Falling Asleep - Bedtime and Naps

LaurR14 · August 2014

Hi, Moms! I'm curious: Where is your LO in the "falling asleep" spectrum? My LO is 15 weeks today. We used to be able to put him down at bedtime "drowsy but awake" and he would go to sleep on his own, but for the past couple of weeks that hasn't worked. We eventually have to get him to sleep then put him down--but he still sleeps great at night.

For naps we have never been able to do "drowsy but awake." At this point he takes all of his naps in his crib, but he has to be rocked to sleep first. Then we can put him down.

So what does your LO do? Can he or she go to sleep on his or her own? Do you rock to sleep? Where does your LO nap at this point?

Have a great day, Moms!

LunaBug924 · August 2014

She's 16 weeks and it really just depends on the day. At night she falls asleep during her bottle. I BF but I give her a bottle for bedtime so that she doesn't rely on nursing to sleep. If she's not totally asleep after eating I can sometimes just put her down and she'll drift off on her own. Otherwise I rock her for a few minutes. She's been sleeping 8-10 hours overnight since about 8 weeks old, so I don't mind having her fall asleep in my arms. I enjoy those snuggles!

Naps are all over the place, but that's probably my fault. We have a routine, but I don't use the same location for naps. Selfishly, I just don't want to be a prisoner in my house because of her nap schedule, especially because right now she's a cat-napper. So we do some naps in the crib, some in the swing, the car, or out and about (when we can). Unless it's the swing or the car, I can't put her down awake. A few times she's magically fallen asleep on her play mat or in the crib, but that's not typical.

Right now, this works for us. We haven't had any overtired meltdowns in a long time a thanks to the routine. So my feeling right now is, if it's not broke, don't fix it!

Bayberry12 · August 2014

For us bed time is usually pretty good. We do a bath, nurse, then down in the PnP awake, and he falls asleep pretty quickly.

Naps are hit or miss. First nap of the day is in his crib and he puts himself to sleep, but after that it's a free for all. He'll sleep in the Bjorne, the swing, on me....and he usually has to rocked to sleep. Naps are hard, but I'm trying to work on a routine.

QOTR · August 2014

Sleeping has gone to shit. For naps, he USED to go to sleep on his own in the swing. At night, it was a mix of him falling asleep while nursing and being put in the crib or placing him in his crib awake but sleepy and he would go on his own. There were also times when we'd have to do the 5 Ss to get him down, but those nights were less frequent. Now, it seems that every sleep session requires work. I'm hoping it is a phase. He has all the signs of being overtired, so I'm doing anything to encourage him to get and stay asleep.

hatrats · August 2014

She sleeps like a rockstar at night, but naps are awful (probably my fault for not having a better routine). I put her in her RnP awake at night, and generally have to go back in to put her paci back in her mouth, but aside from that she will lay there quietly until she falls asleep, and then sleeps all night.

Naps... are totally unpredictable and short. If she has one, she will fall asleep in her swing for about 30 minutes. She often falls asleep while nursing at random times during the day, but then if I try to burp her or move her anywhere, she's wide awake. I dread when we move her to her crib since she does not want to sleep in there at all. I also dread next week when she starts day care. Hopefully she will get into a better routine, but I feel bad for her day care lady that I don't have her on a better schedule already.

spacepotatoes · August 2014

13.5 weeks. At bedtime, LO falls asleep nursing. If she does wake up, it's not hard anymore to get her back down quickly.

For naps, she will only fall asleep if bounced and will not stay asleep if we put her down. We're trying to get her to sleep in the PnP but no luck.

purtz · August 2014

DS is 13 weeks old and we've spoiled him-- we always rock him or I nurse him to sleep and put him down asleep.... Swing or car seat for naps, always the crib for bedtime.

I have a few more weeks of leave, so I have just diligently started to work the transition to his crib for naps and putting him down drowsy but awake. Baby steps here. He is breaking out of his swaddle, so we are working to remove that at the same time. God help us all!

gutsysneakers · August 2014

DD is 14 weeks old and we stopped swaddling around 3-4 weeks. Last week, she was sleeping from 8:30pm - 6:00am every night - no waking up. It was amazing. I would nurse her to sleep and then put her in her crib. Before that, she'd wake up up around 4 am for MOTN session and then back down. We've always gotten a consistent 5-6 hour stretch since she was 2-3 weeks old.

I think she's going through a growth spurt now. The last three nights, she's been waking up between 2am-4am for a MOTN feed and then back to bed until 6/7am. The last three nights, I've also put her in her crib drowsy since she hasn't been falling asleep at the breast.

Naps: MIL has been putting her in her crib and she puts herself to sleep; however, she is a terrible napper. She usually naps for 30-45 min 2-3x during the day and then takes one 3-4 nap sometime during the week. When I was home with her, I usually nursed her to sleep for naps.

Edit: words are hard

hatrats · August 2014

@mary97 I definitely need to get her more used to sleeping on a flat surface. I plan on that this week. At first, I had been putting her in her crib for a nap during the day, but she just screamed and cried the whole time. I think she only actually fell asleep once. I finally caved and stopped doing it. I think now that she is older and more capable of self-soothing, it is time to do that again. How long is it OK to leave them in the crib for a nap if they are crying?

usernewname · August 2014

DS nurses to sleep at night, sometimes will wake back up, but a boob in the mouth will make him pass out again. He will fall asleep on his own if he is adequately full, he likes to fill right up before bed. When he wakes up at night its nursing and passing out again.

Naps. Sometimes nursing. Mostly carrying. Sometimes in the stroller. Not so much in the car. Its all over the place. He will either wake right back up or within a few minutes if I put him down.

lrmrtn · August 2014

DS usually falls asleep while eating at night. For naps, it really depends. He'll almost always eventually fall asleep on his own in the swing. Sometimes he'll fall asleep on his own in the crib or bouncy chair, sometimes not. He won't sleep other than 10 minute cat naps if he's not swaddled unless he's in the car.

Kinipela7 · August 2014

DD fights naps so hard! I've been putting her down in the crib, turn the mobile on, walk out of the room and pray that she falls asleep. Sometimes she will after 5 minutes, sometimes she just gets pissed and then I have to go and get her.

Night time is better. We start the routine at 6:45. I give her a bath, DH changes her into her PJ's, I nurse her and if she doesn't fall asleep (which is rare these days) then DH will walk her until she falls asleep which usually involves her screaming in his face for 5-10 minutes.

haylo33 · August 2014

At night we put him down tired but awake. Naps he gets really fussy when he is tired so most times he needs rocked to sleep

yepyepsms · August 2014

I still have to assist her to sleep via nursing/boob in mouth or motion. Daycare bounces her in a seat. We stopped swaddling a couple weeks ago and also transitioned to the crib. Naps are in the crib, on the go in the car or while being worn. Sometimes I take a nap with her in our bed.

burtonsbaby · August 2014

Night time we follow a routine of bath, lotion, into the magic sleepsuit then nurse and he is really calm and goes down drowsy pretty easy. Naps were tougher. We just started using Magic Sleepsuit for naps as well and he seems to have a nice smile like he knows is time to sleep and he has been napping much better now. Hopefully this will continue!

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