October 2016 Moms

Wake to Sleep

Has anyone had success using the "Wake to Sleep" method (from Baby Whisperer book)for chronic cap nappers? I haven't read the book myself but followed the basic instructions through advice on other online forums. 

My LO takes a "crap nap" every morning of only 35-45 minutes. This morning I tried gently rubbing his face til he gave a sigh 24 min into his nap and hoped he went into another light sleep, but he still woke up at 40min. 

Any advice or input with this method? TIA!

Re: Wake to Sleep

  • I have never heard of that method. My LO only took 30 min naps until she turned 6 months. Then she started stretching them out. But since we've done sleep training (cio), she's been able to stretch them to 1.5/2 hrs on her own. 
  • This method makes sense in my head lol. Basically for babies that wake and can't get themselves back to sleep and take short naps and/or habitually wake up at a certain time every night (my LO) you are supposed to go in and gently touch them (stroke face, tickle feet, etc) just enough for them to twitch, sigh, etc. You do this 1 hr before they habitually wake at night or 25 min into a nap. This takes them out of a deep sleep and into a new sleep cycle and hopefully this will break their cycle of waking up. You do it a few days.

    Well I did this but only 1x and it didn't work lol. I was hoping there would be some mamas that had this method figured out. 
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  • I don't know much about this method, but I DO know that babies already spend half of their sleep cycle in REM sleep, so I'm inclined to believe that disrupting their cycles this early on could inhibit how much deep sleep they are getting, which could actually turn out counterproductively.
    I also know that infant wakefulness has consistently been linked to excessive parental involvement in sleep-related interactions with their infant (Sadeh, 2008). 

    I wouldn't worry much about trying to train and control nap times personally, bedtime however, I fully advocate for sleep training. 

    Regardless, to each their own :) Best of luck to you in whatever you choose to do!

  • I'm not familiar with the method you are talking about but this is Elias's problem too. He can't make it past his first sleep cycle. It's our fault though because we've always intervened and he doesn't know how to fall asleep on his own. The daytime naps don't really bother me though. We've become accustomed to them. The nighttime wakings are starting to take a toll on me. I'm currently working on getting rid of his night nursing sessions so that I can sleep train. 

    Hope you find a way to get a better sleeper! :)



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