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xp: does nap time get better w/age?

RubyEggiRubyEggi member
in Toddlers: 24 Months+

for almost every single nap -- i have to lay dd in our bed and lay w/her...usually w/a bottle until she falls asleep (or rock her w/a bottle) and then transfer her to her crib. lately she has been fighting me SO hard at nap time and i know she is tired. i tried putting her down earlier and later and she still fights me. it's a battle twice a day. =(

just wondering if she will eventually just go to sleep on her own? how did your dc transition to putting themself to sleep. any tips? tia!!
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Re: xp: does nap time get better w/age?

  • mrscolleton2bmrscolleton2b member
    I would try the CIO method. But I am a big believer in that. Personally it has worked well for me. Worth giving it a shot?
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  • brightningbrightning member

    It took a very long time - DD was about 16 mos before she started putting herself to sleep. I never tried CIO because it's not my temperament, but I tried a lot of different things and nothing seemed to work. One day, it just kind of "clicked" for her - I think it was just her time to start putting herself to sleep.

    I can say that sitting in her room while she was in her crib did NOT work. We tried it every night for over a week and she was absolutely hysterical. Now that she's older, a bedtime routine works wonders but it didn't seem to make a difference when she was your DD's age.

    When DD was about 12/13 mos, she also started really fighting naps. It would take 1-2 hours to put her to sleep for naps, and 2+ hours at night. This went on for over a month. Finally I figured out she was trying to drop her AM nap. So we gradually moved back the first nap, and it got shorter and shorter. Now she takes one long afternoon nap only.

    Hopefully your process will be much shorter! I really feel if I had tried dropping one of her naps earlier, the whole process would not have been so drawn out (and exhausting).

     

     

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  • Mrs. NicolianMrs. Nicolian
    I started "training" my son when he was still a newborn so this has never been an issue for us. To me, it sounds like you need to start breaking the habit of the bottle and rocking putting her to sleep. I don't know how you would do that without letting her CIO at least a little. Good luck!
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  • MrsAmersMrsAmers

    DD was able to fall asleep on her own at bedtime around 10.5 months.  We never did CIO or sleep training, that was finally the age I was able to put her down "drowsy but awake" and she went to sleep on her own.  I think she fussed and whimpered for a few minutes, but there wasn't any screaming or hard crying involved.

    A month or two after we had that bedtime routine in place we were able to do the same thing for naps.  Sometime she would still nurse before naps, but she wouldn't fall totally asleep in my arms, just get drowsy.

    We still have periods when she fights bedtime and naptime (usually during developmental spurts or teething), but they are just phases, and it usually just involves some extra rocking and comforting to get her through. 

    Heather Margaret --- Feb '07 and Todd Eldon --- April '09
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  • JulieandBenJulieandBen member

    I never had that problem with Jack. Not even when he was a baby. I hope it gets easier for you.

     If you are open to it, I would try CIO. Your daughter is old enough to go down on her own without a bottle. Besides a bottle of milk before going to sleep is bad for her teeth unless you are brushing after the bottle before she falls asleep. I would start a routine with a couple books during her bottle, brushing or at least having her drink water to clear the milk from her mouth, night night time and leave the room.
     

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  • JulieandBenJulieandBen member
    I have a friend who's son is almost 30months and she still lays down with him at nap time and bed time. She says he'll only be her baby once and she's ok with it. If you are ok with it then do what makes you happy. If not then do as the other posters suggested.
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  • snickerdoodle27snickerdoodle27
    Yes, but we started really early with ds, like when he was 4 months old. By 6 months he was able to nap on his own, w/o me having to go in and coax him back to sleep. I read "Good Night Sleep Tight" by Kim West, it has some good advice in it. I would put him down drowsy but awake. If he didn't fall asleep I'd go in and rub his back, but try not to pick her up. She may fight it and you'll deal with some tears, but it WILL get better!
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