how do you put them down for naps?

Do you just toss them in the cribs and let them fall asleep? Mine seem to take forever to do that now even if they are clearly exhausted. Do you rock them or hold them? I'm just trying to simplify and they seem to be making things more difficult. We now nap in separate rooms so they don't keep each other awake or wake each other up. But recently they've stopped going to sleep when I put them down I never had to let them CIO before, they would just go to sleep. Should I just leave them alone and let them CIO? Is it just a phase? I hope they go back to just going to sleep as soon as I put them down. What do all the other babies do at nap time?

 

Do you just toss them in the cribs and let them fall asleep? Mine seem to take forever to do that now even if they are clearly exhausted. Do you rock them or hold them? I'm just trying to simplify and they seem to be making things more difficult. We now nap in separate rooms so they don't keep each other awake or wake each other up. But recently they've stopped going to sleep when I put them down I never had to let them CIO before, they would just go to sleep. Should I just leave them alone and let them CIO? Is it just a phase? I hope they go back to just going to sleep as soon as I put them down. What do all the other babies do at nap time?

 

We have tried really hard to just put them in their cribs and let them fall asleep on their own. Most of the time they do. Sometimes we do need to go in there for a little comfort, but I try not to pick them up. They really have never fussed too much about it unless they are overly tired.

With my oldest I do remember it took a little time to get her to that point though. We did have to do a little CIO with her, it was a rough week, but after that week nap time was a breeze.

If you are comfortable letting them CIO a little go ahead and do it. The nice thing once they fall asleep for naps by themselves is they generally do the same for bedtime.

 

Since we did CIO (modified), we just lay them in their cribs and say "night night", turn off the light, put on their white noise and close the door. They usually just fall to sleep in a few minutes. Lately, I can hear them in there talking for a bit before going to sleep, but they usually do settle down within a few mins.

 

Around 6 months we started consistently putting them down for a midday nap after lunch. (We still go strollering for the morning walk -- bad habit, I know, but it works for us.) We had done CIO for bedtime, so we knew it worked eventually. We just read a couple of stories, put them down in cribs, say night-night, turn on noise machine, and walk out. The first several times, they cried a lot (occasionally even for the full hour, though not usually).

It got better very gradually over a couple of months. (It may have taken longer because we only do it on weekends -- they're in daycare M-F.) Now they usually fuss about 10 minutes, which sounds more like winding down than like real crying. Sometimes they don't even cry at all. I never ever thought this would happen, and it did take time. They were about 10 months when the crying really diminished a lot. But they started sleeping 1-2 hours around 8 months.

We put them down for naps in separate rooms, though at night they share a room. It helps a lot because they wake up so much more easily during the day -- this way if one wakes, she doesn't wake the other.

 

quote:
Originally posted by MLH:
Since we did CIO (modified), we just lay them in their cribs and say "night night", turn off the light, put on their white noise and close the door. They usually just fall to sleep in a few minutes. Lately, I can hear them in there talking for a bit before going to sleep, but they usually do settle down within a few mins.


Again, channeling Melissa here... we do the same thing. I had them sleeping separately but I just started putting them either in the same crib or in their own cribs. They seem to be happier together and they kinda entertain each other. Obviously I wait until they are pretty tired.

 

At 6 months, we were putting them down in two different rooms. Audrey would nurse and then I'd carry her to her crib & give her a plug. She'd fall asleep on her own. Then I would nurse Clayton and put him (sometimes swaddled still) on the bed in the guest bedroom. I hoped & prayed that he'd fall asleep when I nursed him. If not, I would lay down next to him and nurse him to sleep. No plug. Eventually I did do some cio with naps, but bedtime was better with cio. HTH

 

We use the same sleep method for naps and nighttime. They are in their own cribs in the same room. I always put them to sleep while they are awake. The only exception to that is if we have been out of the house and they fall asleep in the car (UGH). DD usually puts her thumb in her mouth and goes to sleep. DS has the FP aquarium and we have it set to play "Lullaby". He gets his pacifier and he goes to sleep.

DH and I laugh about how the babies must have gotten my sleep gene. I can sleep anywhere anytime.

 

Bed time and naptime are the same in our home. They have a bottle before or at bedtime and then we lay them in their cribs with they blankets and binkys. With in 5-10 they are sleeping and I cover them up one last time before I go to bed and were good to go..

 

Hi! We are almost a year older and here is what my experience was. I was a huge supporter of the Healthy Sleep Happy Child Book (title?) and it worked wonders for us - some things they note is in children's development, their brain develop. that is, they don't necessarily fall into a consistent schedule until around the 5-6 month timeframe. If your babies were born early then that might be later. For us (our babies were born at 38 weeks), our babes got into a really good schedule at 7 months. So in answer to your question I think it very well could be a phase. Now you didn't really ask about schedule and I kind of started talking about that - sorry - but it kind of ties in. We put our babies down like you and they did fuss it out on and off in that 6 month timeframe. By seven months we put them in their cribs and they were fine with that, they weren't asleep when we put them in, but they would lay right down and when they were ready they fell asleep no problems (95% of the time). Now that they are older they will sometimes talk, giggle, etc for a while before they lay down! They love being in their beds! However, it did take a little time to get to that point.

 

quote:
Originally posted by MLH:
Since we did CIO (modified), we just lay them in their cribs and say "night night", turn off the light, put on their white noise and close the door. They usually just fall to sleep in a few minutes. Lately, I can hear them in there talking for a bit before going to sleep, but they usually do settle down within a few mins.


Just curious, what type of white/background noise do you use? THANKS!

 

We follow 12 Hours' Sleep by 12 Weeks of Age, which recommends a schedule of up at 7am, nap from 9am-10am, nap from 1pm-3pm, and down for the night by 7pm. I've been following it, and I've found that the girls start getting cranky by the 9am and 1pm naptimes. When they start to "crankle", I bring them upstairs and put them in their cribs (in the same room) and tell them good night, and then I leave the room. They usually fuss for a few minutes and fall asleep on their own. Occasionally one will go on and on, and then I will take that one out of the room and put her in a swing, where she'll usually go to sleep.

 

Thanks everyone! I think Becky (Mooker) might be right and it is just a phase b/c already they have started going back to falling asleep on their own...only in the afternoon but it's a start. I'll keep working on it and hopefully things will sort themselves out. My next problem is napping them when they are away from home...any suggestions there?

 

When we go to grandparents house (the only trips we get right now - hee hee) we stick with the same schedule. They slept in the pack and play. I will say though (we usually would go for a week or so) the first day or two was off - always and maybe not going to happen. Being somewhere different really upsets the apple cart. When they are older (I mean 2 and up), what I did with my 3 and 5 yr old is I duplicated their bed away (i.e.brought their same pillow, same favorite blankets and fav. stuffed animals) - then it was not a big deal

 

Mine always go down by themselves and always have. I can usually tell when they are tired as they get cranky and rub their eyes. We do have to let Sophie CIO sometimes as she fights the sleeping thing but after that she sleeps fine .