I'd like to start swaddling again

We have had a wonderful nap routine for a long time now but in the last couple weeks it has turned into a mini disaster. Now, they are frequently standing up after I lay them down and playing with each other from their cribs. I can't move the cribs any farther apart, they have kind of a small room. I spend the first 30-45 minutes of their nap laying them back down and telling them to go to sleep. I want to pull my hair out! Their naptime used to be my ME time and now I need a shot of vodka just to make it through the nap time. Please tell me this is just a phase or tell me what amazing things you did to get them to stop doing this! :crazy:

 

Hey, if you can start swaddling again, can I put my guys back in their slings? I swear mine are so clingy and needy I feel like I need to start "baby-wearing" my toddlers! :lol:

For naps, I usually just tell them it's quiet time, turn on their humidifier/white noise machines, and give them a couple of books to thumb through. Then I leave and don't come back unless they're seriously crying or in distress. Usually they will quiet down and go to sleep within 1/2 an hour, and if not at least they're not unhappy! ardon: I will leave them there babbling or giggling for up to an hour, but it's really rare that they won't settle down on their own.

 

i do the same as Val - unless it sounds like a bomb has gone off in their room, i just put them to bed & leave them. our girls do one afternoon nap so i usually leave them for at least 2 hours before getting them up again (if they haven't gone to sleep on their own for some reason).

are you still doing two naps a day or just one morning nap?

 

Like the PPs, I don't worry about how long mine are actually asleep during nap time. They go in their cribs for 2 to 2.5 hours with the blinds closed and the white noise machine on, and I leave them alone unless there is a real problem. Some days I'll hear them flopping around and playing, and other times they go to sleep quickly. I've found that my babies nap great for awhile and then not so great for awhile and I've never figured out why, but we do the same routine every day.

 

Mine take one afternoon nap somewhere between 12-3. They nap for 2.5-3hrs. Usually great sleepers! Anyhow, I have just left them before, but then they will just play the whole time. Maybe it's just a phase though and I need to let them do it for my own sanity. And their sleeping abilities. We will be moving in the next couple months for my husband's work and I'm hoping to do a different room arrangement then that will discourage so much playing. Thanks for your answers!

 

Ours just started doing this before bedtime...it is driving me NUTS! They will jump up and down in their cribs, babbling at each other and giggling for a good 30-45 minutes. I KNOW they are tired because they are rubbing their eyes and quieting down before bed. However, about 5 minutes after we say good-night and leave the room, they must get a second wind and start partying :woohoo: :woohoo:

IT IS DRIVING ME NUTS! :headbang:

I did go in the second night it happened and calmed them down, covered them back up and really felt they were going to go to sleep...NOPE! Another 15 minutes of partying before they quit chatting and jumping in their cribs.

I really hope it is just a phase! It gives me a (horrible) glimpse of what the toddler-bed transition could be like <_<

 

I wonder if they just aren't tired enough? I know before we started the 1 nap a day they would spend a good 30 min. talking and playing before sleeping. now I try to tire them out and attempt to play outside and they usually go to sleep good and tired.

I wonder if you moved the nap time to 1 to 4p instead? we have good luck with a 3 hr nap starting at 1p to 4p. and ours will still go down at 7:30 or so for bedtime.

good luck!