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BTW I wanted to add that it SUCKS! And I feel your pain. Good luck!

I would second the nursing at the beginning of the routine!

Another thing that helped us was to do a snack about an hour before nap...that filled their little bellies so that they weren't too interested in nursing/taking a bottle before naptime. Eventually, we just cut out the nursing because they were still full from their snack.

It may sound strange, but when I nap trained, also I started reading them the same book for every nap. I even have a little script: "It's time for nap. Let's put your sleep sack on!" I then give them their kisses and leave. We still read that book twice a day for naps. It's annoying, but it's definitely one of their cues.

We also did CIO for naps with checks at 3 mins, 5 mins, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes. I would let it go for an hour, and if they still weren't sleeping, we'd get up, play quietly, and maybe have a small bottle. Then we'd try again about 45 minutes later and they almost always fell right asleep.

GL! I agree with Trailmix that it shouldn't take too long if she's already putting herself to sleep at night.

We nap trained a few weeks after night time sleep training- we tried doing it all at once and it just wasn't working. And like you, nursing to sleep stopped working.

We do pretty much the same routine fr night and naps- change diaper, sleep sack on, read The Going to Bed Book, turn on the sound machine, hold her on my shoulder and sing twinkle twinkle, then abcs, then down into the crib and twinkle twinkle again with my hand on er tummy or head. Then I say "good night sweetheart. Have a good nap (or night), I'll see you when you wake up. Mommy loves you." I follow this exactly, though Dh has a different dog.

To transition to this I started doing the whole routine up to the song, but singing while I was nursing to sleep. Then I started nursing in the living room lights on, then the routine. I have to keep her awake while nursing or it makes it harder to fall asleep- I think it gives her a second wind. Since she already knew how to fall asleep at night, it really only took a day or two to get it. I didn't worry about nap length at first and they gradually lengthened on their own. We agreed we would go in after ten minutes of straight crying and it never got to that (it would be more like, cry 4 min, calm, whimper, cry 3 min, and so on).

It's still not perfect and she occasionally has naps she won't take or short naps, but it's much better than when we were nursing to sleep.

I nursed to sleep until about 3 weeks ago for naps and then decided I wanted to try to put her down awake (LO was almost 4 months then). I started with just the first Nap of the day cause that had been the best one. I kept everything the same: white noise, swaddle, nurse in her room but I stopped nursing when her eyes got heavy. Then I stood up, burped, put her in crib, patted tummy, kissed her and walked away. The first couple of days I let her cry for 5 minutes, then I went in and picked her up, burped her again then put her down. She always fell asleep before the 5 minute mark after that. We do all naps like this now and sometimes DH puts her down after I nurse in living room. Most times she goes right to sleep and other times she will only fuss for a minute or two. I still nurse to sleep at night but would like to stop that soon. Good luck to you. It might not be as bad as you think it will be. It was a lot easier for us!

We were in the same boat. DS loved to nurse and wouldn't let me put him in his crib...he'd cry and cry and cry. Sometimes he would cry for a full hour before I would go get him. It was like who had stronger backbone - him or me.

Ultimately, I did a very gradual approach. I wasn't for CIO completely after the first two days of hour-long crying but I wasn't for NTS forever either.

I made sure that LO wasn't hungry when we started the naptime or bedtime routine. So it would be either I nursed him when he woke (and if he refused, I just nursed him sometime during his wake time).

Then for bedtime or naptime, it was a routine we followed, but loosely:

-nursing (sometimes, depending on when he last ate)
-Sleepsack
-a short book or two
-hold him on my shoulder and humming Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Then while gently putting him in his crib, telling him "mommy loves you, god loves you"

And pray for the best.

The first week was brutal. I cried. I called my brother who has two kids. I emailed friends for advice. I panicked. I dreaded. I was on the internet researching researching and researching.

In the end, the first week was just brutal but after that week, it gradually got better. Less crying and LO was able to fall asleep on his own.

Now, i can't say it was like magic...put him in his crib and he won't cry at all and go right to sleep. That doesn't happen still. But from 1 hour long cries to either 5 min of fussing (on a good day) or 20 min of crying (on a bad day)...

I have my sanity back.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions! and hang in there, mommy. I hated hearing the words "consistent" and "routine" and would secretly hate on mommy's whose babies went right to sleep. BUT you will get there...it will happen. Just keep doing it and she will learn.

And on the times or days when it simply is not working for you, take a deep breath, get your baby, and try again in 30-45 min. Believe in yourself and stick it out. Its so hard but stick it out.

@heartonastring: good job mama! You got some great advice here and it sounds like you're off to a great start :). My only advice is to try to be consistent as possible and give her a chance to work it out...of course use your best judgment and comfort her if she needs it. I think separating eating and sleeping is a good great idea since it's no longer working. Good luck!

@heartonastring: Yay!! Great updates. C still cries sometimes before naps but now that she can fall asleep all our lives are so much better. Except when she's teething but that's another story...

I haven't read everyone else's responses but I can say, my 8 month old is now one of those magical babies that I leave the room and she plays for 10 mins with her lovey then rolls over and goes to sleep. We just nap trained a week or two ago at the insistence of my Isis consultant as separation anxiety is about to set in.

So what I would say is do CIO with checks IF the checks aren't making her more upset (ie if separation anxiety hasn't already set in). We basically did extinction but she never got THAT upset.. if she was hyperventilating or going nuts, I'd go in and pt her back or pick her up for like 30 seconds and say "You have to take a nap now sweetie" and put her back down, but I think I did that once in the week it took for her to figure it out. She still cries sometimes before naps, today she cried for maybe 15 mins before her afternoon nap and I just left her in there and she eventually gave up and fell asleep.

Good luck!!!

@heartonastring: I am looking to start nap and night training too so I have been following this post. What exactly did you do?

Yaaaay!