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We check/change his diaper, read 2-3 books on a floor pillow while he snuggles his lovey and then we turn off the lights, turn on the white noise, put him in the crib and walk out. We've been doing this since 3.5 months.

We do a diaper change, story, and rock. I have to hold her for a while... definitely more than 15 minutes... for her to stay down. We're just coming out of a phase where she just wouldn't nap in the crib no matter when or how I put her down. I just held her through lots of naps and she grew out of it.

@Natalily: 4 months. She would take excellent naps in her crib for a while, but I think the 4 month sleep regression got us. We just keep trying to put her down every day, even if its hit and miss. I usually hold her for at least one nap a day so she's sure to get one good one.

Do you put him in the crib fully asleep? I have found that it helps my LO stay asleep when he falls asleep by himself in the crib. I have been working on the routine and tweaking it since he was 6 weeks.

We usually do a diaper change if needed, turn on the fan for white noise, then swaddle while singing twinkle twinkle little star. Now I can leave the room and he will fall asleep by himself. But before he learned how to fall asleep by himself, I would rock him until drowsy and then lay him in he crib. If he stirred, I would place my hand on his chest and apply a bit of pressure. Sometimes that would be enough. If he starts crying, I would rub his chest and shush him until he fell back asleep. Then I would hang out for 5 to 10 minutes in his room and rub and shush him back to sleep if he stirred and started crying. If he could stay down for at least 10 minutes then he would usually continue to stay down for a decent nap. It's a bit labour intensive but it worked for us.

Routine, shmoutine. DD is a short napper no matter what we do. She goes down for 30 minutes and then pops back up wide awake. She almost always needs to be rocked down 100% -- either in the glider or by putting her in the ergo or the stroller and going for a walk. When she naps in her crib, I rock her down, then place her in her crib w/ her white noise sleep sheep on.

LO is 5 months. I read her a book or two while lying down on my bed, and sing her a few songs. Then i swaddle her, turn on the sound machine and rock her for a few minutes while singing our usual sleep song and then out her in her crib. I have to admit, she has been a great napper since around 3 months.

Diaper change, then close light and blinds. He drinks milk if he wants while I read a story. I put him down awake after that. He's much older now and was when I started. Before that we were more in your situation and suffered more and more as he got older. The nap routine was a hard one to establish, but it became a lifesaver once it stuck.

I hope you can find something that works for you so you can both finally get a break. ((hugs))