When & how to transition to cribs for naps?

Hi. I have 10 week old twins who are napping wherever they fall asleep in the day (swing, bouncy, floor etc.). When should I begin to move them to their cribs for naptime? They sleep in the same crib at night in their carseats and sleep 6-7 hours before waking to eat so their night sleeping is pretty good most nights. Do I try to get 1 baby to nap in thier crib at a time and once that's routine, start putting the other one ther too? Do I move them both in there after they've fallen asleep in the swing or try to put them down when they're still awake? I'm really at a loss for how to do this with 2. I have 2 singletons and didn't stress about the transition because I didn't have to worry about 1 waking the other up. How did you transition to the crib for naps and how old were they?

Thanks,
Lisa

 

Hi. I have 10 week old twins who are napping wherever they fall asleep in the day (swing, bouncy, floor etc.). When should I begin to move them to their cribs for naptime? They sleep in the same crib at night in their carseats and sleep 6-7 hours before waking to eat so their night sleeping is pretty good most nights. Do I try to get 1 baby to nap in thier crib at a time and once that's routine, start putting the other one ther too? Do I move them both in there after they've fallen asleep in the swing or try to put them down when they're still awake? I'm really at a loss for how to do this with 2. I have 2 singletons and didn't stress about the transition because I didn't have to worry about 1 waking the other up. How did you transition to the crib for naps and how old were they?

Thanks,
Lisa

 

I am in the middle of this as I type this. It is a little late and I know that is why I am having trouble. The girls have been sleeping in their rockers swaddled in the living room. We will be going on vacation next month and I need them to be able to nap in a crib.

I am in complete HE** right now. I tried putting them both down and hanging out - no go. I tried rocking them one at a time - no go. I tried letting them CIO for 15 minutes - no go. I put them down at 11 and it is now 1. They have been asleep for about 10 minutes. I had to swaddle them and rock them. The best part is that I have to feed them both in 30 minutes.

Wow - I am babbling. My advice is get them napping in their crib as soon as you get them on some type of schedule (about 2-3 months) or you will be in my shoes - and it sucks! Next nap I am going to try to bounce them swaddled until they are asleep then putting them in the crib. I am excited to see other responses to your post - maybe I can get some better ideas!

 

My twins are 3 months old. I only had 2 goals I wanted to accomplish with my twins when I had them. The first being that they need to relate sleep with crib, and doing the same bedtime routine every night to signify to them that is is night time. Oh..........AND eating and sleeping at the same time. (he he) With that said it has taken these 3 months to do it all. My twin boys started taking naps in the same crib from day #1, but now at 3 months they are more vocal so I had to put them in seperate cribs so they don't wake up each other. They sleep better that way. I put them down awake but VERY Sleepy, so they learn how to put themselves to sleep. Newborns change their sceduales all the time, so some days they are great taking naps in their cribs, other days one will sleep in crib and the other will fuss, so I'll have to move him to a swing or bouncer to sleep. But for the most part when one wakes up from their nap I wake up the other one. They have their tummy time until it's time to eat and then after eating they seem so exhausted that they go back to bed in their cribs. It's been hard putting them on a sceduale, but I had to for my sanity!!! (he he)

 

We started when they were about 6 months -- up till then, they mostly napped in the stroller. Bad, I know, but it doesn't seem to have caused any problems in the long run. The weather here is good enough (except recently) that we could take them out nearly every weekend day, and when that didn't work, we drove the backroads for 45-60 minutes.

Anyway, when we did switch them, we had already done CIO for bedtime, so we didn't have much of a problem (emotionally) doing it again for naps. It did take a while because it was on weekends only (they are in daycare M-F). But we just put them down and waited them out. There were only a few days when they cried the whole hour and never went to sleep at all. (I know, it's easy to joke about it in retrospect... sorry.)

We did separate them -- one naps in the PNP in the office. Even now that they are used to the routine, this still seems essential, because even though they can fall asleep in the same room, whichever one wakes up first would always wake the other one.

Good luck, and don't panic if it doesn't "take" at first -- eventually it will, promise.

ETA: I just read your post again and saw that your twins are 10 weeks old. I certainly wouldn't do CIO at that age; I'd probably rock them (or whatever) until asleep and then put them down, and repeat as necessary. But as I've said, I avoided the whole issue by letting them nap in the stroller/swing/car until much later.

 

I think maybe you need to get them to sleep in the crib without the carseats at night first. This is what I did. Then at about 14 or 15 weeks I started with daytime sleep and just went cold turkey. I just put them down when they were very sleepy and hoped that they would nap. It took about 2 or 2.5 weeks to get it down. I was at my wits end and even considered separating them in different rooms during the day. My friend who has twins a little bit older than mine convinced me to stick it out. I am very glad that I did. They sleep in separate cribs now but in the same room and they just don't wake each other up anymore. I don't know why or how. I guess they just got used to each other crying. Now when I put them down I put them down awake for naps and bedtime.

You can do it!! It will take some effort in the beginning and you will question yourself many times. But stick it out! It is so worth it in the end!!

 

It's funny how many different methods we all have for putting our babies down for sleep!
Mine are 8 months old. They have been sleeping throught the night (11-12 hours), each in their own crib, since they were three months old.
Naps have been a problem, but since they were such good night sleepers I didn't worry too much. For the last couple of months they've been napping in their own pack n plays in the living room.
I have just yesterday started putting them in their cribs for naps, since they have been waking up at the slightest noises lately - I guess they are much more aware now than they were before.
Yesterday they each took a nap for 1 1/2 - 2 hours which was great since they never nap that long!
It's all about what works for you.
I am glad though that I finally made the switch - better late than never!

 

HI there,

I transitioned my boys for naps in their cribs at 3.5 months. They used to sleep in their swings. I moved their swings into their bedroom first and slept them in their swings in the nursery and then after a few weeks moved them into the crib.

At 4.5 months, we decided to separate the boys for day and night sleep, so now they nap and sleep in their cribs in separate bedrooms. Each sleeps with white noise for bed and nap.

Teri D

 

I started trying for one nap a day in the crib about two weeks ago (they were 6 weeks). I chose the same time every day (the time my older son naps) hoping to get their internal clocks used to it. I follow the eat, play, sleep model. So, once they were giving signs they were getting tired I put them in the crib at the same time. I had several days of success and some days that one just would not settle, so I would remove that one. However, they both got colds and everything has fallen apart. They were sleeping 6-8 hours at night and doing the one nap in the crib and now we're back to no schedule and waking every 3 at night. So, I guess we'll start over with everything when they are better. What I had hoped to do was establish the one nap in the crib and add an early morning and late afternoon one in time.