Tips for better napping?

tiffanyp

Please share your tips for getting LO to nap better during the day. Avery sleeps through the night now (usually 7 hrs + 3 more) but she rarely sleeps for longer than 30 minutes at a time during the day unless I'm wearing or holding her. So, any tips? I thought we could use this post to compile all the tricks and tips that people have used. 

lrn327

Same problem - love to hear the responses! Specifically, I'd love for him to nap in the crib or PNP for longer than 30 minutes.  He will sleep if I hold him or in the swing, but starts daycare soon and they won't allow this.

welshgirl

I dont have any tips but need some - M is on a serious sleep strike, unless she is on the breast, which is hurting her feeds as well.

watermellens

Something that sometimes works for us is to put B in his crib to nap (sleepy or totally sleeping) and then when he starts to stir (after about a 1/2 hour or 45 minutes) to get in there quickly, pop his binkie back in, pat his tummy, shh in his ear or pick him up and rock him back to sleep while he's still kind of dozing.

I've read that infants have very short sleep cycles (about 30-45 minutes) and many of them will wake up after this first cycle, but you can try to lull them back to sleep if you catch them at the right time. This happened to us last night - slept for 45 minutes, started to stir, put the binkie back, turned the sleep sheep back on and he was out for another hour and a half.

Good luck!

unoriginal

Same problem here...She will fall asleep and stay asleep if she is on me but once I put her down she is up after a short time.  She was sleeping in her swing but the last few days that's not even working.

Her naps went downhill once she started sleeping through the night last week.  

tiffanyp

unoriginal:

Same problem here...She will fall asleep and stay asleep if she is on me but once I put her down she is up after a short time.  She was sleeping in her swing but the last few days that's not even working.

Her naps went downhill once she started sleeping through the night last week.  

That's when my LO's naps started to suffer too. I think I'd rather wake up and feed her during the night than have to entertain her constantly all day... 

janneann1127

for us, putting him on his tummy makes him sleep twice as long.. sometimes 2 hours. i only do this for naps, and then i check on him frequently.

Nicole0012

I have a super napper. He sleeps 3+ hours in the morning, 3+ hours in the afternoon, and 1-1 1/2 hours early evening. He sleeps 5-6 hour stretches at night.

I'm not sure it's anything we do, but our routine includes lots of tummy time and play between naps. After an especially long tummy time period, he is usually ready to eat, then falls asleep shortly after. We use the swing for all naps during the day.

jessrenee11

janneann1127:

for us, putting him on his tummy makes him sleep twice as long.. sometimes 2 hours. i only do this for naps, and then i check on him frequently.

This!

tiffanyp

Nicole0012:

I have a super napper. He sleeps 3+ hours in the morning, 3+ hours in the afternoon, and 1-1 1/2 hours early evening. He sleeps 5-6 hour stretches at night.

I'm not sure it's anything we do, but our routine includes lots of tummy time and play between naps. After an especially long tummy time period, he is usually ready to eat, then falls asleep shortly after. We use the swing for all naps during the day.

Wow, that's incredible. How long is he awake for between naps?  

tiffanyp

janneann1127:

for us, putting him on his tummy makes him sleep twice as long.. sometimes 2 hours. i only do this for naps, and then i check on him frequently.

Is he swaddled or unswaddled when you do this?

CFH79

janneann1127:

for us, putting him on his tummy makes him sleep twice as long.. sometimes 2 hours. i only do this for naps, and then i check on him frequently.

I put mine on her left side. But only for naps.

jessrenee11

tiffanyp:

janneann1127:

for us, putting him on his tummy makes him sleep twice as long.. sometimes 2 hours. i only do this for naps, and then i check on him frequently.

Is he swaddled or unswaddled when you do this?

Unswaddled!!

Tiffany628

M has been doing better about napping.  Normally after her morning bottle I put her to sleep swaddled in her crib.  I just recently bought the Sound Spa Lullaby machine and turn it to the heartbeat sound.  It takes her anywhere from 5-20 minutes to fall asleep. She will usually sleep for another 1.5-3 hours.  Then depending on the time when she wakes up I dress her for the day, she eats, rests while I wash/sterilize bottles, we play/tummy time, and then it's about time to eat again and then will take another nap for about 1-2 hours.  Lately she is also taking another shorter nap about 30 minutes in the evenings and starting to get sleepier sooner each evening so I know I'm going to have to adjust the schedule.  However, I know all this is all about to go out the window in a few weeks once I return to work. 

lindseybell3

My little guy sleeps best in the swing too.  I'm trying to do the Eat, Play, Sleep routine. For play, we are just doing tummy time and looking at toys right now. If it's warm enough I do some naked time too.

Sometimes he naps well, sometimes no.  Sometimes he sleeps 5 hr stretches at night, sometimes 3.  I am trying to get better about routines now that we've got the BF-ing down but it's still all a little random right now.

cupcakes710

Ug story of my life!  My LO sleeps through the night but is a catnapper (one sleep cycle) / sleep resister!  I haven't been able to get to her at that exact right moment yet.  The best things to get her to sleep are nursing and the fan above the stove in the kitchen.

belizeitornot

Do you swaddle? That might help. H will only catnap during the day if she's unswaddled because her arm flailing wakes her up. I swaddle her for her early afternoon nap and she'll sleep a solid 2 hours but I've not been able to transfer that luck to any of the other nap times.