A question for those who let your LO CIO about naps

Jcat123 · July 2013

On Friday we started letting our LO CIO. She used to STTN, but when she hit 4 months she started waking up 5-6 a night when her paci fell out. It has been going great, last night she didn't even cry and slept for 11 hours. She has always been a bad napper. The book I'm reading, Eat. Sleep. Poop., says that if naps don't fall into place on their own, start scheduling nap times when she is tired for an hour. When she is in there she can sleep, play, cry and to follow the same rules as letting her CIO. The naps have not been going well and I'm not sure what to do. What do you do for your LO's naps?

rjeller32 · July 2013

How old is LO? It usually isn't recommended to try CIO before 6 months, 4 months is pretty early. I would do what works for your family. Personally, I am a believer in the idea that they eventually fall into a schedule, mine did without any pushing by 5 months, and we start CIO the week she turned 6 months.

I let DD nap when she was tired prior to CIO, but by the time I was to a point to start self soothing, she had a pretty consistent 9/12/3 nap schedule all her own. We did all naps/bedtime all at once and it worked great.

GL though!

kellyrn9956 · July 2013

I find naps to be challenging. There's just really no way to force a baby to sleep if he's not tired. I have given up on trying to "force" naps. I figure he'll sleep when he's tired. I think that's a good approach for babies this young. J shows a lot of cues when he's tired - rubbing his eyes, fussing. When that happens I take him and place him wherever he is going to nap, and often he can get himself to sleep. He's got somewhat of a schedule, but he changes it up all the time.

I think a lot of times we label babies as "bad nappers" when in reality, they are just in periods of development where they don't need or want to sleep as much. I figure as long as baby is happy when he's awake, he's getting enough sleep, so he'll nap when he needs to.

jwebb0512 · July 2013

I agree with PP. DS is still napping about every 2-3 hours, so our 'schedule' depends on when he wakes up for the day, which is usually between 6 and 7. I'm not going to force him to nap at a certain time bc that's more trouble than it's worth, IMO. The only 'scheduled' sleep time is his bedtime beginning with his bedtime routine. I'm a pretty go-with-the-flow momma, so I figure Hudson knows when he's tired and will let me know. I just work my schedule around him.

littlebean4 · July 2013

We did Ferber at 4 and a half months and it went great, like you. She cried for 20 mins the first night and hasn't cried since, also sleeps 11 hours each night. We started the very next day with naps. I wouldn't say I schedule them per say but they do fall kind of around the same time (within an hour) each day. I usually put her down 2 hours after she wakes in the morning, anywhere between 8-9. Then I put her down 2 and a half hours after she wakes from that nap, usually between 1130-12. Then 2 hours after that wake up. Naps were tougher..she cried/fussed for probably 3 weeks, but never more than 10 mins. Now sometimes she'll fuss, sometimes roll around for 10-15 mins before falling asleep. I think the key is consistency, have a little routine, don't give in and respond with a sleep association and it should work itself out.

CougFan · July 2013

Naps are HARD. Especially at this age when they are doing so many things developmentally, they feel like they just don't have time!!

I would say it is too young for CIO--but that it especially true for naps because they are shorter, it is often lighter and just tricky.

Some kids are bad nappers, and soe eventually sort it out and some don't

Smartie26 · July 2013

https://kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/4mosleep/

A good article on 4 month old sleep that helps explain a lot.

Also agree with PPs that 4 mo is way too early to CIO.

Jcat123 · July 2013

Thanks for your input. I have read several places that it is ok to let your LO CIO at 4 months if the baby is ready. I don't want to force naps, but my LO has only been sleeping 15 mins...30 mins...and if I'm lucky 45 at naps. I know she is tired. And she gets SUPER cranky when she doesn't nap well, something we have struggled with for a while now. That is why I was curious.

KayLorraine · July 2013

We started doing this around 4 months, but thankfully our LO didn't cry much at all. I think the key to naps is finding that optimal waketime. AT four months that usually looks like 1 hour and 15 min. This post was super helpful to me. I know it's from a mom who follows babywise, but she has some really helpful stuff on here. Here's the link:

https://www.babywisemom.com/2008/07/optimal-waketime-lengths.html

Chappy_jr · July 2013

Since you're interested in CIO, I highly recommend reading Weissbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child. We realized that DS's bedtime was too late and that was causing his short naps. We put him to bed 30 minutes earlier last night and got a 1.5 morning nap and mid-morning nap is going on 1 hour! DS only cried for 30 seconds each time, so much better than before! If you don't want to buy it, check your library. Good luck.

A question for those who let your LO CIO about naps

Re: A question for those who let your LO CIO about naps

Choose Another Board

Search Boards