Need advice for napping and STTN

MOORENOLES

Hi ladies!!  I hope everyone is doing well.  I had a few questions regarding naps and STTN.  

1. What do you consider STTN?  How many hours, etc?  

2. How old was your LO when they started STTN?

3. Does your LO nap in their crib?  At what age

4. How many naps a day does your LO take?  What time of day? 

5. Any tips for getting him to nap in crib or do I just wait it out until he is ready?

Keaton sleeps pretty well at night...usually only gets up once to eat and goes back to sleep and sometimes he will STTN (8pm to 5 or 6am).  He does not want to nap in the crib and I do understand that this is normal and will take some time but I know he will get a better nap if he just naps upstairs in his crib.   I think I am going about it all wrong.  I usually wait until Keaton is getting fussy and tired and then rock him until he is drowsy and put him in the crib....he just screams bloody murder after I put him down.  Is it better to put him down before he gets fussy so he can play around until he soothes himself to sleep?  

Thanks for any advice on these issues.   

RosePks

hi Lesli! How are you?

 Bryce doesn't take naps in his crib either. We just never really got into that habit. He fell asleep downstairs so we just let him sleep in his swing, on the chaise with pillows around him, on the floor, in his carseat, pretty much anywhere. Since he rotates babysitters he gets so much attention at each house and they let him nap wherever or hold him during his naps too.

PAAZwife

1.  I think I considered him to be STTN when he went from bedtime (7ish) to sometime after 3am.  I was obviously still getting up 1/night, and sometimes I'd bring him in bed after that am wake up. 

2.  He was about 3 to 3.5 months old when he first STTN, then around 4.5 months he stopped and from there until about 9 months he was up varying times each night.  Once I knew that he could sleep longer stretches without eating, I cut out night feedings and never went back to them.  Usually I could get him to go back down by just giving him his paci and laying him in the crib.  Sometimes I'd have to pick him up and sit with him for a minute or two to calm him then lay him back in the crib.  Every now and then he gets up earlier in the am than I'd like and I am able to do the sit/hold/lay down method to get a few more (1-2) hours of sleep. 

3.  I think DS was still sometimes napping in my arms until about 6 or 8 months.  I was consistent in trying to get him to nap in the crib, but if I had to try more than 3 times or so, I'd just give in and let him sleep on me.  The consistency with trying again each nap to go in the crib is, I think, what helped him to ultimately be able to nap in there.  Keep trying even if it doesn't always work out.  The other thing I did was if the nap was shorter than I knew he needed (30-45 minutes...basically anything less than an hour), I would do the sit/hold/lay down method or sometimes after that I'd just let him continue sleeping on me.  Either way, I had gotten some down time and he was getting the nap he needed.  I think this taught him to nap for longer periods less frequently.  Now he naps anywhere from 1.5 to 4 hours at a time!

4.  DS still takes 2 naps a day.  He needs them both!  In a daycare situation they force them to 1 nap at 1 year, but I can tell you there is no way we could get away with that.  He was napping about 4x a day until 6-8 months, then dropped to 3x a day until about 9-10 months and finally at his current 2x a day.  We just dropped naps when it seemed he could go for longer stretches without becoming super cranky baby.  Prior to 6 months, he just napped whenever he showed signs....the # of times and scheduling varied.

5.  See above #3.

You are doing a great job!  I know that at this point, the sleep thing really starts to become a challenge because you feel like they (and you) should have it figured out by now.  Honestly, sleep is a moving target, and once you resign yourself to that fact, your life will be a lot less stressful!  The only advice I really have is to be consistent with whatever you do!  If you ultimately want him to nap in the crib, keep trying!  Good luck to you!

ntnylizard

I'll be interested to read the answers.

Our DS goes to bed around 8:30, then wakes around 12:30 and 3:30 each night to eat.  Most nights he's up again at 5, and that's when I bring him into bed with me.

ONE time he slept 8.5 hours straight-through (at 12.5 weeks), and four times he slept 5 to 6.5 hours (at 9-10 weeks).

He usually naps at least three times a day -- a short one in the morning and late afternoon (20 - 45 minutes), and a long one mid-day (2 - 2.5 hours).  His long nap has moved around, though.  Early on it was from 10 a.m . to noon, then it moved from 2 to 4 p.m., and now we're at mid-day.

He's at three different baby-sitters the three days I work, so he naps wherever he falls.

I'm eager to talk to the doc about sleep patterns at his 4-month well visit, but I've kind of resigned myself to this kind of pattern for a while. 

