if you have a short napper...

elizabethwig · January 2013

if you have a short napper, do you just get them up when they wake up or do you try to put them back down again?

DD has taken to the 20 minute nap. i'll get 40 minutes every few days, but it's rare. i've tried for the last couple of days to try to put her back down if she wakes up after less than 30 minutes. she'll fall asleep in my arms, no problem, but if i put her back in the crib she's up in 4 minutes or less. (i've tried the putting down drowsy thing multiple times.... miserable failure. so so bad.)

i'm trying to encourage naps in the crib but i feel like she's not getting enough sleep this way...

CdnFarmGirl08 · January 2013

I have a short napper as well. The only way right now that I can get him to nap longer than 30 minutes is if I hold him the whole time or lay down and cuddle on the bed. So for my sanity and his sleep, this is what we are doing.

Yes, it's probably not great and I'll have problems down the road, but right now that's the only thing that works for us.

I've tried the putting down drowsy, and it's worked once in the past 3 weeks. I try to transfer him to the crib after cuddling for awhile and 9 times out of 10 he will be wake up within 10 minutes.

He also will only fall asleep if I nurse him, so that also sucks, but again for my sanity it is what is working right now.

webletmom · January 2013

Same here. S will only sleep about 30 minutes in his crib, but yesterday he slept almost 2 hours when I held him. He's not much of a napper anyway, so as long as he sleeps good at night, I don't worry about it. I could really use a break, but it just doesn't look like it's in the cards right now.

BPer · January 2013

We have a short napper, and with the 4mo wakeful, it's been taking me 30 minutes to get her down, for a 30 minute nap.

When I hear her start to fuss, I watch the monitor to see if she's actually awake, or jus fussing. Sometimes I'll try re-inserting her pacifier, and if she's truly tired, she'll fall back asleep almost instantly, if not, I know she's up.

elizabethwig · January 2013

like you guys, she'll also sleep for 1.5-2 hrs if i hold her. but i'm trying to really push the crib and was hoping that if i stopped giving her the being held option, she'd have to learn to nap longer in the crib.

is that crazy? am i expecting too much from a wee babe? she struggles to go down for the night, but when she does she can often make it to 4 am, if not longer (today it was 7!). so i know she's capable of it, it just seems like naps are a whole different beast.

misspunky · January 2013

I used to hold LO for every nap and she'd *usually* sleep for an hour or two. For the last month or so I've been putting her in the crib right after she passes out in my arms. She doesn't sleep in there very long, but she does STTN in her crib (by our bed), so I don't mind too much. I figure if she's tired, she'll sleep.

purplegem11 · January 2013

We have the same problem so I have no advice for you. At least your LO STTN! That's a struggle for us too!

Flamingemu · January 2013

Your not expecting too much. At this point babies should* be sleeping on their own, able to self soothe, and napping for an hour or more at a time.

That being said, I am a failure at this. L only took good naps in my arms or driving around. The past 3 weeks I worked really hard at getting her to nap any amount in her crib and not in my arms. I got 20-45 minute naps, tops, out of her in her crib. She has been at an in home day car for 4 days and is already napping for 1 1/2 - 3 hour stretches. I am assuming my consistency just sucked and I was getting her too early. I am hoping I don't break everything this weekend.

*should as stated by all the books I have read. I think they are dirty liars, but I hear some people have babies that nap well. lol

elizabethwig · January 2013

purplegem11:
We have the same problem so I have no advice for you. At least your LO STTN! That's a struggle for us too!

oh yeah, i'm super lucky for at least some sleep! i hope your LO comes around to sleeping well soon! silly kids, don't they know that sleep is AWESOME? ugh.

bubblewrapjk · January 2013

Flamingemu:
Your not expecting too much. At this point babies should be sleeping on their own, able to self soothe, and napping for an hour or more at a time.That being said, I am a failure at this. L only took good naps in my arms or driving around. The past 3 weeks I worked really hard at getting her to nap any amount in her crib and not in my arms. I got 2045 minute naps, tops, out of her in her crib. She has been at an in home day car for 4 days and is already napping for 1 1/2 3 hour stretches. I am assuming my consistency just sucked and I was getting her too early. I am hoping I don't break everything this weekend. should as stated by all the books I have read. I think they are dirty liars, but I hear some people have babies that nap well. lolnbsp;

What the heck does your daycare provider do?

