Talk to me about naps, please.

smilee

I will preface with this by saying that I know I am very lucky with our sleep situation and I do not want to appear to be complaining to those whose Lo's do not STTN.

Here is our schedule:

We start the bedtime routine around 6- D is usually in his crib by 7:00 .

He usually sleeps until 6:00am.  Every now and then we will have to go in and rock him at some point, but he no longer eats during the night.

But.... he does not nap.  

During the day, he takes 2 20 minute naps- maybe a half hour each on a good day.

I was okay with this as he STTN, so I felt like I should not complain.  And it was not affecting his personality ( cranky, etc.)

Well, now it kind of is.  He is  a lot crankier than usual and I really think he needs a better nap.  Perhaps it is because he is growing or perhaps because he is moving and playing more.  IDK

Anyone else have a very light napper?

Any tips to get him to nap longer.  I admit, I rock him to sleep for naps- I don't just put him in the crib.  I guess that might be mistake #1... 

Mrs.Babbsy

I guess my girls were taking 2-3 really good naps at that age. I never really rocked them to sleep, but I think that's an advantage to having NICU babies, they were born not getting handled a lot.

I would suggest maybe starting with a swing then just laying him down.

I am no expert so I may just be talking out of my _ass:)

oct11bride03

K isn't a great napper. Never has been. And she's a real bear if she doesn't get enough sleep.

When she was younger I'd sleep with her on the weekends, usually in the glider after rocking her to sleep. I could get 3 hours out of her twice a day that way.

As she got older it got less comfy for me to sleep with her, plus I knew it wasn't a good habit. I still rock her (both for naps on weekends and to sleep every night), but she naps in her crib these days. Sometimes it's an hour, sometimes it's 3 hours.

I don't know if I have any tips, necessarily. K seemed to just realize at a certain point that she wasn't very happy being tired. She's a VERY active toddler and needs her sleep to keep up with herself. She seems to have figured out that if she naps and STTN she feels better. IDK.

caityr

I have no advice. Charley naps great some days, and hardly at all others. But she consistently does a morning nap for about an hour every day. I am not a big fan of CIO but I would def try putting him in his crib after he's fed and feeling relaxed to see if he will soothe himself to sleep. I am huge fan of that fisher price glow worm for that purpose...good luck hon. As far as length of a nap, its such a crap shoot.

MBandBud

Right there with you.  Except DD doesn't sttn.  She was up 2-3x a night and only napping 2 x 15 min at most.  Day care chic doesn't seem to have a problem but she is soooooooo fussy at night it is impossible to get through nighttime routine.  Fuss at diaper, dinner, bedtime, ugh!  I do agree it affects mood.  No answers for you on how to solve.  I do think that there needs to be a set routine at day care for this and mine does not have one.  So we suffer.  We are on waitlist for new day care so in the meantime I bide my time and hope for the call b/c I don't want to switch more than once. 

FWIW, on weekends, DD will nap like a champ.  But I rock her to sleep.  And sometimes let her nap in the big girl bed (ours) which I'm sure is our demise.  But at least she is happy on weekends! 

OrangeSmoke

No advice here, but it looks like D's been hanging out with Harry NoNaps.

NoNaps will only do 20 min spurts and god forbid you make one tiny noise.  He's still napping in his bouncy and even that can't keep him down.  The only way I get him to go down is to psudo-swaddle him with a blanket and then hold his hand and bounce him up and down.

 

 

JourneyToBaby

Babywise has been a life saver for us.  I have no idea what I would do if my boys didn't take naps that I could "count on" each day.  They are almost 9 months and are still taking 3 two hour naps each day.  It is just about the time to "drop the third nap" but they just don't seem ready, they seem to be tired for each nap.

 

If one of the boys wakes a little early from their nap, they stay in their crib and wait until I come and get them.  I think that the paci's help.  They only get the paci's in their crib so when their awake they play with them, suck on them etc.  They LOVE the paci. 

 

If I could suggest anything, I would suggest that you read Babywise and see if it makes sense to you.

 

Best of luck! 

Mouseygail

Do you try getting him to go down for a nap as soon as he is showing signs of sleepiness?  We encountered the "over-tired" baby this weekend and he was much harder to get to take a nap then.  Usually I watch him for signs of sleepiness and then I snuggle him to sleep.  Sometimes, if he's really sleepy, I just go up, give him a hug, and put him in his crib like I do for bedtime, but I really enjoy snuggling him to sleep, so as long as its not messing with his ability to go to sleep at night, I take that opportunity on the weekends for naps  

He just recently became a better napper when he transitioned himself down to one nap...now we get 2-3 hours of nap in the middle of the day!  Before that, he was all over the place...3 short naps, or a series of cat naps...

epphd

Sam was still on 2-3 naps a day then, and is on 2 naps a day now.  they are CRUCIAL for him.  I would say that if you are OK with sleep training, do that for naps.  It's just so important for them to have good sleep.  Sam usually goes to sleep less than 2 hours after waking for the day, and the minute he starts to get grumpy I know it's time.  He doesnt' fight it at all and takes a 1.5-2 hour nap. Afternoons can be tricker, but I find that an outing, followed by a winding down at home, diaper change and warm bottle usually gets him drowsy enough to go to sleep.  Sometimes he'll play in his crib for a while before settling down, but will still nap 45 minutes-1.5 hours.

