https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:45:04 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1972279 Fri, 05 Dec 2014 10:43:14 +0000 Eminthevalley 1972279@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hope it's going better for you. For us, nap training happened probably 3-4 separate times...I did it around 6 months, but like I said, it just didn't work very well for us when they were on 3 naps. It was helpful for getting them to go to sleep on their own, though. I just couldn't, and still can't, make them sleep any longer! We're on one nap a day now and one of my guys will sometimes only sleep 45-50 minutes and that's it. The witching hour is oh so long at our house. Anyway, I think I did nap training at each transition--3 to 2 naps, 2 to one, and also in instituting quiet time if they are not going to nap, which basically hasn't worked at all. I guess what I'm saying is, nap training is a difficult beast. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1968828 Wed, 03 Dec 2014 10:00:26 +0000 charleysmom 1968828@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mae- sorry I don't have anything to add but want to wish you luck. I'm going through a lot of the same issues with my little girl- she will be 6 months next week and we are going to sleep train for night and naps in a few weeks when my husband is on vacation. Stay strong- it will be worth it in the end! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1968745 Wed, 03 Dec 2014 09:10:51 +0000 Canoli 1968745@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Turd Ferguson: so glad to know I'm not the only one that does this. My 7 month old nurses to sleep for naps and nighttime and stays attached the whole nap! I know I should really make some changes but it is so easy.mat daycare he naps without me so I know it's possible but.......... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1968515 Tue, 02 Dec 2014 22:27:29 +0000 Mae 1968515@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Little Misters Mom: I can see how that would make sense, but what I read was that after 4pm all bets are off and putting baby to bed not too overtired is key for not f*cking up nighttime sleep. she just sleeps so crappy at night when she's overtired :( </p> <p>@ellewoods84: Yea I set a 30 min cry limit or 45 min total time limit (whichever comes first) and if she hits either limit then I just abort the nap attempt and wait until she seems tired again (usually about 30 min after we give up her "yay i beat the nap" adrenaline wears off). Honestly I super dreaded/avoided it too and sort of got pushed into it by my husband. We were at the point where I had to rock her 100% of the time for 100% of her naps and with me being the only one who can reliably feed her too and a staggered schedule.. I hadn't actually had more than 1 hr away from her in the last 2 months except 1 day when I had a wedding to shoot (preexisting commitment) and Fia didn't eat or sleep for 8 hrs while B watched her :( So his point was just that... this is not sustainable for us. And it sucks that he can't ever watch her and give me a break. Which I agreed... but I think it is easier to be the one in the rough spot than to watch your spouse go through it sometimes. So-- yea. Thats why I got pushed into it. But I will be grateful if it actually works. The process just blows. </p> <p>@Eminthevalley: she is 6.5 mo and on 3 naps/day. One concern we had is that I know 5.5-7 mo is supposed to be "ideal" sleep training time. Plus the fact that she hasn't started teething at all.. so it seemed like a time when it may be easier on her. We were concerned if we waited another few months it might get harder on her, especially if she is teething then (or in the throws of winter sicknesses etc). </p> <p>@Zbug: We can deal with some inconsistency in naps, but having to hold her for every single nap for the whole nap was just not sustainable for us long term. :/ I used to be able to rock her to sleep and set her down but she hasn't let me do that for 6 weeks despite lots and lots and lots of trying. </p> <p>@Turd Ferguson: thanks, good luck to you too! I know lots of people say checks make their babies escalate but that isn't the case for ours. 90% of the time she falls asleep within 1 minute of a check (for both night and now naps). It's like she needs to cry a bit to get the frustration out then when I come in and give her the paci back and pat her head she calms right down and drifts off (at least, WHEN she falls asleep that is how it happens. but sometimes it takes several checks). </p> <p>So to update how today went... it was craptastic. After our short 2nd nap (with 3rd nap attempt) she was pretty cranky but I kept her up about 2 hrs so I could give her a bottle and keep her upright long enough after (reflux baby). For our 4th attempt she fell asleep after 30 min (about 20-25 of that crying), which was the first time she ever fell asleep for that last nap... but it only lasted 12 minutes. womp womp. woke up crying. I let her cry 5 min just to see if she'd go back to sleep bc sometimes at night she'll wake up and cry 2-3 min and go back to sleep-- but no dice. Tried to rock her to sleep (at this point she'd had 37 min of sleep total since 11:50 am), no dice. Gave up and took a break for 15 min to try to calm her down and then tried to rock her again... no dice. So she had a VERY light sleep day today. </p> <p>Before nap training she slept around 4.5-5 hours/day for naps (830-10, 1-3,530-630, give or take). Today she slept about half of that. :( Tonight has been predictably rough due to over tiredness. She went down okay but has woken up crying like 4 times in the last 2 hrs. Sigh. </p> <p>I really hope today was just a step back and tomorrow we move forward with some better naps. I think I'm committing to finishing out a week of this to see if she improves, but she needs to make some significant improvements. I'm not sure my freedom is worth it if it means she's sleep half of what she needs to for naps and ends up crying for 