I usually try to get grace to go back to sleep after she wakes, but it only works sometimes. Today for her midday nap she woke up and fell asleep 3 times when I was putting her in her bassinet. 4th try she slept there maybe 15 minutes.

kbbgg · January 2013

You've all written my story.
I'm going to keep trying by putting him in the crib, I have hope one day he'll stay asleep.

elizabethwig · January 2013

bubblewrapjk:
Flamingemu:
Your not expecting too much. At this point babies should be sleeping on their own, able to self soothe, and napping for an hour or more at a time.That being said, I am a failure at this. L only took good naps in my arms or driving around. The past 3 weeks I worked really hard at getting her to nap any amount in her crib and not in my arms. I got 2045 minute naps, tops, out of her in her crib. She has been at an in home day car for 4 days and is already napping for 1 1/2 3 hour stretches. I am assuming my consistency just sucked and I was getting her too early. I am hoping I don't break everything this weekend. should as stated by all the books I have read. I think they are dirty liars, but I hear some people have babies that nap well. lolnbsp;
What the heck does your daycare provider do? I usually try to get grace to go back to sleep after she wakes, but it only works sometimes. Today for her midday nap she woke up and fell asleep 3 times when I was putting her in her bassinet. 4th try she slept there maybe 15 minutes.

Seriously?! What do they do there, drug them? Or is she magic? Cause it's gotta be either drugs or magic, obviously

pumpkinhead4 · January 2013

I have had this problem too for the last month or more but it's beginning to get better recently, somewhat. I did a bit of a revised CIO for a few nap times and that helped. I also always do the same routine for naps. Swaddle, get the room dark, sing the same song and kind of rock her in my arms and once she is sleepy put her in the crib. Some days I get 1hr20min other days 30 min. Eventually once they start moving around more they will get more tired and take typically 2 naps a day for at least an hour. At least that's what I believe

Flamingemu · January 2013

elizabethwig:
bubblewrapjk:
Flamingemu:
Your not expecting too much. At this point babies should be sleeping on their own, able to self soothe, and napping for an hour or more at a time.That being said, I am a failure at this. L only took good naps in my arms or driving around. The past 3 weeks I worked really hard at getting her to nap any amount in her crib and not in my arms. I got 2045 minute naps, tops, out of her in her crib. She has been at an in home day car for 4 days and is already napping for 1 1/2 3 hour stretches. I am assuming my consistency just sucked and I was getting her too early. I am hoping I don't break everything this weekend. should as stated by all the books I have read. I think they are dirty liars, but I hear some people have babies that nap well. lolnbsp;
What the heck does your daycare provider do? I usually try to get grace to go back to sleep after she wakes, but it only works sometimes. Today for her midday nap she woke up and fell asleep 3 times when I was putting her in her bassinet. 4th try she slept there maybe 15 minutes.
Seriously?! What do they do there, drug them? Or is she magic? Cause it's gotta be either drugs or magic, obviously

Honestly, I have NO IDEA. I didn't really know until I read her daily reports all at once to see how her whole week went. I plan to ask on Monday pick up. I am pretty sure there is just no picking up. Lilly is pretty good at soothing herself, so the DCP just lets her lie there awake to put herself back to sleep, when I would usually pick her up once she was awake. I will let you know what I learn on Monday.

Pinkgirly · January 2013

DD is usually happy when she wakes up so I just get her up. I also have another DD so it would be hard to constantly try and get her back to sleep. I am hoping she starts taking longer naps soon though. DD1 was a cat napper as well. I used to hold her for a lot of her naps and she really got used to that so I don't want to do that again.

GinnyJ2012 · January 2013

Same problem here I just let him get up and then he needs another nap in an hour. I thought it was something I was doing wrong but I've had family members try and nothing. This one lady I know tried all day once and got the same results. She has 5 kids and 10 grand kids all who nap well. I think mine just came without the "take a nap" gene.

Nita2603 · January 2013

fingerscrossed8:
nbsp;I have a short napper as well. The only way right now that I can get him to nap longer than 30 minutes is if I hold him the whole time or lay down and cuddle on the bed. So for my sanity and his sleep, this is what we are doing.
Yes, it's probably not great and I'll have problems down the road, but right now that's the only thing that works for us.
I've tried the putting down drowsy, and it's worked once in the past 3 weeks. I try to transfer him to the crib after cuddling for awhile and 9 times out of 10 he will be wake up within 10 minutes.
He also will only fall asleep if I nurse him, so that also sucks, but again for my sanity it is what is working right now.

We did this with DS1 and sleep trained within a week and very little problems at about 8 months. Whatever keeps you sane!!!

SunShower06 · January 2013

I'm lucky if DD naps for more than 30 minutes, but she does have some longer naps every now and then... it's pretty random. At day care she naps anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours, usually closer to 30-45 minutes though and the 3 hour nap was after her 4 month shots. For us, it honestly depends on her mood. If she's happy, we just get her up. If she's rubbing her eyes or fussy, we try to get her back down again but it doesn't always work so well. We talked to our pedi at the last appointment about naps and she said that as long as she's happy and thriving, and gets enough sleep at night, that it's fine that she takes shorter naps... some babies just don't need to nap that much. It can be frustrating, but it made me feel better when the pedi said that could just be her normal. I feel like I don't need to stress about it anymore. Oh yeah, we also can't do the putting down drowsy thing either... it rarely works.

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