Moms who don't CIO/babywise, etc.

LVBlvd

How do you get your baby to nap? DD STTN which I am very thankful for btw...but I know she needs more daytime sleep. ?She naps maybe 30-45 minutes just a few times a day. ?I feed her on demand and won't ever let her CIO, so please give me some tips aside from that on napping! TIA!!

skoorbnibor

I don't think that is abnormal, if she is taking 3-4 naps a day at 3 months old. She is too young to CIO, anyway, so no worries!

I suggest the secrets of the baby whisperer's pick up, put down method, in order to get her to sleep... there is also some info about keeping a baby sleeping longer, too. There is nothing wrong with rocking to sleep at this age, too! 

There is one method in Babywise that Tracey Hogg (the baby whisperer) also supports, but uses very differently. it is the EASY method and it worked very well for several of us here on SAIF!

tnkrbl21

We dont CIO either.  I havent really had a problem with naps but I think the one thing that has really helped is that EVERY day after their first afternoon feeding (12 or 1 ish) I put them on the couch in their boppies with a blankie and I turn off the tv and even if they dont nap it's quiet time at least.  Pretty much every day they are good for a 3 hr nap (plus a few shorter ones throghout the day),

laura&dan05

I feed dd on demand and don't let dd CIO and she is not a great napper either. I have found letting her nap wherever she falls asleep helps to extend the nap a bit. I usually try an make sure it's in her cirb at least once a day but if we're busy that doesn't always work.  I let her nap in her PNP, swing, bouncy seat, and car seat. We stopped swaddling her awhile ago so that's not an option for nap time for us. I have a few friends with LOs around the same age as dd and they can get 1-2 hour naps from their kids because they still swaddle.

jenber77

Often when DS wakes after only half an hour I can easily rock him back to sleep. If he wakes again when I put him down, I'll try one more time, and if he wakes that time, I'll assume he's had enough for now and give up on that nap. I believe sometimes a quick nap is all they need.

sweetpea18

DD is the same way.  She is a terrible napper.  On the weekends, I run the vaccum when I know she needs to sleep.  It puts her to sleep every time, but a white noise machine won't.  She doesn't sleep any longer than an hour at a time at daycare. 

SeaSoul

Cal has never been a long napper.  It's anywhere from 30-60 minutes, but usually closer to 30.  I can count on one hand the number of times he slept longer than 1.5 hours and we were like, "OMG, he's still asleep, what do we do??"    I don't have any tips, I just think some babies aren't big nappers.  I'm not either, so maybe that's where Cal gets it!

trinny

DD slept GREAT swaddled in her swing 2-3 hour naps sometimes 2-3 times a day!  Once she started rolling, we unswaddle in the crib and naps have never been the same   She'll sleep ~30-40 min, unless she's in the car.

Oh and I do look for tired signs after 2 hours of wakeful time, which is usually when most babies need to nap.  

JGirl2005

we still don't CIO yet....and we get short naps like you do, so I think that is ok.  we don't even STTN either.

We get only 2-3 naps of 30-45 min during the day.

elliek05

My DD is very much like that. She's always done catnaps during the day and slept 12+ hours at night. She's just now, at 7 months, starting to have one one-two hour nap during the day and maybe 2-3 shorter ones.

I don't force the issue. If she seems tired, I'll offer her the pacifier and rock her for a while in her room where it's dark, and if she falls asleep, fine, if not, I just try to keep her happy playing or in the wrap for a while and try again later.