10+ min for every nap :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1968292 Tue, 02 Dec 2014 19:09:12 +0000 Turd Ferguson 1968292@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Jumping in to follow along... We JUST started nap training today. LO is 13 months old and since she was 6 months, she's napped on me...nursing. Sigh. It was just so EASY! </p> <p>Like I said, today was our first day. It went better than i thought it was going to...but it was still just awful. Nap one she cried for a total of about 50 minutes, then fell asleep sitting up...then kind of slid over and slept for a whopping 28 minutes. I kept her up until the second nap, which she kind of screwed herself over for, I think. She nodded off sitting up within the first 10 minutes, then woke herself up, and I think that was enough to take the "edge" off. All in all, she cried for a total of about 45 minutes, then only slept for 22. </p> <p>I'm not doing checks, they just escalate things and make it way worse. I set an hour as my limit, but she's also 13 months, so I think she needs at least that long (unless for some reason the crying is horrendous). If at the end of the hour she hasn't slept, I plan on getting her up and trying again either the next hour or the next nap period. I think our biggest problem is going to be extending naps to get from freaking 20 minutes to at LEAST 45-hour! </p> <p>Good luck! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1968159 Tue, 02 Dec 2014 17:33:06 +0000 Zbug 1968159@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with @Eminthevalley that it should get easier when you are on two naps. I think we aimed for naps at 9, 12 and 3 when DD was taking three, but it was hard to be super consistent when nap lengths varied. We never napped trained, but it all fell more into place when she naturally consolidated naps and they were at 9 and 1. Not saying she never fought/fights nap, but it seems like that happens at times regardless of whether you train or not. I'm not saying you shouldn't nap train, but just letting you know naps will most likely get easier either way :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1968092 Tue, 02 Dec 2014 16:51:43 +0000 Eminthevalley 1968092@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How old is your LO and how many naps a day? I did it when my twins were on two naps a day and used set nap times, which really helped, 9:00 and 1:00. Prior to that I did some nap training around 6 months, just to get them to go down easily, but it was hard because they did 3 naps/day then and the nap length seemed to be important in determining when the next one should be. Once they were onto 2 naps a day I tried set nap times and that worked much, much better. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1968090 Tue, 02 Dec 2014 16:50:49 +0000 ellewoods84 1968090@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following! I need to do this and keep flaking out. Good luck. When you say 45 minutes.....you mean get her if she doesn't fall asleep? And then try again later? I also said that if her naps totally suck I would just Rock her for 1 nap so she gets some sleep and isn't a hot mess, but do you think that it screws up the process? I hate naps. Which is why I keep avoiding nap training. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1968085 Tue, 02 Dec 2014 16:46:26 +0000 Little Misters Mom 1968085@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Nap training worked for us in about 4 days. He still fusses or even cries for under 5 minutes, but then he goes down and is slowly starting to lengthen his naps now. Sleep training for night time took 2 weeks+.</p> <p>I would think the rocking to sleep for the final nap would be pretty problematic. For us, 100% consistency was key. If we slipped, he regressed. I know kids can separate night sleep and day sleep but she may be getting confused about the different naps. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1968078 Tue, 02 Dec 2014 16:43:22 +0000 lady grey 1968078@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: CIO for night time worked within three days. CIO for naps took two weeks. LO was still taking 3 naps a day so I would often do one or two naps in the stroller or in the car so I don't have to listen to all the crying. At least once a day in the crib and there was some crying. After a few weeks he began to go down easily and now at 18mo naps are not a problem at all, super smooth! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-did-nap-training-work-for-you#post-1967907 Tue, 02 Dec 2014 15:10:35 +0000 Mae 1967907@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are nap training with Ferber (did Ferber for night 3 weeks ago). 30 min cry limit or 45 min total time limit from set down before we give up on a nap. With the exception of the last nap of the day we rock if nap fails rather than get her up because we don't want to head into bedtime too overtired. </p> <p>Day 1:<br /> Nap attempt 1- fail (just got her up to play for 30 min and try again)<br /> Nap attempt 2- 20 min until she fell asleep and slept 45 min<br /> Nap attempt 3- 20 min until she fell asleep and slept 2.5 hrs(!!)<br /> Nap attempt 4- failed and rocked, but wouldn't calm down enough to sleep. </p> <p>Day 2:<br /> Nap attempt 1- 40 min until she fell asleep and asleep for 45 min<br /> Nap attempt 2- 25 min until she fell asleep and asleep for 1 hr 20 min<br /> Nap attempt 3- fail. Got her up to play for 15 min then rocked her and she slept great for 1 hr until I woke her up. </p> <p>Today is day 3:<br /> Nap attempt 1- fail<br /> Nap attempt 2- 35 min until she fell asleep. Slept 1 hr 40 min until I had to wake her up<br /> Nap attempt 3- 30 min until she fell asleep, slept 25 min and woke up crying/angry and now she is cranky. </p> <p>Sigh. It seemed like improvement from day 1 to 2 and now today is worse than day 1 it feels like. Are there normal regressions a few days in for nap training like with sleep training? How fast did nap training work for you? </p>