Project Nap-On-Her-Own
CadyCupcake posted 22 weeks 8 hours ago —
Cady is a great sleeper. We started swaddling her at night around 4 weeks of age. Since then she has consistently slept through the night. When we finally stopped swaddling, she didn’t even skip a beat and still slept through the night. She goes to bed around 7:30 every night and I usually don’t have to get her out of her crib until 7 or 8 in the morning.
We have been extremely lucky.
Over the last few weeks we have been rocking her less and less at night. We started rocking her to the point of drowsy and then putting her down. We are now to the point where, at night, she can be put down in her crib right after her cup of formula is done and she falls asleep on her own. No rocking.
Once again, extremely lucky.
Naps are a different story.
She takes a one nap a day about an hour after lunch time. I always have to rock her to sleep for the nap. All the way to sleep. Every day. Every nap. Rocking to sleep.
So I’m sure you know where this going. It has to stop. She has to learn to nap on her own.
So as the title says, Project Nap-On-Her-Own is underway officially.
We went into her room with her pillow and her paci about 30 minutes before her nap. We read a couple of books and rocked while we read. Still awake, I put her in her crib. We are 15 minutes in and she is standing in her crib screaming.
Someone tell me this is going to work. Tell me that a day or two of this is going to make her fall asleep on her own.
I know she can do it. She obviously does it at night. What makes the day different.
I will tell you that not all kids are nappers. My first son was a terrific napper and slept at night as well. He would sleep sometimes four-hour naps, and then sleep at night. He didn't always do that, of course, but he would take two naps a day for at least an hour each.
My youngest son, however, didn't require naps. He just would not sleep. So, what I had him do is to at least lay on his bed with a book with no noise, no talking, nothing. At least, that gave him some rest time and Mom some quiet time! To this day, he likes to read in bed before he goes to sleep and he's 11 years old.
So, be patient. Be consistent. And most of all, just love them! :0
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Hi. I hope you don't mind a comment from a total stranger, but I saw your post on the list at right on the home page on the MomBlogs, and I couldn't resist reading it. I have two babies, and our first was extremely challenging in the sleep department. Our second has turned out to be similar, but with him, we've been more proactive. (He's five months old now.) I don't know how old your baby is, but since she's standing in the crib, I'm guessing she's in the second half of her first year? Anyway, because we had so many issues with our kids' sleep, I'm pretty well read on the topic and pretty well experienced. I can tell you that science has shown that daytime sleep and nighttime sleep are handled in different parts of the brain. So, it's not at all unusual that she has mastered one and not the other. You are right, however, that her ability to sleep at night is evidence she should be able to do it during the daytime, too. The typical problem with daytime issues is mistimed naps. In the second half of the first year, most babies need to be put back in the crib about 2 or 2.5 hours after waking, allowed an hour to sleep (or try to sleep), and then put back down for another nap 2 to 3 hours after waking. Usually, if a baby has a whole lot of trouble settling, it's a matter of having waited a little too long to put her down. (Even waiting 15 or 20 minutes too long can cause trouble.) Really, even though scheduling was not our only problem with each of our kids, it was THE most important factor aside from their temperaments!
I'm just floating this comment to you out there as an idea. I know how annoying and tiring it can get to get sleep advice, because there's so much variety in the advice. I'm just very sympathetic and thought maybe I could help. Best wishes for success for your sweetie (and you)!
One more thing: Both our kids would nap only in a verrrrry dark room (can barely see your hand in front of your face) with a white-noise machine. Environment makes a huge difference, too!