What is your naptime routine?

[Bliss]

I know we have posted about this w. bedtime, but I am curious to see what everyone does for naptime. Dylan will not go to sleep unless I am sitting in a chair next to the crib, but he can put himself to sleep as long as I am there. He seems to be dropping his 3rd nap of the day (or really resisting it) and I am starting to think about sleep training him so that he can fall asleep w/out me sitting there. I dont really have a set naptime for him, basically he takes a nap in the morning (about 2 hrs after he gets up) and now he does one in the late afternoon. But getting him to actually sleep is hard, he loves to try and get my attention since I am sitting there. I think it actually makes it harder for him to go to sleep. This afternoon I had to sit for 1 1/2 hours and he only took a 20 minute nap :eek: Just curious to see what everyone else does :)

[Lindzee82]

Hey there!

We are still keeping Matthew on a 2-hour schedule. So, 2 hours after he wakes up we start his naptime routine. This is only for the hours between 7 and 4. He wont nap after 4. So, usually he only takes 2 naps a day right now. What we do is go into his bedroom and close the door. He gets a new diaper and depending on the weather either gets into his sleep sack, just a onesie, or just a diaper. Then we sit in the glider and I nurse him for as long as he wants, then burp, then nurse on the other side, and burp. Then we grab a book from his shelf, I give him his bink and his Taggie and we sit in the glider and I read him the book. Then, I hold him really close and sing our ninight song. Then I lay him in his crib with his bink and Taggie. I put his TY Beanie Baby next to him. I wind up his musical bear and put that on the changing table next to the crib. I close the blinds and turn the fan on high (mostly for white noise). I say goodnight and I close the door. Sometimes that is all it takes and he will put himself right to sleep. If he starts crying really, really hard I will go in his room put him back on his back, replace his bink and Taggie, rewind his bear and leave the room without talking to him. I will do this as many times as it takes. I do not let him cry himself to sleep. If he is just fussing I will let him be. He will usually wear himself out. Sometimes it takes him 5 minutes to go to sleep, sometimes (like yesterday) it takes him an hour. But, he needs his nap and I will do all I can for however long it takes to get him to sleep on his own. Once he falls asleep his morning nap is usually about 50-60 minutes and his afternoon nap is averaging about 2 hours lately.

Hope that helps! Good luck. I can't imagine having to sit in Matthew's room for that long. You are such a great mom! Are you able to sneak out of his room if he turns towards the wall or anything? Have you ever tried just laying him down and leaving the room right away? I know it is very hard to hear them cry. I didn't start my own modified "sleep training" until about a month or so ago. Before that I would nurse and rock Matthew to sleep for as long as it took. Then, he would sleep 20 minutes top. It was awful. The day I started letting him fall asleep on his own his naps immediately went to over an hour long. It was amazing how well it worked. Of course somedays we have our setbacks when he refuses to nap at all no matter what I do, but for the most part our routine and schedule works great and it makes for a much happier baby and mommy! :)

[Kanga]

We have not sleep trained for npas as she is usually easy to get down for a nap. We follow a 3 hr rule, except for her first nap which is 2hrs after she wakes. We change into a fresh diaper, give her a paci, play the music on her aquarium, and hold and walk with her until she's out. We hold her the same exact way each time. Usually she's out in less than 5 minutes. If she doesn't calm down and is trying to squirm all over the place, we put her in the crib to "get all the wiggles out" as we call it. When she starts fussing I go back in and repeat. I refuse to let her CIO.

[Bliss]

Thanks for the responses! It is really helpful to see what everyone else does. So here is what I did today, I am trying some new techniques :) to see if they help. Dylan was up at around 8a, at 10a I brought him upstairs, changed his diaper, read a book and rocked him (this is new, I ususally just lay him down) and then put him in his crib. I stayed in the chair next to the crib, and he put himself to sleep and slept for an hour. The morning nap is usually the one he is OK with for whatever reason, but the rocking/reading seemed to help him relax and get calm, he wasnt moving all over in his crib like he usually does.

Then at 230p he finally seemed tired, eye rubbing etc so I took him upstairs, changed diaper, rocked and read, put him in the crib. I think I should have gone up 30 mins earlier, since I could tell he was tired (his eyes were closing when I rocked him) but once in the crib he was all over the place and couldnt get to sleep. So instead of just sitting there, I took him out, rocked him again, and he fell asleep in my arms- I laid him down and snuck out, and he stayed asleep. So I think I am going to try and "help" him get to sleep to set up some kind of pattern to his naps before trying to put him down and leave the room.

I dont think CIO will work w. Dylan, he is very attached to me (doesnt even like others holding him) and he gets so worked up if I leave the room when he is in his crib he cries until he hyperventilates. Even me going in there and soothing w.out picking him up doesnt work, he just screams until I pick him up. Its horrid for him and for me, and does not ever seem to lead to sleep, unless you count him getting exhausted from crying and passing out in my arms after I pick him up.

Thanks Lindzee, I felt like I was going nuts sitting in there for that long, but I knew he was tired and he wouldnt sleep w.out me there. The sleep is as important for mommy as it is for baby :)

[Lindzee82]

Glad yesterdays naps seemed to go better. I think that helping him get to sleep while still establishing a routine is a great idea! Good luck!

[girlygirl_7]

I have 2 kids (1.5 years and 5 months). Both pretty much take 2 naps a day. My older one goes down in the AM about 2 hours after he wakes and he sleeps for 2 hours usually. He goes down in the afternoon around 3PM and sleeps another 2 hours. I have tried to move him to one nap now that he is older, but he still needs and likes 2. My daughter is younger. I try to keep them on the same nap schedule so that I can get some alone time, but it doesn't always work for her. She still falls asleep a little more, and in the car, stroller, etc.

I have sort of "trained" them just to go to sleep on their own, both for naps and night time. So it is really never an issue to get them to sleep. It seems like maybe your son is getting so tired in the afternoon that he is too tired and has a harder time falling asleep?? Maybe you should try a bit earlier. Also, you probably saw this, but on Dr. Phil I saw a segment about sleep training in a more gentle way for mom's who don't want to let baby CIO. This woman was saying to start out in the chair right next to the crib for a few days, and then move the chair further away from the crib, like near the door to baby's room. Do that for a few days, and then try just laying baby down and leaving. Maybe the gradual technique would work for you. Good luck.

[ginadc]

We don't have a huge nap routine either. Annika usually sleeps in her swing during the day--if I put her down to nap in her crib, she'll nap, but for a much shorter time than in her swing. So I'll generally just put her down with her binkie and a lovey (which sometimes takes the form of a burp cloth--kid loves the things!), turn on the swing, and if it's timed right (i.e., usually between 1 hr. 50 minutes and 2 hrs. 5 minutes, give or take, from her last nap), she'll generally go out pretty easily.

If, however, I let it go too long...then it's Nap Wars!