Napping in Crib - Dover,DE

You've had some good advice and I'll just add my own experience. My first one (daughter) refused to nap anywhere but on me for the first three months. After I got tired of it, I just put her in the crib (asleep at first and then later I did the drowsy, but awake stuff). In the beginning I would actually celebrate if she slept in the crib for 15 whole minutes. But I just had to be consistent about it. Eventually, she started taking longer stretches (in part because I was consistent and in part because she was just getting older). Every baby is different so try some of the tricks and things that other moms have suggested. For us, there was no "trick." Just consistence and patience.

Hang in there! It feels like a long road, but you'll make it!

My daughter loved napping on my chest at that age too, and that is about the time I started getting her used to napping in her crib. Before that she often napped on me or in a bassinet.

I found that swaddling her tightly and propping her onto her side worked wonders. As she started to get tired or if she fell asleep, I'd place her in her crib and she'd typically squirm for a second, realize she was cozy and go to sleep.

I suggest teaching her to go to sleep on her own. I did that with my son around that age and it has made a world of difference! He sleeps so sound when he goes to sleep on his own, and he sleeps for longer periods of time.

The key is to put her down as soon as she shows the first sign of being tired. At almost 7 months old, my son is awake in 2-3 hour increments during the day. Anything more than that and he gets overtired, fights sleep and doesn't sleep L. or deep enough. He takes a 60-90 min nap in the morning, then a 2 1/2 - 3 hour nap in the afternoon. And another 30-45 mins in the early evening. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:15, and sleeps until 6:00.

I did a lot of soothing (patting his back, talking softly, re-offering th paci when he spit it out, etc). After a couple days I would stop the soothing before he was completely asleep. And every couple days, stopped it sooner. After about a week, he was going to sleep on his own. If he fussed, we would go in after 2 mins, then 5 mins, then 7 mins then 10 mins to soothe him again. We never picked him up unless simply soothing him didn't settle him down. When we did pick him up, as soon as he was settled, but still awake, he went right back into the crib.

My son also had a little blanky that he sleeps with, which is great because we just take it when he's sleeping somewhere else and he does fine.

My son was like that. All I can say is that at some point, either a)you'll be so exhausted you'll cave in to letting her cry it out; or b) you'll get used to snuggle time and eventually she'll outgrow it. It's only a season, although it might feel like forever right now when you want is some down time and a chance to get stuff done while she naps. My daughter adapted better to napping alone in her bed, but she wasn't born until 6 years later! Yes, it was a long six years, but we survived!

My son never napped in his crib either when he was a baby. As soon as I put him in the crib he woke up. I just got a sling and let him nap in there. At least I had my hands free. Now he is three and in preschool and gets excellent reports except that he won't nap at all and disturbs other kids at naptime!

I think this takes practice, it definately did not come easy for either of my kids. I put them in their cribs while I was taking a shower and they were awake to get them used to it. There is this mobile from Tiny Love, it looks totally crazy, with primary colors and balls and things, but he totally loved it and would lay under it for 20-30 minutes at a time. No other mobile had the same effect and we went through a bunch of them. Then I started putting him in his crib when he was drowsy but awake. The key is to get them there before they fall asleep.

If she naps for 30min. at a time that is fine. Some babies need more sleep than others. I would not worry about it. If she sleeps well at night and continues to grow and develop then there would not appear to be anything wrong. Some of my children took longer naps than others. My almost 1yr is the Queen of the cat nap. There is give and take in a family. I would just make the most of the naps she takes. She might nap longer in your arms but you might get more done if she is in the crib for 30min. When my little one is not well and needs mommy to sleep I catch up on my reading during her naps. I don't think that the crying it out thing is necessary.

Hi J., your daughters behavior is actually quite normal. At 4 months most infants may not take a long daytime nap or feel comfortable in a crib or pack and play. They actually like the warmth of the body as well as the sound of your heartbeat. So if you are trying to break her from the habit try swaddlig her and giving her a pacifier if she takes one. If you nurse her as opposed to bottle feeding this can sometimes make it harder to transition as they are used to falling asleep while nursing. Something else you can try is placing her in a bouncy chair and rocking it or placing her in the swing. Children sometimes like the motion of either one. Try swaddling her and then placing her in either item. Of course the first couple of times she may not like it because she has already gotten accustomed to sleeping on you, but eventually she will see that you aren't budging and make the plunge, to sleep that is. Also consider the fact that she may not be a good napper. Not all children take daytime naps, which causes them to be too tired for anything else, leading to a meltdown. But again eventually they back down and settle for some zzz's. Another suggestion would be to make sure the room is dark so that she can understand when the lights go out it time to close eyes and go down. Playing some lullabies or classical music does the trick as well. All the best to you and don't worry it should improve over time.

Hi J.,
Try using a sleep positioner that has 3 sides to it. It will do 2 things for you. 1. Keep her slightly elevated, so that she may feel like she's still against you. 2. the sides will help her feel like she's still being held.

A second thing to try is to put a hat on her head, like in the hospital. I know that my daughter (2y), wakes up when I move her to her crib because the sheets are colder than the chair we were sleeping in. However, it I make sure that her head is against something warm, she doesn't wake up.

Good luck,
M.

