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...
Re: Swing naps at SEVEN months???
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.
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
BFP 8/2/10 (3w5d); No more heartbeat on 8/30/10 (7w4d); D&C on 9/2/10 (8w) - Baby Boy with Triploidy
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Diagnosed with Compound Heterozygous MTHFR
BFP 3/9/11; Baby Boy #2 born on 11/7/11
Currently TTC Baby #3
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.
DD february 2010 | DS october 2011
*please excuse my typos, bumping from my iphone*