Cio For Naps?

As it is, our girls only nap for 30 minutes maximum per nap. They end up napping 4 times per day because of their short naps. The problem is though, they have a hard time getting to sleep for their short catnap. When we put them down to bed at night, they don't fuss at all and fall asleep right away. But for naps, they need to be rocked, or shhhhhh'd or patted or whatever. The one that takes the soother will go down quicker but the one who doesn't take a soother may take up to 15 minutes before she falls alseep. I am certain that I am catching them when they are tired (sometimes after only being awake for 1.5-2hrs). I am not a big fan of the CIO method and they are only 5 months + 1 week old. Everyone tells me that I should let them CIO or use "tough love". I am not sure if I am ready for that yet - or if I will ever be.

Any suggestions on what else to do to help them nap better? Ideally we would like them to nap longer but that will happen when they are ready (I guess). Do all babies fuss for awhile before falling asleep for naps? Any suggestions or thoughts?

Sorry for rambling. Thanks for reading!

 

We have to CIO at every nap and at night, and we have been doing til since they were about 5-6 months old. If we didn't do it, they would never be in there taking any kind of nap. Mine take a 1 hour nap max, and wake up at least once a night. Someday it is going to get better, I swear it :hug99:

 

I feel your pain, mine do the same thing. I tried the Baby Whisperer method (go in as soon as you hear them, and get them back to sleep) well it said you would have to do that for about a week and then they would sleep longer on their own. Well I have been at it for 3 weeks now, and they are still doing the same thing. I don't know what to do either. I have tried to let them cry, but then they seem to sleep very restless. And I am no fan either. Sorry I guess I was of no help to you at all.

 

Our little ones nap pretty well. What I have done is nurse them for about 5-10 minutes put them down, give them their blanket and walk out. Usually they are quiet when I leave but many times they start crying. If they start crying I sometimes go back in and try to soothe them (it really depends what the other one is doing- if the other one is crying then I tend to that one). Or, I leave that one to cry for about 5 minutes, then I go in and soothe them. Many times they suck on my pinky (nail down) and soothe back to sleep while holding their blanket. I really try not to pull them out of their crib, but have done it on several occasions. I walk out after they are calm and if they cry again I wait another 5+ a few extra minutes before going in there again. It usually only takes these tries and they are sleeping. Now, I have let my dd cry for up to 14 minutes (I am a real clock watcher) during a nap and fell asleep after that. I will try 10-15 minutes to see if she falls asleep. It actually works on occasion. I hope things improve!

 

My kids do this too after months of just going to sleep. Now my dd does it at bedtime too and we just let her fuss. It's so hard when they go through this stuff.

 

Mine have always been inconsistent nappers, and a 1 hour nap was unheard of. I went back and forth with the idea of CIO but finally decided to try it because the girls were soooo grumpy when they didn't get enough daytime sleep (almost every single day). It has already worked--we started last week--and the longest that they have cried is 15 minutes, which I can take.

I'm not suggesting you do CIO, but for whatever reason, it has been a lot easier than I thought it would be for us. I hope you find something that works!

 

I put them down without rocking or anything for naps and night. When they wake up after a nap shorter of 1 hour (except the 3rd nap) I have them cry for at least 15 minutes. Sometimes they go back to sleep and sleep another 1 or more. Sometimes another 30 minutes, sometimes they won't go back to sleep. I always try before waking up the other (they are seperated).