while awke, let him cry for about 5 mins then go in talk to him and sooth him but did not pick him up. I found when I picked him up he was even more angry when I put him back down. Now when I put himi down he cries for a little bit - it seems to be how he soothes himslef to sleep - then naps great!

  I hope this helps - I remember how hard it was to figure out what worked for him!

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• Shamrock2003

  May 2009

  From what I've learned from other MoMs on this board is that naps are hard!

  Our girls are excellent nighttime sleepers...they go to sleep at the same time every night, fall asleep within 15 minutes without us having to go in at all, and stay asleep for 12 hours.

  Naps are a different story. We are still working on naps. Erin is great at taking naps, but L resists the nap. I still use the vibrating bouncer to get her to go to sleep during the day. She'll sleep for at least an hour that way.

  I say try the swing or a vibrating bouncer to soothe her. Those worked wonders for us.

  GL!

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• Temp6313048411121614 member

  May 2009

  If only one's giving you a hard time, not sure if this would work, but it worked great for DS.  When I was nursing him I'd bring him to our bed, nurse in side lying, and he'd fall asleep BFing.  I loved that time laying with him and sometimes we'd both nap, other times I'd watch some tv while he snoozed.  I miss that closeness, if it's something possible for you, I suggest trying it at least once to see if it helps.  GL.

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• teeveegirl

  May 2009

  Until they were mroe than 4 months adjusted, we rocked the girls to sleep or put them in the swing.  They're just starting to put themselves down now that they suck their thumbs and can self soothe.

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