Napping strike!?

My boys have always, always, always been easy to fall asleep. From the beginning, they were able to fall asleep on their own, whether it was at night or during the day. The past couple of days, they've seemed not interested in their daytime naps. I don't want to get into the habit of rocking them to sleep. They'll fall asleep in the swing for about 30-45 minutes, and then that's it. I used to be able to move them from the swings to the bassinets (swaddled) no problem....but now they just sit and stare or suck on their hands. Even our usual classical music isn't doing the trick. The only decent nap they had yesterday was the hour or so in their carseats while we were out running errands.

Any thoughts??

THANKS!
Becky

 

Mine weren't on any sort of nap schedule at all at that point, so I don't think I can help you. I rocked mine to sleep until about 5 months when I started to do CIO with naps to get them to settle in their own cribs.

Hmmm, but I am trying to think. Could it be that they are ready for more awake time during the day?

I hope someone else sees this and has more advice for you!! :hug99:

 

I don't have any advice either, since our naps were a wreck until about 6 months! I hope you find something that works soon. :hug99:

A thought... are they working on rolling over? Many times a new skill will interrupt sleep patterns.

 

Have you read HSHHC (Healthy sleep habits happy child ) ?? I'd highly recommend it. The book often recommends putting them to bed earlier to help improve their naps. I have found the more my girls sleep the more they want to sleep. So putting them to bed earlier doesn't mean they will wake up earlier. At their age our bedtime was 7:30 or 8 pm. Often if they are red eyed, rubbing their eyes and crying it is getting too late. Try to put them to bed before they start to show the sleep symptoms otherwise they get a second wind.

I would recommend giving yourself a week of being home-bound and to set them up on a decent schedule. So up at 7 am then nap at 9 am (two hours after waking) If you have to hold them during this time to get them into sleeping mode. My one daughter just couldn't shut off her brain and settle so I had to teach her when nap time was. Each time I had to hold her less and less. A little CIO isn't too bad either I often would let them cry for 10 minutes after I knew they had all their needs. The book recommends only 2 hours awake at 4 months of age.

Also, my girls really got into a better routine at 5 months. I hope this helps ... it was only advice based on a book that has really worked for me.

heather

 

I wish I had some advice for you, but my girls were napping whenever, wherever at that point. I used the swing a lot too... the girls would fall asleep and then I turned it off and just let them sleep there. Hope someone has an answer for you.

 

At 4mo my girls were going down every 1.5hrs for naps but there were days when they just would not nap and I would end up putting them in the car and going for a nice long ride!
3-4mo was AWFUL! Things got so much better at 6mo. I was still using the vacuum to calm them down at 4mo.

If the car worked then go for it, take a ride and get a coffee.

Good luck!

 

Thanks, everyone! I'm just happy that even though they're awake, they're not fussy (knock on wood).

 

Are they on the brink of a new milestone, like rolling? With my DD especially each new milestone leads to a 1-2 week nap strike. She did this with rolling, sitting, and pulling up. If that is the case then it's just a phase and all you can do is continue to be consistent in the way you put them down for a nap and hope that the phase is a quick one. The longest nap strike she ever had was 12 LONG days.

 

Yeah, I think they may be working on rolling. And John keeps straining like he wants to sit up.

Then again, they're napping like angels right now - and have been for almost 2 straight hours! :banana:

 

QUOTE(bstone716 @ Jun 11 2008, 11:20 AM) [snapback]821303[/snapback]
Then again, they're napping like angels right now - and have been for almost 2 straight hours! :banana:

:yahoo: That's great!

 

QUOTE(bstone716 @ Jun 10 2008, 01:15 PM) [snapback]819505[/snapback]
My boys have always, always, always been easy to fall asleep. From the beginning, they were able to fall asleep on their own, whether it was at night or during the day. The past couple of days, they've seemed not interested in their daytime naps. I don't want to get into the habit of rocking them to sleep. They'll fall asleep in the swing for about 30-45 minutes, and then that's it. I used to be able to move them from the swings to the bassinets (swaddled) no problem....but now they just sit and stare or suck on their hands. Even our usual classical music isn't doing the trick. The only decent nap they had yesterday was the hour or so in their carseats while we were out running errands.

Any thoughts??

THANKS!
Becky


Mine went through a nap strike a few weeks ago too. It's getting better now - they still aren't loving naps, but it's getting better. Memorial Day weekend was hell for us.