what do you do...

aphrodite5181

when you are trying to get your baby to nap and all they do is cry the minute you put them down??

 

need advice please!

jculp

SWADDLE!!!!

GRKaters

Cry and hope tomorrow is better.

 

SuperSuz

The 5 S's seem to work pretty well to calm DS and then once he's calm I put him in the swing or bouncer or wear him in the Baby Bjorn....

babyike

I sing softly, I go "shshshshshshshsh" over and over very softly, I rock in the glider, DD has a special night-night blanket and teddy bear (a must have for nap time).  I just do whatever I can think of to help her get calm.   I do lots of walking around our house (I'm sure I've made foot tracks imprint in our wood floors!).  We all have good and not so good days when it comes to nap times and bed times.  Hugs to you!  And I agree with pp about hope tomorrow is better (it usually is).  HTH.  GL.

ReeseM

This will be long! 

I have had/have lots of trouble here. DD has ALWAYS been a terrible napper. I remember when she was about 2 months old, just me crying and crying, and trying over and over to put her down in every place imaginable. Sometimes she would do it, mostly not, and only in her carseat (not in the car).

I gave in one horrible day and resigned myself to holding her forever. I have been holding her for 3 naps a day (or someone has), for about 6 weeks now. It's awful.

Anyhow, I lost it last night while at my parents, since I couldn't enjoy Christmas since I had to hole up with the sleeping baby while everyone else had fun. So today, miracle of miracles, my mom got her to sleep twice and then put her down, on her belly, and she slept as long as she normally does while I hold her. Still wasn't enough sleep (as always) but it was independent!

I am not holding my breath that it will continue every day, every time, but this is a huge step. I guess all I can say is try everything you can think of. Different places, different sounds, different light, different positions. Now my child will likely always have to be "put" to sleep before being put down, but at this point, I don't even care!

Try this one thing that tends to work for a lot of people. Get her to sleep, hold her for 20 minutes, then put her down. There is a sleep cycle thing at 20 minutes that allows them to go into a deeper sleep. It worked for us today. I think I will continue it for a bit, then gradually shorten the time, until hopefully it is just a few minutes! This is all VERY wishful thinking.

I wish you luck. Have you always had this problem?

jgeiman

Leave her for a few minutes and see if she will calm down & go to sleep. If not, I'll go & try to calm her down. If that doesn't work, pick her up. If that doesn't work, see if she'll sleep on my chest. If all else fails, I'll try the bottle.

aphrodite5181

thanks for all the tips! just recently we've been noticing the tired signs during the day....and her completely fighting a nap causing the evenings to be horrible. we'll continue to try and do what we can. she'll sleep on us during the day...for 2-3 hours sometimes at a time...but i would love to be able to put her down independently to take a nap...even if it is for 45 minutes, just so we can have a break! i appreciate your comments!! wishful thinking for tomorrow!

susie1079

He will only nap in his swing, he has associated crib with nighttime.  It's fine with me in the swing as long as he sleeps. I have to put him in and walk away and he fusses for a few minutes and then he falls asleep when he doesn't see me. Works every day, sleep 3 hours.