I have not read any of the other responses, so I don't know if this was already mentioned. My now 6 year old daughter had the same problem. The solution that my SIL gave me was to let her go to sleep on one of your t-shirts that is resting on you. Then when it's time to move her, move her on the t-shirt. Apparently my daughter wanted to smell mommy, and when she didn't, she would wake up. We also, during the winter, had to pre heat the bed with a heating pad. She grew out of it after a few months. She still has a heated bed tho. HAve fun with the maNY adventures yet to come.

I don't know how helpful this will be but my daughter started sleeping in her crib at night at 4 months (prior to that she was in a bassinet in our room) but refused to nap in the crib. She napped predominantly in her swing until she was about 7 months old. I honestly don't remember what the turning point was, I think I needed to nap in my own bed and just laid her down in her her crib after simulating most of the nightime routine and it worked. Good luck to you!

Perhaps your baby likes to be extra warm and snuggy. Have you tried putting a warm water bottle next to her in the crib and wrapping her snuggly in a blanket? Swaddling babies helps them sleep better. AF

Hi Jaime,

Have you tried putting a clock under her bed so that she can hear the tick tock sound? Sometimes that sound will sound like a mother's heartbeat and it will lull her to sleep. There is also a toy you can get at babies R Us that also plays sounds like a gentle rain or a mother's heartbeat and other womb sounds that might help your little one adjust to being in a crib. Also don't forget swaddling because she is used to being close to you so she needs to be close to something similar to you. Hope this helps, God Bless.

We had a problem in the winter with my son (now 2.5) waking up when we laid him down on cold sheets. He's always been a challenging sleeper. The solution we found that worked best was to have knit or flannel sheets and wrap him loosely in a receiving blanket so he had a warmed-against-Mommy (or Daddy) layer insulating him from the cold sheets. This made all the difference his first winter. It's a little different from swaddling, and there are ways to work the blanket so it's not a suffocation risk, but they're a little complicated to write, where you can't demonstrate.

It also sounds like your daughter is at the age where she's learning to go back to sleep on her own. If she falls asleep in your arms then sleeps by herself for 1/2 hr, that's around one infant sleep cycle length, and she's at the age where she's "old enough" to get the concept of self-soothing to sleep. This is an important lesson, so if she can be encouraged to do it, it will save you lots of headaches down the road. You'll have to decide how you want to do this, CIO, modified CIO or whatever. There are lots of good theories and books. We liked Marc Weissbluth and Kim West best, ended up doing something in between that suit our child and our family.

Good luck.

Hi J.,
Is her room nice and dark? If she's sleeping well at night, perhaps her room isn't dark enough during the day.

I've also heard a mom can put her shirt in the crib near the baby so the baby smells her scent. When I did it, I actually layed my son ON my shirt so I didn't have the worry of him suffocating. (FYI: the shirt didn't work so much for us but it might for you.)

Good luck!
D.
(P.S. Are you in Dover?)

My daughter NEVER to a nap in her crib, and by the time she was 11 months she was ready for a big girl bed (queen size) I put the rails up and she has never slept so great

Hi...My 4 month old daughter does the same thing. She refuses to sleep in her crib during the day, but has no problem at night. During the day, my daughter will take her naps in her swing or pack n play. I don't understand the difference myself between the pack n play and the crib, but my daughter does. That works for us during the day for nap time. Try the swing if you have one. Good Luck.

Hi J. I had the same promblem with two of mine the first one I would lay down beside her then when she feel a sleep leave her on the bed so you don't wake her. just put a bunch of pillows by her and keep a eye on her to make sure they don't roll off.. I used the swing with my other one he would always want me so I put in the swing and a few mins later he was out... Just a thought good luck....

I would just try letting her take her naps for that 30minutes. My son was a 45min. napper. Drove me batty. Over time he extended it to an hour, and no he doesnt sleep 12hrs at night either. Maybe your baby will extend her naps from 30-45-60min. over time.

Hi J.,

It is such a special time you are sharing with your daughter right now! My son also enjoyed falling asleep on me (or grandma, grandpa, his daddy, aunties, etc.) when he was that age. I think it was the warmth, and being able to hear my heartbeat and all that. After all, our kids did spend around nine months listening to the rhythms of our bodies! :)

Sense of touch is important, and for some children it can be especially vital. My recommendation is to stick it out if you can/want to. And if you really need a break, maybe you could compromise a bit and lie down next to your daughter and sing to her while you gently rub her belly/back (my son often slept on his side, so my mom would pat his back while singing to him).

I started working again when my son was around four or five months old, so he often fell asleep with my mom, who used the baby massage and singing technique, or rocked him in her arms for a while, and he would cry at first, and then fall asleep within a few minutes. My son never liked his bassinet for sleep, either. I found that I was awake a lot when he slept there at night, and then when I tried having him sleep next to me on my bed, he slept almost through the night! Also, for some reason, I noticed that my proximity to him changed his breathing patterns and helped to regulate them (he was born with a heart murmur and had rapid breathing in the first few months of life).

Developmentally speaking, your child knows that sleeping close to you feels good and warm and just where she wants to be. She was connected to you and your rhythms for so long, that is just feels right to her when she can feel your breathing and be close to you. If you can find a way to be more comfortable yourself, maybe prop yourself up on some pillows and get a good book to read. :) Best wishes and happy holidays, too!!!

Nessa