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nap training?
DD is an epic disaster when it comes to naps. At daycare she usually doesn't sleep more than 30 mins a few times a day and she requires being rocked to sleep (and she often wakes when you put her down).
We successfully sleep-trained her at night a few weeks ago and she is pretty good about getting herself to sleep then, so I don't understand why naps are so awful. I have tried to just let her fuss it out for naps on the weekends, but she gets so worked up and can't settle herself down. And many times it takes so long to get her to fall asleep (rocking several times, put down asleep, wake up, freak out, rinse/repeat), and then she will only sleep for 30 minutes. It doesn't seem worth it at times when it takes longer for her to fall asleep then she actually sleeps. I try to offer naps often and really pay close attention to her cues when we are together. Many times I will time errands when she starts to get tired in hopes that she will fall asleep in the car and stay asleep while we are out. But I really need her to sleep at home! and without needing me or DH!
Did anyone have a crappy napper that they were able to successfully train to fall asleep on their own? Or were you able to stretch naps if you had a cat napper? I wouldn't mind rocking to sleep if it meant a decent stretch of sleep for her and it wouldn't take 45 mins-1 hour to get her to fall asleep. And I do realize rocking to sleep is creating a sleep association, but I am desperate. We are together for 2 full days and by Sunday afternoon most weekends I soooo ready to go back to work to get a break. DH and I work together with her, but many times we are tag-teaming so that one person gets to shower, eat, do chores, etc. She is very needy and doesn't tolerate being put down for very long (and is worse about it with me vs DH)...and this is exacerbated when she is tired. We end up wearing her around the house and she will sometimes fall asleep in the Ergo, but then I can't do much of anything or she will wake up. Girlfriend used to be able to sleep through anything and now she is so sensitive to noise, which is why I think she wakes up sooner. There is always someone crying at daycare and at home I have accidently woken her up by running the garbage disposal or shutting a door/cabinet too hard. She has white noise in her room but it doesn't block everything.
I feel so insensitive and mean about this but I am losing my mind. We sleep-trained earlier than planned because bedtime was a 3-hour process and it was starting to affect mine and H's time together without her (which was minimal because it didn't start until 10pm most nights and by then we were exhausted and in bed).
I start my spring break next week and I'm thinking of trying to sleep-train for naps but I am not sure what to do. Ferber's book said to give up on the nap after 30 minutes of attempts.
Re: nap training?
Honestly daycare made Reid a better napper. He was a 45 minute napper and they turned him into 2+ hours.
Are you sure she is tired? Are you trying too late to put her down (already cranky and overtired)? Watching her and not the clock for nap times?
Does daycare have white noise or music? Does she have some lovely to fall asleep with? Is the room dark? Blackout curtains? Maybe a night light?
If I were you.. I would rock her to almost asleep... as soon as her eyes close... I would place her in her crib and shush, pat, sing and rub away till she fell asleep. If she gets really worked up.. I would pick her up and repeat. Wait longer each time to pick her up. Basically sleep train again. Do what worked for your for night times.
Not sure if that is really any help at all...
Take my response FWIW because we did no sleep training and DS (~16 months) was only in daycare for 2 weeks when he was 7 months and has been at home with a babysitter who (drumroll) rocks him to sleep.
That being said, at the age your DD is, it's anything goes. Some people get a good napper, some don't. Some have great sleepers for months and then they regress. I have heard that usually naps improve at daycare. Maybe it's just a rough patch.
And it never worked for us - the quasi-asleep-put-in-crib thing. As soon as we put him down, he'd bolt upright and we'd have to rinse/repeat. I feel your pain. It's hard to see the light at the end, but it doesn't last forever.
Oliver was a horrible napper at daycare for the first year, then he did really well. At home we do blackout curtains & a fan to block out noise. We also started a routine before naps (kind of like bedtime but shorter..2-3 books and a song or two). Your LO is still little but you could try starting a little routine...?
sorry you're haig a hard time. I know it can be frustrating. We currently have a 2 month old who fights all sleep....cant wait to see what he's like in a few months
Thanks for the reassurance that I'm not the only one!