 

marcuej

Stella went through a stage around the same age where she just didn't nap well.  She would take 2 shorter naps and it just about drove me nuts.  She'd always nap well at daycare, but not at home.  She was also STTN at this age.  

Thankfully, it didn't last long before she was taking 2 really nice, long naps.  I wouldn't give up hope.  I'd keep putting him down at a regular nap time and hopefully he'll start to sleep longer.

JGirl2005

I don't think you are doing anything wrong.  I think some kiddos just don't nap.  My son STTN at 11.5m - what I consider 11/12 hrs....and he took 2 - 30min naps a day.  Sometimes those were 20 min.  He is bad still at 2 yo.  He takes one nap a day at home and it is usually 1hr when other kids nap for 3 hrs. 

I think he may need more naps during the day to keep him from being cranky, but that most likely will mean a later bedtime.  I don't know.  My son is a late sleeper.  Always to bed at 9pm to 10pm, my daughter goes to bed at 920pm.  She sleeps fairly well and naps extremely well. I didn't do anything different with either kid.  I think napping/sleeping is based on personalities.  Some kiddos like to be awake for everything. 

kme930

Hrmph.  I don't have any advice either. Will is very similar - asleep by 7, up around 6, sometimes earlier (like recently when he's been sick/teething/??? whatever it is that he's doing) and takes 3 or so naps, not on a regular schedule, all 20-30 minutes.

We have tried the Ferber method which works for him at night, but during the day the little wake ups that occur during sleep result in him waking from his nap crying up a storm instead of rolling over and sleeping more (like he does at night). We just can't figure it out!

emmyloustu

Eliza was a great napper early on and up to 6mo when she was still napping in her swing. Then, we went through a rough nap period where felt like she was not getting over the 20-30min hump in her crib. Eventually she did and now is a very good napper - 2hrs on average.

What worked for us - I always put her down between 3-4hrs after she last woke or at the first signs of tiredness. I also try to keep the routine a mini version of bedtime - bottle, white noise and rock. I STILL rock her for naps and bed, so I definitely don't think that is a problem. Now, sometimes she tells me when she is ready by signing 'milk' and 'bed' back to back. It is so funny!

 It was just something she needed to learn how to do and she did with no CIO.

Good luck!

choco_lab

Have you tried a sound machine?  This really helped DS to get a good nap (and still does).  We had a sound machine when he was little. Now he has a sleep sheep that plays music on a timer so he can turn it back on when it goes off if he wants to listen more. 

leslieb923

My little guy really doesn't seem to like to nap consistently during the day.  Some days he will nap for 30 minutes in the morning, other days, like today he napped for 2 hrs.  He doesn't take one in the afternoon.  Even if he is exhausted he won't go down.  Then he seems to conk out around now.  So, we grab a bottle, feed him and he STTN.   Good Luck!  

MrsRyan61804

Jack isn't napping as much as he was either. I do think it's that they are getting older and more active so they are afraid they are going to miss something if they sleep. I don't worry about it because Jack sleeps though the night and it doesn't affect his mood either. But right now he is taking three 1/2 hr naps and one 1-2hr nap through out the day.

What happens if you just put him in his crib for a nap? My Dr is big on the let him cry/fuss for 10 mins before you go in. It's the longest 10 mins and I hate it, but on some occasions he does settle down and self sooth before I go in. 

Also I do let Jack nap in the swing if he is having a day when he is fighting it. He will sleep in there forever. I usually have to go in and shut it off to wake him up. 

I wish I had more advice to offer. His teeth could also be bothering him causing him to not want to sleep. Maybe try some tylenol?

Good luck! 

LucyPevensie

I always rocked Jack to sleep too.  He naps 2 - 3 hours at a time. It is NOT a mistake.  It is normal and natural and will be over before you know it. It's not everybody's thing - but it is not a mistake.  Harumph.

Jack went through stages of being a crap napper at times too.  Then - all of a sudden for no discernible reason - he'd start napping longer.  Hang in there.  I think he'll grow out of it. Make sure you put him down (or rock him, etc.) at the FIRST sign of tiredness.  Oh!  And if you have the chance - over a weekend or whatever - experiment with staying in the room (with a book) - maybe a fan on or something for white noise - and at the first sign of stirring - try to get him to go back to sleep WITHOUT totally waking up.  Rub his back, shush him, even pick him up and jiggle or rock him back to sleep if you have to.  THAT might help him get over the hump and get into a deeper sleep.  It sounds like he's waking up after his first sleep cycle rather than making the transition into deeper sleep.  If you can help him get there - you're golden - and then hopefully he can start getting there on his own.  It will happen!  Hang in there smilee!