Nap help

turtlewifey · February 2012

I need nap help! Over the past few days, DD has suddenly decided she no longer wants to nap in her pnp (she has been sleeping/napping in the pnp since day 1). Usually, she'll fall asleep bfing and I'll move her there or a few times I've been able to put her down while drowsy, give her a paci and she is out. She also usually naps in the car if we are driving somewhere or in her stroller/carseat when we walk the dog.

Over the past few days, she bolts wide awake every time I move her into the pnp and won't.go.back.down. It is maddening. Yesterday she took 1 nap in the car while we ran errands and so far today she has only slept for 30 minutes when we were out walking the dog. What makes it worse is that she sleeps like crap at night when she won't nap during the day. I am trying hard not to just put her in the swing because that is a habit that I really don't want to have to break in a few months. I also have a moby but she will rarely nap in it. She usually just wants out of it. Any ideas!?

knottie198f1ac43570b6c2 · February 2012

Are you moving her right after she has fallen asleep?

The best advice I got was to put them down while they're drowsy, but awake, which doesn't seem to be working anymore for you. Or, to wait to put them down until they are totally asleep. If her arm is limp, that means that she is usually asleep enough for me to put her down.

If I try putting her down any earlier than that, she wakes right back up. It is indeed maddening.

That's the best advice I have. Good luck

turtlewifey · February 2012

Thanks desine! Unfortunately, I do wait until she is limp. I've even picked her up from bfing and burped her while she is asleep and she doesn't wake up, and yet she wakes up the second she is put down.

JMC11511 · February 2012

My LO is doing the same thing. I got him to nap for an hour and half this morning in his crib, but that nap usually goes well. He goes down only 30 minutes after his first feeding of the day. He then slept about 45 minutes in his boppy on the floor until Daddy came home for lunch, then he woke up and wanted to see Daddy. I just put him down in his crib un-swaddled for the first time. I'm hoping he'll last for a while. He is STTN still though, so I'm trying not to be TOO concerned about it. I try and figure out his optimal waketime to determine when he needs to go down for naps. Good luck!

HarperK · February 2012

Around 3-ish months, my DS all but quit napping. It was like he woke up from his sleepy newborn phase and was so aware of the world that he didn't want to sleep through the day anymore. We're still going through this, and yes, it is maddening! He gets so fussy at night when he doesn't get enough daytime sleep that most days we are just trying to get him to nap anywhere, versus trying to establish any particular place or time for naps. If he still would nap in the swing, PNP, bouncer, or Boppy, I would let him sleep there! So yeah, if your DS will sleep in the swing, let her!

Can you predict when her naptimes will be? Look for her sleepiness cues like yawning and getting glassy-eyed. Use those to put together a (loose) nap schedule for her -- i.e., every two hours or so, put her somewhere that you know she'll nap. At least then you'll have the nap timing right, even if she's not napping in the place you'd like her to. Maybe then if she gets used to going down at a particular time, you'll be able to move her to a more ideal nap spot after a few weeks. You could also incorporate a song or white noise into her naptime -- basically, creating a sleep association so that when she hears that song or noise, she'll know it's sleep time.

Good luck! I hope you figure out something that works. We are still trying to find the magic nap routine for DS.

knottie198f1ac43570b6c2 · February 2012

turtlewifey:
Thanks desine! Unfortunately, I do wait until she is limp. I've even picked her up from bfing and burped her while she is asleep and she doesn't wake up, and yet she wakes up the second she is put down.

Hmmm...I am stumped then. I hope you find out what works for you though.

authorofdreamz · February 2012

I have the same problem with DD but I am no help because we just use the swing or if I have nothing to do I just hold her.

smilelari · February 2012

First, it's still really early to worry about habits. I'd probably be suspicious that she might be overtired and spend the next few days catching her up on sleep. Get those naps in however you can - swing, rocking, car. Make sure awake time is short enough - an hour or so awake before the first nap and no more than 2 hours awake at a time the rest of the day. I bet that once she gets caught back up on sleep she'll be easy to put down again if she's normally an easy to put down baby

JMack1117 · February 2012

DD will sleep 30 mins in her crib or rnp.....or 3 hours if held or tummy sleeping. I am paranoid about the tummy sleeping, so she sleeps right next to me on the couch, and I put my hand on her back most of the time. It works ok the days DD has preschool and I have a big chunk of time to sit still, but the other 3 days a week are short cat naps.

FWIW, DD1 was a crappy napper until about 9 months, then she went to 2 champion naps a day, of about 2 hours each. Hang in there! This, too, will pass!

skipperkelly · February 2012

Have you tried a paci? I didn't want to give LO one but it really seems to calm him down when he's overtired...and it helps him fall asleep quickly.

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