CIO for naptime?

Has anyone done this? The boys have officially given up their morning relax/play time in the crib and just cry when I put them in there. Well today they woke up at 720 and I didn't lay them down for their nap until 1230....they fell asleep at 1243 (yup, I watched the clock) they woke up at 133 so I let them cry thinking maybe they would fall back asleep since they sounded tired. After 15 mins I gave up and went in and got them. They then laid on me on the couch for about 15 mins before they were "ready" to get up.

Would you do CIO? How long would you let them cry for? I would like them to nap at least 1.5 hours....even just to get the 1 hr mark would be nice!!

Thanks

 

the rule of thumb (according to HSHHC) is that unless they sleep for an hour, it's not a nap. so you'll definitely want to work towards that 1 hour mark.

we did use CIO with our girls to help extend their naps (although this was when they were younger - around 6 months) but here's what we did:
- we separated them for the first while as it made it easier to keep track of who was up when
- we would put them down for their nap & set a timer for one hour
- if they woke up before that one hour was up, we reset the timer for another hour
- if they went back to sleep, great - the second time they woke up, we considered the nap finished
- if they didn't go back to sleep, we got them up at the end of the new hour & tried again later

the idea is that eventually instead of taking two catnaps with a crying session in between they'll eventually take one long nap. i think the longest we ever had one cry was 45 minutes the first day we did it. after that, we usually got maybe 10 or 15 minutes of crying in between until eventually we had no crying at all. GL!

 

I had to do CIO with DS when he was 10 months old as he was resisting all of his naps. I gave myself a time limit of one hour. If he didnt fall asleep in that time then I´d go and get him.

I made the mistake, after 10 mins of full blown crying of going in to him to reassure him. I did that twice. All it did was fuel the crying evenmore so I didnt go back. DH was ready to throw in the towel when DS suddenly fell asleep after literally 58 mins (yes, I was also clock-watching!). He slept for almost 2 hours and was fine when he got up. I had to do CIO the next day then he got it. Now, when he gets put down he may protest but he knows it´s not going to work. It was pure torture listening to him cry but it was the best thing for him, in the long run, as he started napping again and was happier.

I expect your LOs are still adjusting to the new timetable. They may also need to go down earlier for their nap. Mine wake at about 8.30-9am and I put them down again at 11.30am. They play for 30 mins then go to sleep about 12pm for about 2 hours. They go to nursery in the afternoons so they are up for 7 hours straight in the afternoons!

I´d try an earlier naptime, e.g. around 11.30am and see how they go. GL!

 

I used to let mine CIO to get to sleep for naps but never after they woke up ONLY because it didn't work. They would just get more and more upset and there was no way they were going back to bed. They will grow into longer naps. Until then, it's your job to make up for the short naps by either adding another nap or putting down for bed earlier

It will work itself out as they grow.

GL!! Also, if you put them down before they get overtired- they will sleep better and longer. So, if you had put them down at 10:30 am instead, they wouldn't have been as tired and would've been able to sleep longer. Due to the extra amount of the hormone cortisol- they cannot sleep well cuz they are overtired by that time.

 

I had to do CIO for naps as well. When they would wake up after 45 minutes, I would make sure they did not have a stinky (usually the common cause of waking up early in our house) and then if they did, change them and put them back to bed. If there was no stinky, I would start their sleepy time music over, re-tuck them in and tell them it's still time to nap. Somedays they did not finish their nap but most of the time, they'd be back to sleep within 10-15 minutes.

 

When we first switched to one nap, my kids wouldn't sleep very long at all (45 minutes to an hour). It started to get better as they got used to the one nap, but they still only sleep 1 1/2 hrs to 2 hrs max. I was hoping for a longer break, but they wake up happy most days so they are getting enough sleep, I guess.