nap training

hilsy85 · December 2013

So after LO (13 months) not napping at all yesterday, I started nap training today. He had been nursing to sleep and then staying asleep during the transfer to the crib but that stopped working. So I am doing CIO with checks right now. Question, he keeps throwing his lovey over the crib as soon as I walk out. Do I keep giving it back to him? It seems mean to not give it back but I feel like it's a game to him now...

hilsy85 · December 2013

angelacz87 said:

If I hear L throw things out, I usually just leave them, because I know that for her, that's her last ditch effort to resist bedtime. If he does it every time... I dunno, I guess I'd give it back once, then let it lay?

Thanks! I ended up going in 3 times for checks, gave it back each time, and then after another 10 minutes of screaming he lay down and went to sleep without it...! I am SHOCKED.

Wally3 · December 2013

Good Job - I was going to say hand it back when you go in at your check time.

lady dixneuf · December 2013

it is my experience that going back in, handing back loveys, etc. only extends the battle.

I am always shocked at how fast he'll go down when I just leave the room.

hilsy85 · December 2013

lady dixneuf said:

it is my experience that going back in, handing back loveys, etc. only extends the battle.
I am always shocked at how fast he'll go down when I just leave the room.

SERIOUSLY. For his 2nd nap, it took SIX minutes and he was out, with the lovey on the floor. I was amazed. And he then slept an hour and 15 min. Incredible.

pb_bride · December 2013

Glad to hear it's going well!

DS throws his lovey out before I leave his room, and I don't replace it. (If I do, he'll just throw it out again.) This is for naps.

At night, DH does his bedtime routine and he throws the lovey back into the bed before he leaves the room. But it's dark and DH tosses it at a corner, so DS usually just leaves it alone.

hilsy85 · December 2013

He actually fell asleep with his lovey IN his crib for his first nap today--after ONE MINUTE of whining. This is amazing.

@pb_bride: I actually meant to ask you--how is your transition to whole milk/weaning nursing sessions going?? We are still not drinking any thing but breastmilk over here, and he now won't even take it out of a straw cup/bottle! The whole nap training thing is part of my plan to start weaning off the 2 pre nap sessions some time in Jan I think.

LorMor · December 2013

Well done! It sounds like you're sorted. But I just wanted to say that we went from rocking T to sleep for naps to pushing her in her stroller. She lies flat and we just pace around the garden under the trees. I listen to podcasts and it's a lovely peaceful part of my day. She goes to sleep very quickly and then I put her down in her crib. No more back pain from rocking her to sleep!

pb_bride · December 2013

@hilsy85, it's going fine, better than you I guess! DS surprised me by liking WCM (straight up, from the fridge) from his sippy cup. And I didn't have to deal with the nursing to nap/sleep problem.

1 week after he turned 1, I dropped him from 4x/d -> 3x/d (dropped the session before 1st nap). On the same day, I started WCM, first only 2oz/day, but gradually upped it to 4-6oz/day. I started slow b/c I was worried about lactose intolerance and/or constipation. He's tolerating it well and some days he'll drink as much as 8oz/day.

He is 13m today. 2 days ago I dropped him to 2x/day, by dropping the bedtime one. Now I BF him at wake-up, and I moved the 2nd session to after his 2nd nap, around 4pm'ish. I originally was going to do wake-up/bedtime, but the bedtime doesn't work well for my schedule, as I go out to concerts in the evenings so I won't be around for the bedtime feed.

Not sure if DS is tolerating this drop that well, however. He's having a super clingy phase right now, as in, "I have to cling to mama's leg every.single.second." I don't know if he's doing this b/c of the dropped session, or if it were going to happen no matter what.

Have you tried mixing BM with WCM and see if your LO will take it? That was my Plan B if DS refused WCM. I have a small stash of frozen BM for emergency. Hope your transition gets easier!

pb_bride · December 2013

@LauraT25, I think the Ferber book says to give up after 30 minutes. I got the book from the library when we did sleep training, and I must say, the book is excellent (lots of info about babies' sleep in general) so I highly recommend you get the book.

Having said that, we trained DS early on. Back then, it was only 1 kind of crying he did, and it was bearable. Nowadays, when DS cries, he does the hysterical, screaming cry like someone is torturing him. His cries now is so much worse than when he was younger!

hilsy85 · December 2013

@LauraT25 I found naps to be way harder than night time because he's not as tired during the day, and we're on 2 naps so I had to do it twice! That being said, he has done AMAZINGLY--no crying at all for the last 2 naps we've done. Which tells me he was ready for it. Have you tried doing it recently? She might take to it better now than she did before. I also HIGHLY recommend reading Ferber's book "Solve your child's sleep problems". It has so much great info and is just interesting in terms of the science behind infant sleep, regardless of whether you use his method.

@pb_bride glad it's going well!! That's great that he likes it. My LO will take a few sips here or there but there's no way he'll drink a whole 3oz in one sitting. I was thinking to try mixing it (even pumped a bit to try!) but then he wouldn't even take straight breastmilk out of a bottle/straw cup, so I feel like there's no way he'd take mixed. It might be that he would take it from my DH or someone that's not me, but it's tough to try that when I'm the one with him all day! Now that we've nap trained and broken the nurse to sleep association I feel much calmer about it--that was really my main concern, since he eats plenty of yogurt/cheese and gets dairy that way.

pb_bride · December 2013

@hilsy85, since your LO is eating cheese and yogurt, and still BFing, I don't think you really need to push WCM on him. My son also refused the bottle since he was 4 months, but luckily he does take BM/WCM in a sippy cup. I'm sure you've tried everything... I put milk in a different sippy than his water sippy cup, so the 2 looks totally different. Have you tried offering WCM with meals? DS drinks more WCM with meals than if offered separately. Anyhow, my son won't eat cheese as-is (only form he'll eat is melted on bread), and the past 2 weeks he has been refusing yogurt, so I need to push WCM on him.

Want a personalized experience?

nap training

Re: nap training

Choose Another Board

Search Boards