Daytime Napping

Kye042

My DS will NOT sleep in his crib during the day. He will only nap in his swing or play pen. I have tried to make sure he was dead asleep and transfer him into his crib but he always wakes up regardless how gentle I am! Is this okay? Or should I encourage him to sleep in his own crib by laying him down and letting him fall back asleep on his own?

Also should we be waking our babies during the day? My DS will sleep a lot and I worry this impacts his night time sleep. He sleeps in 3 hr intervals but if anyone has tips to increase this please let me know!!

mars8k

I never put DD in her crid during the day, she sleeps in her moses basket in the living room and i will put her in her play pen when she outgrows the basket. If he sleeps fine in the play pen then please don't let him sleep in his swing, i keep reading that it's not good for the baby.

As for sleep, sometimes my LO sometimes sleeps all day then again all night or the other way around so i don't wake her up

stephv18

For a while my LO wouldn't sleep in her crib either and only in her swing. I think it's fine! I started swaddleling her for her naps during the day in her crib and she now sleeps in her crib for naps also! And the more they sleep during the day the better they do at night because if they get over tired it makes it harder for them to sleep at night. I let my LO sleep for up to 4 hours during the day before I wake her up, though she only usually sleeps for 2 or 3 hours.

Also, when you put him down for naps in his crib does he start crying? If not just let him lay there so he can get used to it, and see if he will fall back asleep. We also use a pacifier not sure if you do but it helps her to fall asleep too!

Kye042

Thanks for the advice. When I have been putting him down in his crib for naps he does just lay there and will cry after 20 min even with a soother cause he is bored.

agilber3

Today is the first time I got baby to sleep in the rock n play! Usually he sleeps on me or someone else during the day but is awesome at night in his pack n play. Someone on another thread said that sleep begets sleep... The more they sleep during the day the better they sleep at night and vice versa with being awake. You should only have to wake a baby if they need to eat to gain weight, otherwise they should be fine to sleep however long they want!

justkeeptrying

I've heard in the first 2-3 months it's good to let baby sleep in various places. It gets them used to sleeping elsewhere which will benefit you for overnight visits outside of your home down the road. I am also hesitant about letting baby sleep in the swing, especially if you have a pack and play as another option. So I am all for LO sleeping in the pack and play for naps!!

I don't know how old your LO is but for the first several weeks I would wake my DS up if it had been more than 3-3.5 hours since his last feed. I found this encouraged him to eat more during the day and then have a longer sleep at night. He's almost 6 weeks now and I rarely have to wake him up now as he will do it on his own. He will sleep up to 6 hours at night which is great for me. Naps during the day vary from 20 minutes to 2.5 hours. Unfortunately I have yet to find consistency in that. Unless your LO is not gaining weight you definitely don't have to wake them up during the day. But if you're trying to encourage LO to differentiate between day and night, it might be helpful.

Good luck!