Contact naps at 3 months old

Re: Contact naps at 3 months old

• complexity member

  November 2023 edited November 2023

  I don’t recommend putting him in his crib when he’s already asleep. I recommend putting him in his crib when she’s awake, but sleepy. If he usually goes to sleep in your arms, with a bottle, being rocked, or any other way, that’s the way he’ll learn to go to sleep. If that’s what you want to do for the next year or more, that’s great! But if you’d rather that he sleep quickly and quietly when you put him in his crib (when he’s sleepy), then do that. The earlier you start, the easier it is, and the less likely you’ll need to do sleep training later.
  
  I’m a grandmother raising my granddaughter from when she was 7 days old. She’s 6 months old now and it’s great that she can put herself to sleep. I wish I had known how to do it when I raised my own children! I was a nursing mom so my kids learned to fall asleep while nursing. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom. Plus, it was so hard to get them to sleep in their cribs as they got older.
  
  As a newborn, like most newborns, my granddaughter could go to sleep anywhere when she was sleepy. This time, I was better educated and made it a rule to never put her in her crib when she was already asleep. Anytime we saw that she was sleepy, we put her in her crib. For awhile, my husband would rock her to sleep, but when he put her in her crib, she would only sleep for a few minutes before waking up crying! Then it was much harder to get her to sleep. I showed him how well she went to sleep when I put her in her crib while still awake. Not only did she go to sleep that way, she also stayed asleep and got good naps and slept well at night.
  
  Now, at 6 months old, it’s great that she can put herself to sleep. It’s not only good for us, but it’s good for her! She sleeps well and we get to do our work and rest, as well.
  
  So I recommend letting your son get sleepy any way you want, but once you see that he’s sleepy, put him in his crib before he falls asleep. Use a sleep routine each time (for us, it’s change her diaper, close the door, turn off the bright lights, lay out her sleep sack in her crib, turn on her sleep music, turn on her sleep stars (projected to the ceiling), give her a pacifier, hug/rock her in our arms for a few moments, lay her down in her crib, zip up her sleep sack, softly stroke her face while quietly telling her goodnight, turn off the last light, and leave). It’s a fast sleep routine, but it tells her it’s time to go to sleep. We repeat it every time in the same order. She usually goes to sleep with little to no fussing. If she’s having a harder time, I go to her crib, give her her pacifier again, pat/stroke her face/back/arm while softly telling her goodnight again, and leave. On the few occasions that she continues to fuss, I go back at 5m, 10m, and 15m intervals (I only rarely have to go back after the 10m interval). I also installed blackout curtains on her nursery window to make sure the room was dark which I think helps her fall asleep and stay asleep longer.

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• knottiee57b9f49d3eb5c70 member

  December 2023

  Swaddling helps with transitions from body to crib. So if you know a nap is approaching, swaddle and continue with pre-nap feed or rocking to sleep.
  
  If sleep wasn’t anticipated, I have found keeping my son close to me while I position his dock a tot bed underneath him does the trick. I place it underneath his sleeping body and then sloooowly remove him from me. Any movement I pause. It takes a few minutes but I am able to transfer

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