I think some sort of routine is good for him, but I also like to remain flexible to suit our lifestyles.  The reality is that we're not home during all his naps, and even bedtime is pushed around on occasion when life and schedules intervene.  I don't watch the clock, I just watch him for signs he needs to sleep.  I hope it helps DS grow up to be an adaptable kid.

Emmy323

When Brynne was Keaton's age, sleep was completely optional in our house. Brynne decided to opt out of that one!

At Keaton's age, Brynne was still taking 3 or 4 naps a day. She would stay awake for about 2 hours and then take a cat nap 20-45 minutes. I didn't have too much trouble getting her to sleep. When she was tired, I would swaddle her, lay her in her crib awake, pop the pacifier in and would leave. As soon as that pacifier hit her mouth, she would usually fall right asleep. If she had trouble, I would rock her until she fell asleep. When this happened, she would usually cry in my arms. After a few minutes, she would give up and take the pacifier.

 Honestly, our sleep problems stopped when she started rolling to her stomach.

I hope things improve soon!

fxz109

1.  I considered it STTN when she would go to sleep and not have to eat at all until she was up for the day.  DD never really did the "sleep to six, eat, then back to sleep" she was up for a few hours before napping again.

2.  She first did this at about 3 months.  We had a good run until teething hit.  We had a 4 month wakeful period, a pretty good month 5, and then months 6-8.5 I think she woke up at least once a night that either DH or I had to go in and do anything from give her the paci to rock and comfort.  For the past month, she has been much better self soothing and STTN.  Teething still interrupts, though. 

3.  She does nap in her crib.  I started that when she out grew the basinnet in the PNP, so around 3-4 months. 

4.  She takes 1-2 naps a day.  Her morning nap is her best - usually 1.5-2.5 hours.  Sometimes I get an afternoon nap out of her, if we're in the car or she got up early, or didn't nap well in the first nap.  When she was 3-4 months old (I can't see how old Keaton is, Lilypie must be down!), she used to nap every 2 hours after waking up, so 3-4 naps a day. 

5.  Since I usually had DD napping in the PNP basinette, and very rarely on me or in the swing, there wasn't that much for her to get used to.  I would carry her around until she got very drowsy, then put her down to sleep where ever, but as i got better at reading her tiredness cues, I would just lay her down. 

Do you ever have Keaton spend time in the crib when he's not sleeping (or supposed to be sleeping?) Maybe you could put him in there during awake time for some quiet/calm play so he can get used to the crib. 

Good luck, and keep trying.  Naps are so important, both for their rest and mom's sanity! 

LClaire

1. What do you consider STTN?  How many hours, etc?  I consider STTN long enough for me to make it through my full night's sleep - LOL! So, even if they get up to eat in the evening once or when I go to bed, then sleeping after that until morning.

2. How old was your LO when they started STTN? Mia - I can't entirely remember. Nick still doesn't, but he usually only gets up once or twice now while I'm sleeping and he eats and goes right back to sleep, so I'm thankful for that.

3. Does your LO nap in their crib?  At what age Yes, he's been in there for maybe 2 months or so now? He was in the PNP in our room before that.

4. How many naps a day does your LO take?  What time of day?  He takes 3 - around 7 or 8am for an hour, then 11 or 12 for 1-2hrs, then around 3 or 4 for 1-2hrs.

5. Any tips for getting him to nap in crib or do I just wait it out until he is ready? I wouldn't worry about it a ton unless it really bothers you. As long as he's taking the naps, I think that's the good stuff!

Something that really helped me a ton was learning about sleep cues. They usually have a lot that they'll communicate before they get to the point of fussy and I try to get him to relax and down before we get to the fussy point, otherwise we're like you and he's crying and it's all a big mess and so much more effort than necessary! 

This also might be helpful - I always really like to see specific examples and this has 2 different "schedules" on page 34:

https://books.google.com/books?id=3cC4hwp_htAC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=2+hour+rule+for+babies&source=bl&ots=DinbZ-ne72&sig=zeOW9AdaZpjdXIdoKIDbNpuYMSk&hl=en&ei=qhv6SqbUA6WUnAfim4WsBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=2%20hour%20rule%20for%20babies&f=false

Christina617

1.  This definition has changed for me several times.  Before Ethan I used to think I'd consider it as no wakeups from bedtime to morning.  Then I considered it 5-6 hours.  Now I consider it only 1 wakeup.

