Attachment Parenting
Izybel18
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How to transition to crib naps...help!
Izybel18
member
Since she was 4 months old, all of DD's naps have been in the Ergo, car seat, or every once in a while while being held/rocked. Prior to that, she napped in her swing. We bedshare at night.
I would like to transition her to at least one nap in her crib. Five months of wearing her while she naps (3x a day still) is getting old. Obviously, she has no experience doing any sleeping in her crib. I've tried rocking her and then putting her down asleep, but she always wakes up between me standing up and then laying her down. Putting her in the crib while drowsy=playtime. Any advice? I hate "wasting" her nap time trying all this stupid transition stuff, because then we're both in a bad mood!
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Re: How to transition to crib naps...help!
My DD was really hard to transition. I had to make sure she was in a deep sleep before I tried it, and do a long dance where I slowly got out of the glider. swayed and rocked her in my arms for a while in front of the crib, slooooowly put her in there, left my hands on her for a while, and slooooowly took them off. If I had to cough it was game over.
It helped to have a lightweight blanket around her when I was rocking her to sleep and then I could keep that under her when I put her in the crib so there wasn't a change in temp.
I also had to transition DD to a crib for naps. I started when I finally got a good nighttime routine down with her and she was comfortable sleeping there. Like pp, I also had to wait until she was in a deep sleep before putting her down. I turn on her white noise machine the same we do at night, and close the shades.
When I was first putting her down for naps, I laid with her in my bed and nursed her to sleep and then left. Once she started to learn how to nap by herself, I could put her down in her crib. And I still hold her for naps sometimes, which now is a treat and something special for both of us instead of a frustration that she won't sleep any other place but in my arms.
My DD has been in her crib at night since 12 weeks without any problems ( and bassinet prior to that so we never co slept). She absolutely refused naps in the crib until she was 15 months old. Until that time she mostly napped in her swing (when at home anyway) and she went from napping in the swing one day to refusing it the next and has been napping in her crib without any problem since then. She never napped for more than 30-45 minutes until she went down to one nap a day so it was never that inconvenient because she would nap while I went grocery shopping or in the car on a regular basis as well.
Funny thing is: she has been napping in a crib at daycare since she was 6 months old without any problem (she only goes 3 mornings a week so she still does most of her napping at home). Just didn't want to do it at home.
We were never able to transition for naps. But my daughter didn't nap until she was almost 6 months old and then she had to be held. But one day around 8 months old I realized that her sleeping with us at night was messing with her sleep. At the same time she FINALLY became comfortable sleeping on her stomach.
While it was much harder on me than her - we started putting her in her crib at night. The first night she slept a six hour stretch. I nurse her to sleep and put her in the crib on her tummy. Most nights it is fairly easy. While I used to think she needed to nurse through the night - she didn't. We were waking her up and that precipiated her nursing 3-5 times a night.
So while your DD is still quite young - you might want to try the crib at night. I think that might be an easier transition because it is dark and they are less prone to wake up while you are moving them.
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