The non existant nap time

MeggsM · August 2014

Hi ladies,

So I know a lot of us are having nap time troubles with our LOs. If your LO is not sleeping what do you do with them? Do you make them take a rest in their crib or go on with your day and try again later? I know with some of the CIO ish methods we have going on the board they eventually fall asleep but if you are a rocker/ other method what do you do if they don't sleep? Rock until they sleep?

Thanks in advance from a super exhausted mother.

Edit: autocorrect

jrw526 · August 2014

On days she won't go down easily or wakes up after 20 minutes, I wear her. I can usually get a 2 hour nap out her when she's in the carrier.

angelsnight · August 2014

My LO sleeps great at night, but is not a good napper. She'll fall asleep in my arms, but will wake as soon as I put her down. So for her noon nap I put her in her swing and just let the sleep creep up on her. When I can tell she is getting close I'll give her a paci and her lovey and she's usually out.

Her 3pm nap is when I usually take a break, lay down with her to watch TV and let her fall asleep and stay asleep on me. I'd love to be able to put her in her crib for naps, but a nap in the swing/my arms is better than nothing.

lindsey1031 · August 2014

I also wear baby when he won't go down for a nap. He will be asleep within 30 mins. As soon as he starts to look like he's not going to make it another minute, I take him to his room and sway a little until his eyes start to close. Then I put him down.

Sometimes we go back out and play for another 45 mins and then I try again. On particularly difficult days, I nurse to sleep

novelblessings · August 2014

For me it depends. If I have things I need to get done I will go about my day and say screw it. I'll carry her if at home or she just passes out in the car when running errands.

If I have nothing planned I hold her and pat her back until she goes to sleep; rocking doesn't work for her. A lot of times I will let her sleep on me or wait a bit and try to set her down. She still won't nap in her crib so I don't even try because she's horrible at napping and I'd rather she just sleep instead of worry about where.

I'm sure once I decide to make the crib transition for naps I will have to let her CIO. That is the only way we got her to sleep there at night and believe me I tried everything else because I didn't want to do it.

fish8412 · August 2014

My LO has trouble napping as well. If I can't rock her to sleep, then I will read a few books, but keep the room dark and quiet. If that doesn't work, then I will take her out on the front porch and just rock her. If that doesn't work, then I either give up and let her play or go on a car ride. If it gets towards 3pm and LO hasn't napped at all, then I will just let her nap on me. Like someone else said, if she doesn't nap at all, then she is wired and getting her to bed at night is horrible. I wonder if this is just a phase or how LO is.

Hays0770 · August 2014

buckle in the swing and hope for the best

i have noticed that this is starting to happen for our 3rd nap quite frequently and it was brought up somewhere that she may be ready to drop that nap (23 wks old)

MeggsM · August 2014

Thanks ladies. In my sleep deprived state I totally forgot about wearing baby!

I was also thinking that LO might e trying to drop a nap. Previously she was napping every 1-1.5 hrs now it's more like every 2 hours. But she still gets tired at the same time and will go down for 30 -45 minutes when she obviosusly needs a longer nap.

Yesterday she did 2.5 hrs in the morning and two 30 minutes the rest if the day. Needless to say night time was a disaster.

Thanks for your help all!

mfarmer0811 · August 2014

lindsey1031 said:
I also wear baby when he won't go down for a nap. He will be asleep within 30 mins. As soon as he starts to look like he's not going to make it another minute, I take him to his room and sway a little until his eyes start to close. Then I put him down.

Sometimes we go back out and play for another 45 mins and then I try again. On particularly difficult days, I nurse to sleep

This exactly!

kimberpoo · August 2014

I definitely don't do CIO. What works for us is when he's sleepy or when he usually takes a nap is right around feeding time, so I'll warm up a bottle or nurse while keeping it quiet and sitting on the couch. usually he will pass right out for 40 mins or so. if he doesn't but I can tell he is tired, I'll pop in a pacifier after he eats and walk into his room and rock/bounce him in my arms until he passes out. it takes a few minutes and he might fuss a bit, but that usually works. I'll then either put him in his swing if he's really out or just let him sleep on me while I watch tv on the couch. If things are just hopeless and he's wide awake, I'll put him in his stroller (carseat clip-in travel system kind) and we will go for a long walk.

mfarmer0811 · August 2014

This is my current no nap situation. Going on day two of only ONE 30 minute nap!!! I've tried absolutely everything I can think of am at a loss and just so incredibly exhausted!!!!!!

MeggsM · August 2014

So the only way she napped today was on me or after a loooooong walk. Ugh dreading tonight. Thanks for the ideas! I'll keep them in my arsenal:)

theluckiest9 · August 2014

She was getting super fussy every night at her evening nap to the point where she wouldn't sleep - just scream. We'd pick her up and she'd be back to happy. We dropped that nap and have been doing better ever since. Now she just does a morning nap around 10ish and her afternoon nap is 2ish. Her naps are usually a couple hrs long each.

SurpriseAt39 · August 2014

My little dude is an inconsistent napper. I'd day about every third day he and his big brother both have a 2-ish hour nap.

