The girls are 3 months old or 13wks. I am wondering if it is too soon for CIO for naps. They nap everyother day....literally. Yesterday they took good naps all day and today it is 15-20 minutes per nap. The days they don't nap are soooo tough. What do you think? Also what is the book everyone recommends? I got the Happies Baby on the Block but that is more for when they are newborns to 3 months. So they are pretty much getting out of that book. Plus, where can I get the other book that everyone talks about? TIA April
I do think that three months old is too early to try CIO. You might try putting them down for naps earlier during the days that they're not napping well. I was amazed at how short of a time period my girls could be awake for before they needed to sleep again. Once I started shortening the time, they napped better during the day. We tried some CIO around five months. It worked for us partially, but some days there was (and still is) nothing I can do to get them to nap well. Good luck!
Most peds recommend CIO after 4 months. I did it with my kids between 6 and 9 months. Our naps fell into place around 5-6 months when they started sleeping through.
"The other book" you're referring to is probably Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child -- either that or the one by Ferber (is it Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems?). Those are sort of the two CIO bibles (though they are not just about CIO, and in fact describe other methods that don't involve much or any crying). We did CIO for nighttime around 5 months and it worked well. I never had much luck with it for naps. (We started trying it around 5 months then too.) Some days they'd fall asleep, some days they'd scream long enough that I would give in and rock them. I think HSHHC is much more helpful for naps when it talks about sleepy cues and putting them down before they are overtired. But really, naps start to get much better around 6-7 months for most babies. I know that seems like a long time to wait, but it might make you feel better to know that there's no magic bullet to get a 3 month old to nap well. Hang in there!
I'm afraid it is a bit too early. The earliest I'd try it is 4 months corrected age (from the due date, not birth date), and 5-6 mo will probably work best. We tried it around 4 mo and it was an abject failure - the only result was miserable babies (and parents!). Around 5 mo, though, it really started to click. Agree with pps - your babies are probably having trouble napping because they're overtired. When you get too tired, the body essentially makes its own stimulants to fight the fatigue, which makes it harder to get to sleep. That's why exhausted kids often act totally wired. So just try to keep their wake times short. When they get up in the morning, try to put them down no more than 1-1.5 hrs later. 1.5 hrs may be the upper limit of their wake time during the day. And just do whatever it takes to get them to sleep - swaddling, holding, rocking, swing... Good luck! Things will get easier REALLY soon, I promise! :hug99:
I would agree that it's a bit early to start--we tried around that time with the twins and it was a disaster! However, we gave it another couple of months and started last weekend and things seem to be going very smoothly. They just weren't ready for it then, but seem to be now. Hang in there--I know were you're at right now--willing to try ANYTHING that will work. It will start to work itself out really soon!
I also think it's too early. Could they be getting overtired before you put them down for a nap? Do you have a routine? Dax did very well with naps when I made sure to get him back to bed within 1.5-2 hours of waking up. Good luck!
The BEST book out there is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" I followed this book from day 1! And loved it. I don't think that 3mo is too soon, just don't let them go too long. I let them CIO for about 10min, went in and soothed them by rubbing their backs, if it continued for about 5-10min longer then I would pick them up. As the months went by I increased the time. They need to learn to self sooth themselves to sleep. By 4mo they were sleeping through the NIGHT from about 9pm-7am. It was heaven. They are now 15mo and sleep from 8Pm-7:30/8am! And take about 2 naps a day about 15-3hrs each. Remember you need to do what is best for THEM AND YOU! Don't follow anyone elses advice, or do what anyone else says. You can take the advice of others and try to adapt it to your schedule. Everything works differently for everyone else. Be sure to however adapt a schedule NOW and stick to it. That's what will get you through.
I am having the same problem with naps ... the ONLY thing that has helped is consistancy. I used to get them to sleep downstairs, upstairs, glider, bouncy ball ... wherever ... but now try and ALWAYS take them to their room for naps. I put the less sleepy acting one in the side-to-side cradle swing and rock the other ... put rocked down (in the carseat ... they sleep in their carseats, at night too =) ... then if swinging is asleep I leave her in the swing ... if not, I rock her then put her down ... on a good day I get 30-45 mins. out of them before it is a constant 'put the paci back in' game ... on a bad day, they wake every 5 mins. I have tried (twice) to let them fuss ... once for 45 mins. and once for 35 mins. and I jsut can't handle it. They scream & cry & choke & throw up on themselves and I just can't take it ... my heart will ache for them. I asked my pedi about it and she says they are too young to CIO (they are 16 weeks, 11 weeks corrected). She says she is not a fan of the CIO, but if we wanted to do it we need to wait until they have self-soothing "tools" such as sucking thumb, putting own paci back in ... can roll if uncomfortable ... etc. They do great at night and I hope with a little more work on my consitancy and not letting them get up if they are awake until I want them to (even if they aren't asleep ... I will put paci back in or rock if they fuss) then they will get better. If not, I may revisit CIO, but I hope to not have to. It also is a brain development thing ... it may just take time (as long as we all don't lose our minds in the meantime =) As for the carseat, my pedi says that if it works then she is fine with it. Mine sleep great at night with getting up only once or maybe twice in a 12 hour period to eat. She says when they are ready for the transition, it probably won't be that hard. The book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child is by Mark Weissbluth (spelling?). It is a good book ... he says 4 months for CIO ... and that is 4 months corrected age if you have preemies (so 5 months for me since mine were a month early). As with all books, I take what works and leave the rest ... as in HBOTB ... I still swaddle and play white noise when they sleep. GL!
Follow your gut, if you can handle the crying then do. One person will say they are too young, others will say they are old enough. It is a debate that rages on....
