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Babies: 3 - 6 Months
michelle7482
member
What am I doing wrong?
michelle7482
member
LO is 5 months old and will not nap in her crib for more then 20-30 mins. She still sleeps in her RnP at night (830pm-530am) because I want to wait to 6 months as per the AAP recommendations for crib sleeping at night. I started naps this week in the crib to get her used to it but she will not fall/stay asleep. If she falls asleep in my arms I can lay her in the crib but as soon as she flails her arms or drops the paci she's awake. I can't put her down drowsy b/c she WILL NOT fall alseep. She fusses for about 5 mins and then it's all out bloody murder scream fest until I go in. I calm her down, walk out and she's screaming again. I'm not sure what to do. I try to let her CIO for 5 mins but it turns into the screaming and I can't let her be like that. Do anyone have any suggestions for me? I'll be more confident transitioning her to the crib if I know she can last 45 min- hour for a nap (her normal nap time in the swing or RNP) TIA!
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Re: What am I doing wrong?
I was once told to work on sleeping in the crib at night first then on to naps.
That said, my DS is still in the RnP at night but I have just recently been able to get him in his crib for naps. His room is incredibly hot at night and he wakes a lot (think 6 times last night) so I haven't even tried to move him in there.
As for naps, I started by having him play in his crib during the day, with me standing over him talking. Every single say we go in there, I lay him in the crib and turn on his mobile. It's a Lion King theme so we talk about his lions while he watches them and I get out clothes or whatever for the day. The entire time I talk to him. I change his clothes in there and he usually has his little blanket he likes to hold onto. I keep him in there until he's had enough and then we go on with our day.
We probably did this for a good month before I started trying for naps. I did the drowsy but awake thing and it actually worked! I think he was so close to a nap and he was used to me laying him there that he fell asleep before he realized what was going on. I'll admit it hasn't worked every single time but it's progress!
Does dc spend much other time in the nursery? I know some people start the transition by moving the RNP to the nursery for naps so they are use to not being in your room, then moving to the crib. I imagine it is a pretty different experience since the rnp is cozy and cradles them but the crib is much larger and flat. That could be a big change on top of being in an unfamiliar location.
DD transitioned from RNP to her crib at the same time she started DC mostly because I knew she was put in a crib for naps at DC and I wanted to take advantage of her being exhausted from playing/stimulation all day to make the transition easier.
BFP #2 7/18/11 - EDD 3/29/12 - Born 3/13/12
BFP #1 4/4/11 - Natural M/C - 7w1d - 4/30/11
I believe in taking cues from your baby. DS slept in a bouncy chair and swing only until he learned to roll over at 3 months then we transitioned to the PnP in our room at night because he was trying to flip himself over. Then he went through a phase for about a month where he would only sleep in my arms so we bed shared while he nursed 8+ times a night.
Now he prefers to sleep independently and squirms if we cuddle too long. I started puttin him down in his crib at night from the asleep (after nursing) until his first wake up at which point he sleeps in the PnP in out room. The first stretch is getting longer and longer. We also started naps in his crib a few weeks ago. He has been playing in his crib since day 1 but refused to fall asleep laying flat. My trick is keeping him awake and stimulated for 2hrs and then putting him down for his nap exhausted, after a diaper change, and with the sleep sheep on. He may fuss for a moment but he is out immediately if he is tired enough. If I try to do it too early he screams so I pick him up and play with him for another half hour and try again.
Try not to stress and just keep attempting it. One day it will stick. And then the next thing you know he will change it all up on you again.
We were/are in thesame boat, though our 30 minute naps have increased to 45 minutes (though sometimes he still has 30 or shorter). I read somewhere that sleeping longer is actually a developmental milestone, so ther is not much youcan do about it. Also, I read that it is waaaaay harder to start at nap times than at night. Does you LO sleep with the paci in his mouth? Mine does
and that actually contributes to it, something with sleep association. They fall asleep with it so when they wake up and it's not there, they freak out and cant put themselves back to sleep. Easier said tha done, I know. Most times I am so tired and I take the easy route but we really need to tackle these things soon too 
Good luck, let us know if you found a way that works! I'd love to know!
Quinn started sleeping in his crib 1 day before he was 1 month old. Due to NOT sleeping at ALL in our room in his Pack n Play... apparently he wanted to sleep alone lol
ANYways He would only sleep 30 min at a time during nap time in his crib... I knew he could sleep longer. So I started putting him back in his Jammys during nap time and WAla... naps that would last 45 min to 1 hour sometimes even 3 hours..
We had DD in the RnP until she was just over 3 months... In the RnP I was either putting her down asleep or rocking her to sleep in it - she never went to sleep truly independently. Then a couple weeks ago I bought a Magic SleepSuit and just put her down in her crib - and she slept fine all on her own! The sleepsuit mimics the cozy feeling of the RnP I think. She did her usual 1-2 wake-ups at night to eat, and actually puts herself to sleep most of the time, way better than in the RnP. I just put her in the sleepsuit, give her the paci, and leave the room. Sometimes I have to go back in a couple times to replace the paci, but most of the time she's out within 5 minutes. She still only naps 30-40 minutes at a time though, even though she's falling asleep on her own. I'm hoping it's just a phase....
Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is (1) try the magic sleepsuit to help with the crib transition and (2) don't use naps as an indicator as to whether LO is ready for sleeping in the crib, because crap naps don't always = crap nights.
Yes!!!
To OP- Please, please do yourself a favor and get the magic sleep suit.
I was dreading the transition from RnP to crib, and put it off until now- at almost 6 months. Every time I would put him in his crib (asleep) he woke immediately. We got the sleep suit in the other day and it is wonderful. My son isn't STTN, and this suit didn't make him (he wakes twice to nurse- he's only 12 lbs at just about 6 months, so I have no problem with the MOTN Feedings.) But, he no longer randomly wakes up in the night. Since we it in the mail a few days ago, he's taken several 3 hour nap
Oops, posted too soon.
I was saying..he's taken some amazing naps in it!! I was concerned how it was going to be Holding him, feeding and burping him since the thing seems so bulky. But all are easy to do! It's actually nice nursing him to sleep on it because his arms don't hit me in the face, play with my clothes, scratch the chair....
He sleeps so soundly in it!! There have been times I have rocked him for up to an hour to fall asleep, but in the 6 naps and 3 nights he's wore it, the longest I've had to rock has been maybe 10 minutes. It's just so cozy!
All in all, I really recommend it!