She was napping 2-3 hours at daycare until she hit 4 months. Then naps went to hell in a hand basket.
I may look into blackout shades for home.
At daycare she is in a dark corner of the room, away from the other babies, white noise, you name it. Apparently there is one baby boy who cries a lot and loud and he wakes her up constantly.
I wouldn't care so much if she wasn't such a hot mess from the time I pick her up until the time she goes to bed.
Well, some babies never get used to sleeping in a noisy place. My 18 month old would certainly wake up if a baby was crying near her.
I don't sleep train, at least beyond no-cry, gentle stuff, so I can't speak to anything else, but I rock or nurse to all sleep times until they are weaned. After that we slowly transitioned, but I mean slowly. DD1 still got worn down to naps until she was almost 3 - but I had the time and it was worth it to me. I know everyone doesn't. She started putting herself to sleep at night a little past 2.
DD2, like I said, is nursed and rocked for nap and bed and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. I don't think being rocked to sleep is a bad thing, it works. Why would I fix something that's broken?
DD2 was a great sleeper, day & night, until 4 months. Since then the sleep disruptions have been non stop - between teeth, development, etc. So, no, you aren't alone. You never are.
Have you googled or read about 45 minute intruder? That's a common thing in naps - they get woken up when moving from one sleep cycle to the next.
I'm trying to brainstorm here and getting a little scattered, sorry - what is the daytime routine? Are you trying a 2-3-4 routine for naps? Is she not tired when they put her down? Too tired? DD2 was usually taking 2 naps at 5 months, but I know a 6 month old who still takes 3-4 naps. Is she getting enough night time sleep?
I have read about the sleep cycles.
At daycare, they don't seem to have trouble getting her to sleep (or at least that's what they tell me)...it's staying asleep that's the problem. They do rock her to sleep there, but her eyes often pop open when they put her down.
At home, we often have the opposite problem...she fights going to sleep for what seems like forever and then will wear herself out fighting and crash. But then she will wake up 30 mins later. I wouldn't mind rocking her to sleep every time if it wasn't a 45-minute fight. But nap time on the weekends often makes me wish I was back at work...and I hate that I feel that way, but I do. Mom of the year.
I'm not sure what the daytime routine is at daycare. I think they offer naps when she starts to show tired cues - I don't they definitely don't watch the clock because her nap times are all over the place.
At home I have been trying the 2-3-4 routine but she needs more than 2 naps often and closer together because her naps are so brief. She sleeps 12 hours at night, with one wake-up to nurse. We usually start to keep a close eye on her around 1.5 hours of awake time and at the first eye rub, we take her upstairs to the glider.
It's hard to get any kind of consistency because she's my only kid and I have the ability to watch her every move, and they don't have that ability at daycare with all of the other (needy) babies.
I just feel like she is tired all the time and we can't figure out what will help her sleep longer. And she's stubborn like her parents.
DD1 was a terrible napper and super needy and high maintanence so I understand the exhaustion you are going through. She took cap naps of 15-30 minutes until about 4 months, no matter what techniques or environment changes I tried.
Around 4 months she went to a babysitter and they got her napping, after rocking to sleep, in her carseat, for about 45 mintues twice a day. From there I kept trying the crib but would let her take at least one "good" nap in her carseat each day until she got more and more used to her crib.
We did let her CIO, although with frequent check ins ala Ferber and she got it pretty quickly. I tried every no cry option out there but she got more frustrated that I was there with her and not picking her up and her crying was worse than if I just left the room.
If I were you Id do a CIO sleep training type thing in the crib since thats where you eventually want her. But I know some people are not supportive of that method.
Our 7.5 month old doesn't really nap either. She's been sleeping great at night but doesn't do much more than cat nap during the day.
She seems to do ok on it actually so I don't worry too much. It makes getting house work done pretty tough and it can be tiring, but if she gets cranky I can normally get her to take a quick cat nap and then she's fine.
I'm home with her so no daycare to either help or hinder naps!