Swing naps at SEVEN months???

Tayloralex24

My mother is my 7-month-old's caretaker on the two days that I work. She has been consistently "swing-napping" her since 3 months (when I went back to work). I've tried so hard to avoid the swing as a habit from the beginning since it just seems unnatural. Not to mention, she'll outgrow it (soon!)...then what? I fought my mom for a while on this, but my crib-naps were always a work in progress...and a mess, really. I finally conceded to let my mom do what worked for her. When DD's at home with me the other five days, we crib-nap. Our naps a home are admittedly much shorter, usually crankier, and then the majority of most days are fussy and thrown off. When I pick her up from grandma's, she is sociable, smiley, clearly well-rested, and actually sleeps better at night following those days!! But seriously, who swing-naps a 7-mo old!? My mom will let her sleep for 3-4 hours in her swing. That would NEVER happen in her crib. Is this healthy? My mom thinks her little schedule is a grand idea, and yeah, DD sleeps for a heck of a long time & is then happy & fun for the time that she is up. Is there anyone in the world that does this? Or thinks this is a good (or horrendous) idea? FWIW, DD's always slept pretty darn well in her crib at night, regardless...and her 1st morning nap is a consistent, hour-long nap in her crib. Then it's a free-for-all after that...

livinirie84

There are no rules about where or how to nap but there are suggested guidelines on the amount of nap sleep and it seems like your LO is getting a ton if these 3-4 hr swing naps are on top of a 1 hr morning nap. She could be lacking in the amount of awake time in a 24 hr period. I'm no expert and don't have experience with this but if she's sleeping that long it would seem like she'd only need one nap for the day. 

atc282

I had 2 swing nappers...until 11 months old. Their nursery was so bright (even with curtains/shades) and they also napped so much shorter and lighter in their cribs. We moved when they were 11 months and so I went cold turkey and had the movers box up the swings so I wouldn't even be tempted to let them nap anymore (they were outgrowing them anyway). The transition went very smoothly and they napped great in their cribs. It seemed like a natural transition overall.

I personally didn't care if it was considered ok or horrendous...I did what worked best for us. And trying to get twins to nap well worked best in the swings given our circumstances. As for my son, he never was a big swing fan (not to mention would be way too big for it as he's a big baby) and so we just went straight to the crib for naps. 

gina2433

I was thinking about this the other day. I took my swing back from the sitters house and now we find outselves using at home. He has been sick and sleeping in the swing helps. I guess I have some work to do this summer while im home with LO. But I woul say why worry about it if it works. One thing I've learned as a FTM is just do what works not what the books say  

704bride

According to The Baby Sleep Site, motionless, crib naps are the best rest you can get.  Check out the website for sleep tips.  When you try crib naps at home, how much time are you allowing between naps?  I'm certainly not an expert, but it sounds like the morning nap might be easiest because she's not over-tired yet, but might be getting over-tired by the time you move on to the other naps.

chulita425

My son isn't a huge fan of the swing but the nights he gives me trouble (not very often) I will put him in the swing and he'll fall right asleep!! I'll leave him there maybe an hour then put him back in the crib. It hasn't formed a habit thankfully but its been a life saver for us on those rough nights!

Tayloralex24

Appreciate all of the input! DD takes about 5 hours-worth of daytime naps, either way you slice it. Sleeps about 10-11 hours at night. I thought that was pretty on target for her age. I would agree that motionless sleep is optimal if my LO wasn't prematurely waking and protesting being awake! Leads me to believe that those naps are anything but "optimal". I've switched up a million different variables for her naps; keeping her up longer, putting her down sooner, looking for cues, anticipating cues, swaddling, noise machine, darker room, feeding upon waking, feeding before putting down, feeding all day...hahaha. I think she just likes the swing for her "big" nap of the day. She actually gets a HUGE smile on her face as we tuck her into it and give her her special blankie. I'm probably so dumb for trying to deny her this for now! As a FTM, I clearly do think a little too much into it! I suppose I should enjoy the swing for the well-rested sleep it gives her now (and the sanity it should give me!). Cross my fingers that when she's ready - or too big - that the transition will be natural! Thanks for your experiences. It's helped me to relax a bit, actually :-)

Summer20

DS loved the swing for naps.  He would take marathon naps in that thing and that's how he napped for the first 4-5 months.  After that I think it started messing with his night time sleep, he couldn't get himself back to sleep in the crib, even with sleep training.  We tried some swing naps and some crib naps, but we had the same problem you're having - he would wait for the swing and then nap for 3+ hours, but he'd only cat nap in the crib.

Around 6 months we just went cold turkey on the swing.  The first day he barely napped at all.  The second day he took a good afternoon nap and by day three both naps were in the crib.  He's been taking two good (1.5-2 hour) crib naps a day ever since.  He's also STTN. 

If the swing was working great, I'd say don't mess with what's not broken.  But in your case, it does seem to be preventing your DD from being able to nap in her crib at your house.  Since that is 5 days a week and the majority of her naps, I would probably ditch the swing and try to get her napping well every day, not just on days she gets the swing.

Liz1485

My LO naps in his swing still, he's a little over 6 months old. He'll sleep for 3 hours at a time, a few times a day and is sttn in his bassinet. He can nap in his crib but he will only sleep for 30 mintes at a time in it and is grumpy all day. His pedi said it's fine that he sleeps so much and it's fine that he sleeps in the swing still, so I'm going with it. I'll worry about him outgrowing it and having to crib nap when we come to that.

Soon2BMrsN

My first DS slept in his swing (off and on, he also slept in his crib quite a bit) until about a year.  DS2 also sleeps in the swing (he's doing it right now!) some.  I think people make too big of a deal about "bad habits."  I've done everything "wrong" -- nurse to sleep, rock to sleep, let my babies sleep wherever they want -- and (for my older DS anyway) everything's worked out.  He's almost 3 and sleeps 10-11 hours at night and takes a 2-3 hour nap without a fuss.