What have people done as far as nap training? I read MrsBees posts on it, and we tried using the Ferber checks, but it seems really hard for a nap because the time is so short...has anyone else done anything successfully??
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Not yet, we just let her nap on us but starting from today (in fact I just put her down ten minutes ago) we're going to try get her napping in her crib.
Good luck mama, I hope it goes smoothly for you : )
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@travelgirl1: thanks! It took an hour but I got him down for his first nap by patting him on the tummy. I hate hate hate hearing him cry though
I hope the transition goes easily for A!
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We've been in the thick of it this week. I didn't want to do CIO, since they're not quite 4 months yet...
1) We established a strong nap routine. I sit on the couch, put them in their sleep sacks/swaddle, paci, read a story, and rock until they are drowsy.I try to keep the rocking to 2 minutes or less. Then they go to their cribs. (To me, that means their eyes are closed, and their bodies aren't tense at all.)
2) I check whenever the crying seems to be escalating, when they sound truly frantic, or when they have fussed for 8-10 minutes.
3) During checks, THEY STAY IN THEIR CRIB. I put the paci in, shh them, then leave. I'm in there for maybe 30 seconds. If they are frantic or totally hysterical, I'll sit by their crib, in the dark, holding in their pacifiers. This has only happened a couple of times!
4) I do checks for an hour. Sometimes I have to do it the whole time; others, they will sleep for 30 minutes and then wake up. Either way, they're not coming out of their room until the 1 hour mark! At that point, even if I'm in their room and they are wide awake, I leave for at least 1 minute. I then come back in and make a big dramatic entrance. This is their cue that naptime is over.
5) I usually wait 30 minutes-1 hour, then rinse and repeat.Other things I did:
- Learn their drowsy signals, but don't push it. If they have been awake for over 1.75-2 hrs, they are tired! I promise.
- White noise, swaddle, paci, blackout curtains (or garbage bags! ghettofabulous!)...
- I've had to learn that fussing is hard to listen to, but it means that they are learning to self-soothe. By all means, crank the monitor down a couple of notches if it really bothers you to hear the fussing! You'll hear them if it's all-out hysterics.
- Plan to stay in the house for the next few days. You will be climbing the walls and will be an emotional wreck, but my kids started to figure it out after about 4 days.
- If you do go on an errand, walk, etc., try to time it IMMEDIATELY after a nap so they will likely stay awake. This is to avoid them napping anywhere except the crib (at least at first) so you can stay consistent with your new routine. If they do happen to nap while you are out, count that as one of their true naps for the day and re-start the routine for their next go-'round.
Good LUCK! -
We tried nap training when we did Round 1 of sleep training back in December, but she'd just cry hysterically and I couldn't handle it. She was also going to start day care a month later and they wouldn't be able to enforce nap training, so we just let it go. She doesn't nap well at day care and think she may do better if she was nap trained, but we just don't have time to do it with both of us working full-time (and day care being unable to let her cry a bit before putting her down).
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this past week, i started putting L in his bassinet for naps awake, before that i would put him only when he already fell asleep on me or in the swing. today, he was completely wide awake, and i decided to experiment and just put him because i knew it was time for a nap. i turn on the sleep sheep, give him the paci, and hold his hands down for a minute so he doesn't pull put the paci (I can't swaddle him), then i see he relaxes a bit. i also sing to him for a minute. I left the room for 5 mins, came back to check and he was konked out! i was amazed. i have been doing this for bedtime too. next i am going to work on the same for afternoon naps.
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@twoofeverything: lol, wow, you have got it down pat! i would say i do something similar but i have put much less thought into it and less structured. but i don't have twins, haha!
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@twoofeverything: thanks! I definitely know LO's drowsy signals--he can usually only be up for 75 min tops! The new thing I'm doing is really trying to soothe him in his crib.
@PurpleUnicorn: I WISH I had started doing that when my LO was younger! Good for you! -
@twoofeverything: we did something similar to you for our LO
i found that if i was consistent over a few weeks, it got better as he got older by the time LO was about 3.5 months naps were a breeze and still are at 10 months! hehehe i LOVE your "dramatic entrance" at the end of the nap--- i do that too! it's like, "congratulations!! naptime is OVER!" haha -
@twoofeverything: @tysonja: ha I like that too! I'm going to start doing that
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my LO is 16 weeks and i did some nap training before she went to daycare. our nap training was very similar to @twoofeverything. the only thing i did differently was if LO was still crying hard 10 min after i put her down I'd pick her up and do the whole naptime routine again, which for us was hold LO, give her a paci for a couple minutes then put her back down. and i also only go in and end the nap after the 1.5 hour mark and never earlier. if she wakes up early i let her cry/fuss for 10-15 min. if she's still crying after that, i either end the nap depending on how long she was sleeping, or i would give her a paci. she eventually learned to put herself back to sleep with her thumb so i haven't had to comfort her in the middle of a nap for awhile.
i think my main philosophy is that in order for them to learn to self soothe they have to be given the opportunity to learn (i know and understand other parents may think differently). so as much as i hate listening to LO cry, i knew she had to learn. I even had to turn the monitor down a couple times because it was sad. but now she is an awesome napper. she doesn't need the routine anymore, i just put her in the crib, she finds her thumb and falls asleep. even at daycare she sleeps about 4 hours during the day which is alot better than i was expecting. they even comment how well she can put herself to sleep. so its hard, but so worth it in the end!
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@twoofeverything: if your LOs sleep for the full hour, do you ever wake them up with a dramatic entrance or do you only do the dramatic entrance when they wake on their own? like are you training to nap for a specific length of time? I always let L nap for as long as he wants, which is never really longer than 2 hours, often less. but i wonder if i should do something different with regards to length?
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@PurpleUnicorn: i can't answer for twoofeverything, but for us, we let LO sleep as long as he wanted to (within reason) and when he woke up i would do the dramatic entrance
not so much to wake him up (i think he would've been startled/scared) but more to teach him that mommy and daddy decided when it was time to get out of the crib LOL and that time was *now*! hahah... p.s. for us the dramatic entrance wasn't necessarily loud, but just happy--- songs, clapping, cheers, smiles and cuddles
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@tysonja: ah ok. i guess i sort of do that too because when he wakes, i go to him right away and scoop him up and talk to him. i don't leave him in there awake after a nap.
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@kodybear: that's great that she's so good! Listening to them cry really is so sad...LO was hoarse and coughing today after last night/his first nap this morning...I couldn't handle it so we did something different for his 2nd nap. I put him in the crib after our routine, and stayed in the room. I shushed him from the glider, and replaced the paci if necessary and patted him on the tummy. It took a half hour, but he fell asleep. And no crying, which is great.
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At the point I thought she needed nap training, DD went off to daycare. Within a few days, she has been napping like a champ there...and it has carried over into the weekend naps as well. Just one of the few perks of daycare I suppose...I hope this lasts...
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@Tidybee: ack that is awesome...definitely a perk!
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@hilsy85: yay!! Awesome!! Don't u wish our LOs could put the paci in their mouth (or keep it in at least) without our help? That would make sleep trainin so much easier. But it sounds like u have a great nap training plan!
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We're nap training along with sleep training. Yesterday was bad, today is better. We're doing extinction method same as sleep training. He's also sick with teething. Once the teething gets better, he'll sleep better through the night. He's sleeping we'll, just not great yet at a week in.
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@kodybear: yes! And now he actually pulls it OUT of his mouth! So silly.
I hope the transition goes easily for A!
i found that if i was consistent over a few weeks, it got better as he got older Reply
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