a couple sleeping questions

veggie0420 · March 2012

first- ds wont sleep without being swaddled over night. i have tried so many times to leave his arms out, but they seem to have a mind of their own and he just swings them around or sucks on his hands and it keeps him awake! right when i swaddle him, he calms down and knows its bedtime. its fine except he is about to outgrow the swaddling sleepsack, so i will have to improvise with a blanket after i guess. is anyone else still having to swaddle LO? i feel like hes gonna be swaddled till hes in school!!! ha second- does anyone have LO on a scheduled nap? i always see people putting their kids in their cribs at certain times and they go to sleep with no problems. ds naps at random times, and never for longer than 45 minutes..i dont know how to get him on a regular nap schedule and to sleep for longer! ugh!!

thanks!!

bluejetta · March 2012

We don't swaddle but we are working on a three nap schedule (both the # of naps and the timing). Timing is a bit of a moving target but usually varies only 30min early/late. DD is adjusting to it - has only been 2 weeks but has helped both lengthen more of her naps and help her go down easier (along with a better nap routine).

She wakes 6/6:30am. First nap 8/8:30. Second nap about 2.5 hours from first usually around 12:00 or 1:00 latest. Third nap is 3:00/3:30. She also has an early bedtime right now at 6:30 but we hope to push it back to 7 at some point. Her max awake time these days is 3 hours but it seems she is tied both to awake time and the clock. We still get some 45 min naps but I'm seeing more hour or hour plus.

nbbride06 · March 2012

How old is your LO?

1. Swaddle - My LO was the same way. We cut it cold turkey at 4.5 months. It took 1 night - way easier than expected. I could never have predicted that.

2. LO started going down at pretty much the same times starting around 5.5 months.

laabeja · March 2012

We used to swaddle DS. He started breaking out and waking himself up. We went cold-turkey when he started to roll over and it became too dangerous to not have his hands free. We still have to hold his arms down with our arms to rock him to sleep. DH can do it well, but I usually have to wrap DS in a blanket to hold him well enough that his hands don't come free. If they do, he pulls out his pacifier and cries. We are hoping this is just a phase, but it looks like sleep training may be the only other option because this is getting ridiculous!

meg1974 · March 2012

We stopped swaddling DD a while ago when she outgrew the swaddler. Also, she started rolling over while she sleeps, and swaddling becomes a SIDS risk at that point.

Now we use a sleep sack, which is a wearable blanket where their arms are out. It zips up, so the blanket can't get over their face and it doesn't cause a SIDS risk.

It was a hard transition when we stopped swaddling. She would wake herself up. We just kept putting her back to sleep until eventually she would stay asleep longer. It took about a week or so, and she still doesn't sleep as well as she did swaddled. But, she's getting better. Most of her afternoon naps are an hour or two now.

TeacherVicky · March 2012

We just broke the swaddle this week and DS will be 7m in one week.

It was a hard transition and I don't think that using the Miracle Blanket helped because it did such a good job. We tried losing it before and it was just awful. We started with one arm out, then two (still swaddled from his chest down and put him in a sleep sac) and we're not putting him in a sleep sac only.

As for naps, DS has a pretty structured day. On a normal day, he wakes up at 7. Goes down for a nap at 9 and then again close to 1. I usually go off of his awake time as he doesn't seem to be able to tolerate more than 2h of awake time, 2.5 is rare.

superchixor · March 2012

We thought the same thing about the swaddle. We were scared her arms would wake her so we kept doing it. The night we decided to let her CIO, she was fighting so hard to get her arms out that we took it off and she was asleep on her side withing 20 minutes. Now she sleeps on her side and is much more comfy and STTN. We were shocked! This morning she had rolled on her tummy and was laying there looking around... I think you are just going to have to do it.

I don't have any advice on the naps. My daughter is ready for a nap every 2 hours on the dot. I just lay her down when I see her sleepy signs.

StefandTodd · March 2012

I don't swaddle anymore, b/c I nurse him to sleep in my bed and then roooooollllll off the bed slowly. At DC though, where they rock him to sleep and have to lay him in his crib, they said they still have to swaddle his arms down for the transfer to work.

We do not have any set bed/sleep times. He goes down for a nap (at home and at dc) when he's tired. Same for when he goes to bed at night.

veggie0420 · March 2012

he is just over 7 mnths. i tried to put him in his crib today unswaddled for a nap and he had a meltdown. i could not get him calmed down for almost 45 min. i layed him in there awake, but his damn arms kept him awake, so i rocked hima little and he fell asleep, but when i put him down, his arms woke him up after 1 min and he had the meltdown. i guess i will just keep swaddling and improvise when he grows out of this size. i guess im more annoyed about the naps at this point.. getting him to sleep longer than 30 min in his crib. the longest nap he has taken is almost an hour, but he normally only takes about 2 30-45 min ones

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