Attachment Parenting

Nap Question

I'll preface this post with the admission that I have not read any of the "formal" AP literature aside from a bit of Dr. Sears' website, however the bits and pieces I have gleaned resonate with me as a parenting style I an relate to. 

 I am curious about naps.  My 7.5 month old has recently become very vocal about refusing naps if she's not ready for one.  Sometimes she goes down very easily, sometimes she goes down after a short period of fussing/crying in my arms and sometimes it's an all out anger-fest.

I try to guage her sleepiness both by her actions (yawning, eyerubbing) and by the clock.  So I start watching for signs after 2 or 2.5 hours of wake time.  But in the instances like today where she was yawning a little bit, but was also absolutely furious about the thought of going to bed... I wonder what the AP parents think.  Today was the first day I could really see the anger - she was downright mad, which made me wonder if I wasn't listening to her closely enough.  If she's that angry, maybe she's just not ready for a nap.

 But then of course I worry about her getting overtired.

 Your thoughts are appreciated. :)

Re: Nap Question

  • Not all kids show signs when they need to go down for a nap.  My daughter can fight off sleep like few others, and hides her signs like you wouldn't believe.  I have to watch the clock.  She HATED napping (still doesn't like it) and would fight the swaddle, the bouncing, shh'ing, etc.  But she needed it to get to sleep and would start turning awful if she didn't get the sleep.  So, you can have a baby who is angry about having to nap but who is still ready for one.

     

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  • W doesn't fight naps. Dude loooooves his naps. So take my advice with a grain of salt.

    Have you tried wearing her down? I find that a lot of babies are calm in the carrier. This is also good to see what her actual awake time is, because she'll likely fall asleep when she's sleepy.
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  • imageTiffanyBerry:

    Not all kids show signs when they need to go down for a nap.  My daughter can fight off sleep like few others, and hides her signs like you wouldn't believe.  I have to watch the clock.  She HATED napping (still doesn't like it) and would fight the swaddle, the bouncing, shh'ing, etc.  But she needed it to get to sleep and would start turning awful if she didn't get the sleep.  So, you can have a baby who is angry about having to nap but who is still ready for one.

     

    Thanks for answering.  This is how i feel my daughter is.  So do you just let her fight it out until she finally goes to sleep?  Cry in your arms? (or did, when she was a baby, I guess) 

     

  • imageJayandEmm:
    W doesn't fight naps. Dude loooooves his naps. So take my advice with a grain of salt. Have you tried wearing her down? I find that a lot of babies are calm in the carrier. This is also good to see what her actual awake time is, because she'll likely fall asleep when she's sleepy.

    This used to work like a charm.  Unfortunately my post-6 month baby is a whole different kettle of fish from my pre-6 month baby... It no longer works.  The stroller does, sometimes, but not for very long. 

     

  • It would have been cry in arms if she weren't sucking on my finger. I doubt I can effectively communicate how much getting her to sleep the first year of her life sucked. For eleven months at naptime nine at bedtime she was nursed, swaddle, bounced on a ball while being held sideways and at an angle, sucking on my little finger while I shushed her in a dark and quiet room. We were firmly in the "try anything" camp, and this was it. Well, the only thing that didn't lead to crying which for her went more or less immediately to screaming.

    Swing, bouncers, rockers all worked for a bit. But car rides didn't work well at Allan's a stroller never worked one bit.

    As she got older, I would lay with her and nurse her to sleep. Eventually that stopped working at bedtime only she still nurses to sleep at 2.5yrs old, and I doubt she will keep napping the moment she stops nursing to sleep. As she got older, there was some crying involved when I started leaving the room if she hustled started playing while I was in there. And there was crying we when started partial might weaning. But she got to an age where it was "I'm not getting my way" crying, rather than "I need you" crying. Then it's a whole different game. But it took us longer than most to get that game.
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