I need help with naps. Pretty please. It sucks.

BrideMoto

How did you (or nanny or daycare) get your child to start napping on their own?

All of our sleep is in the crib. We did Ferber with T for night time and it worked like a charm after one night. He has a bed time routine (bath, bottle, bed basically) and just self soothes and goes to sleep for 12 hours with one feeding.

Naps are totally different. We have been doing EASY forever, but since he was crying before every single nap we consulted our pedi and she suggested changing his feeding to about 30 minutes before his nap. Well that resulted in a nap FAIL this morning. At first he just played with his feet for 10 minutes and then finally the crying came and finally after stepping in a few times just to reassure him (progressively longer) we called it a nap.

HELP.

MLvK

revisit the swaddle.  When Liam stopped napping well, I started to wrap him up again and he slept.  Good luck! 

myrall

Why not do Ferber for naps? After we got night settled, we worked on the naps in the same way. Worked for us.

And sometimes, the crying comes from being overtired. Did you try putting him down even earlier for naps? If Geneva ever got to the point around naptime where she was crying, I knew I had blown my window for getting her down without a fight. 

mingaling2

We ferberized for naps, too.  Also definitely try putting him down earlier - I found I missed a lot of cues for when she was starting to get tired, then she got overtired and then it backfired on me.

MrsKLB

myrall:

Why not do Ferber for naps? After we got night settled, we worked on the naps in the same way. Worked for us.

And sometimes, the crying comes from being overtired. Did you try putting him down even earlier for naps? If Geneva ever got to the point around naptime where she was crying, I knew I had blown my window for getting her down without a fight. 

Yep, what she said. Earlier naps and a little Ferber should do the trick. Good luck!

donna&ed

When Samantha started rolling over by herself, I gave her a small blankie and put it close to her cheek...she sucks on it a lil (coz she doesn't take paci). That really helped her a lot with naps. Also laying her on her belly seemed to work the best.

Can T sleep on his belly now?

ebearwife

Weissbluth.  CIO for up to an hour.  Eventually they get the point that when you put them down and leave the room and close the door, its naptime.

Isaac still fusses a little when I leave the room but he lies down and goes to sleep within 5-10 minutes most days.  Usually its only a minute or two of protest.  I haven't mastered the "window" yet and by the time I get the kids up, fed, changed, and do a bottle, its past the no cry window, but he only fusses a little.

slwprincess

MLvK:

revisit the swaddle.  When Liam stopped napping well, I started to wrap him up again and he slept.  Good luck! 

I was going to suggest the same thing.  Sophie needs that swaddle.  At home, I usually feed her, then swaddle her, and then put her in the swing.  Once she starts dosing off, I move her to her crib.  She'll nap for 1-2 hours or even longer sometimes.  But at daycare, they don't have a crib and all the other noise keeps her up.  She only naps about 45 min at a time there even when she is swaddled.

Tamarahh

At 4 months, I began introducing baby cereal and at 5 months, exactly, I started giving it to my son mixed with mashed banana, following every liquid feeding.  This CHANGED MY LIFE.  THAT DAY, He went from sleeping 7 hours at night to 10-12 hours, and taking 2-3 hour naps instead of waking after 30 minutes.  If you aren't already incorporating solids- DO!  I'm just saying, it worked for me.  I actually went against what my doctor recommended.  She said that I should start any solids besides cereal at night, until 6 months but I was desparate for some rest.  Since then, I've began slowly incorporating more fruits and vegetables, and he is now 6 months old, and doing great!  Good Luck! 

BrideMoto

Thanks for all the advice, ladies! I am going to start from the beginning again doing ferber for naps, be consistent, and put him down earlier, reading his cues. I think this is going to work. He went down for a nap after only an hour and 45 minutes this afternoon because he was tired so I ignored the clock. Almost an hour later he rolled onto his side and continued napping which he's only done once or twice before ever during a nap.

Tamarahh - We are already doing solids - well, sweet pots as of Tuesday - and cereal. He's a night time champ Thank you!

Temp925407062502290

both of my boys didn't do naps until after 7 months in their crib.  They did night time great in their crib at 4 months.  They napped in their swing.  It might too young.  Retry the next month.

That.Just.Happened

I finally just let E CIO earlier this week for a nap because her naps had gone to complete crap and I was over it.  She cried for 35 minutes the first time and then slept for over an hour (before we were struggling to make 45 minutes).  Her second nap that day she cried for about 2 minutes.  Since then I can just lay her down, awake, and she might fuss for a few minutes but will go to sleep (and STAY asleep!) on her own.  Before this I had to nurse her to sleep.

I would say if you had good luck with Ferber for nighttime, absolutely try it for naps!