Help. I need a new strategy for naps.

My babies are 10 months old. Evan is pretty good at going down for naps (just a bit of the usual stuff - pulling up a couple of times, needing the odd paci re-plug) but James is taking longer to get down to sleep than the duration of his actual nap many days. James is unable to fall asleep unassisted (since about 5-6 months). Last month we did "sleeping training" with him to solve a night waking problem, but he always needs a bit of rocking and patting to actually get off the sleep initially. My boys, especially James, are very active, so I do a wind-down before naps. This used to work well. I read to them in my room with the lights low and the white noise machine on, with them in their sleep sacs with their pacis, and then I put them in their beds (James in a crib in the nursery, Evan in a pack and play in the master). I used to read them 2-3 stories and then they were obviously drowsy or at least calm and then I took them to bed. Now James rolls around like a wild child during the reading and getting him to sleep afterward can take...well, I'm at 30 minutes now and he's still not asleep this nap. Sometimes I'm reading to them for 20 minutes, then trying to get him down for 30 minutes...all for a 30-minute nap!

The babies take 2 naps a day, usually around 9:15 and then 3 hours from the end of their morning nap (usually ends up being 1:30). They go to bed between 6:30 and 7:00 at night and sleep 11 to 12 hours.

When I leave him in there he just stands up, plays with the side of his crib, cries, looks around...then I end up going back in, laying him down - it's a vicious cycle.

I need some suggestions, please!

 

Sounds just like my house. Jonas goes down no problems. Lucas rolls around, crawls around, pulls up, cries. I leave him in there and as long as I hear activity I check on him every 10 minutes and put him back down. After doing this twice, if he doesn't sleep, I take him out so he doesn't continue to disrupt brother. Most times, he will finally fall asleep (after much fussing and crying) but his nap is usually much shorter than brother's. I do get tired of the going in, and if he misses his morning nap, he is usually pooped by the time of the afternoon nap. Mine also nap around 9:15/9:30 to 10:30 and again around 1:00ish to 2:15 and go to bed at 7:30.

 

Hi there!!! First off, I am so glad the sleep training worked for nighttime I bet you know what I am going to say You need to do some sleep training for naps now too. But really I found naps easier on the soul (lol) because I knew they were well fed, changed, sleepy, etc. The way I did (I think like HSHHC says) is I put them down at a particular time and did not go in before 1hr, so if they cry/play/fuss for 1hr then so be it (it sounds so cruel and harsh, but I do love them!), but really it only took 2 days for dd to get it (ds always went down easy). And if they fall asleep say 30mins into the naptime, then I do not go in before 1hr from when they FELL ASLEEP (so in their room for a total of 1.5hrs).
Since having done this they normally nap with no issues for 1-3hrs, but today for example dd played in her crib for 45mins before falling asleep, I did not go in, she fell asleep and I will not go in for 1 additional hr (but I know she will sleep atleast that long).

HTH and PM me like before if you want more details.

 

Thanks for the info. One question about the whole "one hour" thing. If your baby slept 30 minutes then woke would you go and get her? What if she just didn't go back to sleep? I guess you're right that I need to do some sleep training for naps. I just find the crying so hard (like every mom, I know) and I thought we were done with all of that now that we have nights under control (knock on wood). I guess I need to make a detailed plan and stick with it.

 

If it's only 30 min, I wait to go in, unless the crying is bad - then I go do a poop check, soothe a little, and put back down.

Agree with Kristi - unfortunately, it may be time to CIO. I don't have the guts to do it at night, but it's worked really well for naps here. Good luck!

 

Okay, I just put James down for his afternoon nap. He's been up for 3 hours 15 minutes since his morning nap (just the right amount of time - tired but not too tired), he has a full tummy and clean diaper, he's had 3 story books snuggled up in a dim room, he's had a kiss and a little rocky, he has a paci...he's been crying for 13 minutes so far...oh my heart...

 

Hang in there!

 

I caved after 18 minutes. Yes, I am a total wimp. In fact, when we did night-time sleep training I slept in the basement and left my tough husband to do the whole thing. He fell asleep the instant I layed him down after 18 minutes of crying...so that's something. I guess I might have to try again when my husband is home on the weekend. Grr.

 

Just wanted to let you know I'm right there with you. DD Lucy fights her naps with a vengeance. I'm starting to CIO during naps. It is so hard, and she disrupts her (good -sleeping) sister. I've started letting Cora sleep in her swing in the living room until we get Lucy "trained." And this is after we finally broke the swing habit with Cora

Never easy!