Normally LO naps 20-50 minutes, sometimes on me, sometimes on the floor.
I nurse til he's asleep. I can tell if he is going to wake up if I lay him down, so those days I just hold him as long as he sleeps.

Occasionally I put him in my wrap and we go for a walk, or he sleeps in the carseat while I do my shopping... But with a toddler at home we don't always get what we want.

He is generally pleasant even without a nap, but sometimes goes to bed early.

mommyginab · August 2014

DS4 is also very inconsistent with napping. Usually he wakes at 5 when I'm getting DH and now my older boys up for school, then he'll stay up for a couple of hours, then first nap is pretty much the longest of the day, around 2 hours, so that is when I get all my laundry, dishes, etc. done. After that, it's up for an hour and a half to two hours, nap for an hour, repeat until 8ish, then its bedtime.

But here lately, usually every third day after above napping schedule, he will completely switch up and stay up for like 4 hours then take a 2-3 hour nap in the middle of the day, then stay up til bedtime.

But to answer your question if he won't go down, then I just either hold him until he does, or if he's groggy, I put him in his bed and give him his paci. That usually does the trick. Sometimes he'll 'talk' to himself for a while, then fall asleep on his own. I haven't the heart to let him CIO. I did that with my first 2 and now I regret it.

sopranoali · August 2014

I wear her in the ergo baby. Takes 5 minutes and she is asleep.

aghamme · August 2014

I've found that I need to catch my DS at the right moment to get him to nap. Too early and he won't settle, too late and he's over tired. It's a pretty small window so I watch him closely for yawns, rubbing eyes, or this squawk he does. He takes a 40 minute nap about 20-40 minutes after every feeding. His 3:00(ish) nap is the hardest so I'm going to try feeding him and putting him down right away instead of trying to play for a while. I've found that when he sleeps well during the day he sleeps so much better at night (even though he still wakes every 2.5-3 hrs).

Working towards a schedule has really helped us. We still do everything on demand, but he's falling into something that's fairly perfectible. I'm working part time and my mom takes care of him while I'm gone. She's much better at seeing the signs and keeping to the schedule then I am!

mommyginab · August 2014

@babycaps-

babycaps said:
@mommyginab‌ can I ask what it is that you regret about CIO? I am just curious. MOST of my friends did the "real CIO" anywhere between 4-10 months and they don't understand why I had such a hard time doing a mild CIO! Our evening nap is getting harder and harder and I really don't want to CIO for it but he so desperately needs that nap! It really makes a big difference for bedtime!

Sorry for the long response. Many kids.lol. First, I'll do a small intro. I have 4 boys total, I had my first when I was 21, second at 23. I was a new mom, and I was basically just overwhelmed and exhausted. At the time, DH wasn't very helpful, partially due to working graveyard shift, and just being clueless at how to comfort our sons. So, instead of just being more patient, I took it upon myself to let them CIO.
Then, along came DS3 2 years later, and he coslept with us, and I could tell the difference after they all got older. DS3 is much more closer to me than any of my older boys, and he's 9. My older 2, whom are 11 & 13, seem t always distance themselves and are more independent (which is a positive, but it makes me feel unwanted, I guess lol). Now that I'm older, more patient and experienced, I am not going the CIO way. I'm not knocking it, b/c it does work, but in my experiences, I choose not to. DS4 does NOT STTN, and he's 22 weeks. I am exhausted most days, but at least I know that he's happy and hasn't been screaming all night. This can't last forever, right?

lwebley · August 2014

Our non existent napping got out of control around 4 1/2 months. We now put him down in his crib for x2 naps a day. He sometimes fusses for a few minutes but goes to sleep shortly after putting him down. Our days were miserable since he was so exhausted. Now he's so much happier.

* Wanted to add that we did not use CIO either. We just made the room dark, turned on the fan for white noise, and put him in his crib when we noticed he started showing signs of being tired (rubbing his eyes and fussing a bit).

lwebley · August 2014

@babycaps the first couple times we put him in his crib to nap he was really fussy since he was over tired. I set the timer for 3 minutes and decided if he really cried I'd go in before that to console him. I watched him like a hawk on the monitor;) He always ended up comforting himself before I needed to go in. Since he never really cried or was distraught I wouldn't call it CIO, but his fussing alone was enough to break my heart.

Edited: spelling (I need to go to sleep;)

BethRN1987 · August 2014

Naps were crappy for me and Sherrol ( nanny) but Chris always had good success. So now we are trying to get on a 9a and 1p nap schedule in the crib doing Chris' method.

She still naps great for him. So so but in the crib for me and today was Sherrol first day back with her and it didn't go as great but I think Sloan realizes she will give in to her where Chris def doesn't and I'm getting better about it.

Our nap routine is as soon as she yawns or rubs eyes. Diaper change - swaddle- rock until drowsy and down in crib with binky ( and blanket). White noise and fan on.

We use magic sleep suit at night time and do a bath and lotion. So there is a difference between nap versus bedtime

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