2.  Before 3.5 months he'd sleep 6 hours.  Since then there has always been something (itchy eczema, 4 month wakeful, teething, colds, upset belly from food reactions, etc) to interrupt sleep.  He'll go weeks with just one wake-up then have a few bad nights.

3.  Yes, this started when he was about 5 months old.  Before that he napped in the swing.

4.  At Keaton's age Ethan was up for 1-2 hours then slept for 1-2 hours  (both usually 2 hours).  It was a cycle we repeated all day until bedtime.

5.  I read the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley and started implementing some of her suggestions such as making his crib a happy, comfortable place and implementing a routine.  I gave him some quiet play time in his crib during the day.  Then we created a consistent naptime routine (for the first few days of this routine I tried to make sure we were at home vs. napping in his car seat  while I was running errands).  We changed his diaper, put a sleeper on him, read a few books, turned on his rain sound, and sat in the glider.  At first I rocked him to sleep completely.  Then we started rocking just until he was drowsy.  Now he's fighting the rocking so our routine is changing.  Also, now that he's used to the routine I don't always have to put him in a sleeper if he's already in something comfy.  If it's time to eat I'll nurse him.  I used to nurse him to sleep but I don't have to do that anymore.   To start, getting him into the crib was more important to me than how he fell asleep.  When he first started napping in his crib he would wake up after a 30-45  min.  If I heard him stirring I raced upstairs and gave him his pacifier/rocked him back to sleep to extend the nap.  It wasn't long and I didn't have to do that anymore and he extended his naps to 1.5-2 hours.

Good luck!  I was afraid that it would be really difficult to transition from the swing to the crib but it wasn't as bad as I thought.  Hope the same for you!

innerpeace

1. Everyone considers something different STTN, but if you're asking for personal opinions, mine would be that STTN is sleeping the WHOLE night, from when he goes to sleep to when he starts the day.  So that's 12 hours for my son.  He sleeps from 6:30pm to 6:30am.

2. this changed all the time until recently.  J was a great sleeper in the beginning, waking only once in the 12 hours.  This then increased to waking twice around 4 months, then back down to once around 6 months.  He would only wake quickly to nurse so I didn't mind much, but one day I decided to try to not feed him to see if he would mind.  He didn't care at all, and within a night, he was sleeping the full 12 hours by himself.

3. Yes he has napped in his crib since he was in his crib (rather than bassinet) at 2 months old.

4. At your little guy's age, he was napping every 1.5 hours for only 30 minutes.  At 4 months old, he started taking one long nap in the morning, for about 2 hours.  He would then take 2 other small naps.  Now at 7 months, he takes 2 long naps that are about 2-2.5 hours long.

5. I wouldn't worry so much about where your DS is napping, just that he IS napping.  I just wait until I see a yawn or eye rubbing, and then I start the nap routine.  I would just make sure that there is a routine and you stick to it.  Try to put him down before he is overtired.  J never needed a pacifier until he started falling asleep on his own around 4 months old (before that I would rock him to sleep for naps or nurse him to sleep at night), so maybe try a pacifier?  Just try to relax and resist the urge to compare your son to other babies-- he will turn out just fine and just because he isn't napping well right now in a crib, doesn't mean he won't ever sleep well in a crib!  My sister's son napped in the swing until 9 months old, and then transitioned just fine into his crib when he was ready. I was SO concerned that J would never be able to fall asleep on his own because I nursed him or rocked him to sleep for his first 4 months-- everything I read said that I was doing things wrong.  Well I finally realized that I didn't care what experts said-- it was what worked for us.  At 4 months, J started going to sleep all on his own.  I spent so much time worrying and comparing him to others' when I should have just relaxed and enjoyed every moment with my son!

Enjoy your little guy!

beth&anth

I love Keaton's outfit- he is adorable!! 

1. What do you consider STTN?  How many hours, etc?  5 hours straight.

2. How old was your LO when they started STTN? 2.5 months.  She started throwing fits at night.  I finally figured out she was over tired and was ready for bed at 7pm.  She sleeps from 7pm- 5 or 6am- straight through. 

3. Does your LO nap in their crib?  At what age? She was napping in the crib when I was home, I would also put her on her belly to nap.  But now that she is in daycare, she prefers to sleep in the swing.  I am ok with this because she does fine in her crib at night.

4. How many naps a day does your LO take?  What time of day? she is still adjusting to daycare.  She takes a couple of catnaps and then a 2-3 hour nap. 

5. Any tips for getting him to nap in crib or do I just wait it out until he is ready? I don't have and tips- I am interested to hear what others say.