Nap Time Woes

BGM1025 · May 2013

Hi October 2011 mamas! So I've never posted here before but I've been scouring the internet the past few days for some insight and came across The Bump message boards and thought this would be a good place to possibly get some insight.

For 18 months I rocked by son to sleep. Every nap, at nighttime, during the night. Not an ideal sleep strategy, I know, but that's what I did. He finally slept through the night at 14 months and I thought eventually we will work on the sleep thing so he can fall asleep on his own. But no, after a few months of sleeping through the night he was back to 1-3 wakes up and then in the last few months 2 wake up's before I even went to bad! Not good. At his 18 month dr. appt we discussed in great detail with the Ped and decided we needed to do CIO. We started a week ago and night time has been a breeze. The first night sucked but within a few days he lies down and there is no crying involved. And sleeps for an 11 hour stretch. The nap times have been TORTURE though. He has yet to fall asleep for a nap. I don't let him cry/fuss for anymore than an hour and he doesn't sleep. I end up getting him and we play for a bit then I take him on a walk or in the car and he's out within a few minutes. I know naps are generally tougher than night sleep but there is zero improvement. He's def. tired and I've tried adjusting the time up in the event he was overtired but it's the same thing over and over again for the last 7 days.

Sorry for the novel. Anyone have any suggestions or experienced a similar situation?

Thank you for reading!

amyc216 · May 2013

Is the only thing different now is you're putting him down to nap awake rather than rocking to sleep first?

BGM1025 · May 2013

Yes, only difference is that now instead of me rocking him to sleep and then putting him into his crib I'm now putting him in awake. No problem at bedtime - goes to sleep right away. Nap time just doesn't even happen because he cries and never falls asleep. We do use the white noise machine for nighttime and naps. I'm at a loss because nighttime has been so smooth. If there was even some improvement in naps I wouldn't be concerned but there is no improvement.

BeesMomma00 · May 2013

If you put toys in his crib, would he play? I wonder if he just needs to feel comfy there while alone?

AngLK987 · May 2013

BeesMomma00:
If you put toys in his crib, would he play? I wonder if he just needs to feel comfy there while alone?

I'd say this as well, for naptime we do the same as bedtime, just put her down and she fusses for a minute or two (5 tops) and goes to sleep at night. Sometimes at naptime for me she gives a harder time, so I put a couple books, and a few stuffed animals in her crib sometimes she'll chatter to them, or look at the book sometimes she gives up and flops on her pillow and goes to sleep. My favorite is when she wakes up in the mornings she looks at her books or plays with the toys without immediately crying for Mommy or Daddy.

BGM1025 · May 2013

Thanks for the pointers! I'm doing everything exactly the same as nighttime but I could try books or toys in the crib. His room is upstairs so I can't transfer from stroller. I guess I'll keep trying naps and hopefully it will eventually work just like night time sleep! Thanks again.

BGM1025 · May 2013

Oh and he's waking about 6:30 and I'm starting nap routine around noon with him in crib about 12:30. I tried doing earlier at 11:30 and no success with that either.

amyc216 · May 2013

BGM1025:
Oh and he's waking about 6:30 and I'm starting nap routine around noon with him in crib about 12:30. I tried doing earlier at 11:30 and no success with that either.

That sounds like a good amount of time. DS is usually not ready for nap until he's been up for about 4.5-5 hours, which usually works out to be right after lunch for us. I would just do the same routine you do for bedtime and I hope he settles in to it soon! GL!

LatteLady5 · May 2013

BeesMomma00:
If you put toys in his crib, would he play? I wonder if he just needs to feel comfy there while alone?

N gets one or two books in her crib, her dora doll, blanket and a baby doll. Sometimes she plays for awhile and sometimes she goes right to sleep. She is usually "reading" one of her books when I go in to get her after nap time.

christiney06 · May 2013

Naps are WAY harder to learn for kids than nighttime sleep. Once we started CIO, It took my son close to a month to go down for naps without crying. The Ferber book suggests putting them down later than they usually nap, so I would try to push him til 1 at least. Also, are you doing check ins? For my kids, that just made things worse and prolonged their crying. If I just left them alone, it was a much quicker process. If you're not comfortable with that, DO NOT GO IN if he's just whimpering....only if he's really worked up. Also, the book says to try to not put them in a scenario where it's easy for them to sleep, after the failed nap. So no car or stroller if possible, then you're supposed to try again in an hour. So, you go get him, play for a whole then back in he goes. Good luck! Sleep issues are tough.

BeesMomma00 · May 2013

LatteLady5:
BeesMomma00:
If you put toys in his crib, would he play? I wonder if he just needs to feel comfy there while alone?
N gets one or two books in her crib, her dora doll, blanket and a baby doll. Sometimes she plays for awhile and sometimes she goes right to sleep. She is usually "reading" one of her books when I go in to get her after nap time.

Exactly! They play longer after wake up when there are things to do in the crib. She loves her books so she usually has one or two in there for her when she wakes up.

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