Nap Time

Sarah - posted on 12/10/2008

The book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" really helped me. Yes, the book does have some information on crying it out, but that's not all. It gives times during the day that are baby's natural sleep times. I followed these times and my son is on a great naptime routine. Check it out.

Nikki - posted on 12/08/2008

Both of my kids were in routines from day one, with the occassional blip. I know I was incredibly lucky, and a lot of my friends resented me for it as they had so many problems. Try something simple to start with, so you always have something to move on to if it doesn't work. We always had feed, play, (bath at night time) nappy change, read a story, then into bed with a music box. I think, from memory, they were up for about 1 1/2 hours, and down for about 3, along with sleeping 13 hours at night.

Diana - posted on 12/08/2008

I started my little one on a regular schedule since she was 3 months old as I started running a home day care. She is my first baby, and dont have family near by. So I just grabbed a book on sleep habits and followed it like a bible. It worked out great for me personally!
So, since she was very little, she needed to nap every 1 and a half hours and let her sleep all she wanted, however the book I read said that if she woke up before 45 min she was still tired and I should not grab her... cat naps are the same as no naps at all...
then if she slept over an hour, and woke up I would get her and wait an hour and a half and again down to nap.
I did this until she was about 8 months then I changed to 2 naps, every 2 hours -2 and a half and she would go down for a nap
And I just recently changed her at 15 months to only one nap per day, but this time I have her scheduled naps. she always naps at 12 and goes down at 7 for her bed time, regarless of how much or how little she naps.. Becuase she learned to nap so well since she was really little, she naps 2 or 3 hours everyday.

Scheduling your baby to have good sleep habits will help them develop and give you some time to spend either with your other kids or just be by yourself. I know people who didnt have their babies on nap routines, and as they get older they just wished they had.

It was really hard for me at the beginning becuase I had to let her cry until she fell asleep but soon she learned to fall asleep by herself, I would have to get out of the house and leave my husband at home, since guys usually dont mind babie's cry as much as moms do. But she learned in like a week, and she naps very well now... One thing, if you let her cry, dont go and pick her up, becuase you are just "torturing" her for nothing... If you go pick her up after 10 -15 min, you are letting her cry for nothing and reinforcing the behaviour (crying) for you to go get her.

I hope it helps...

ps. When I didnt have my husband I would go to a place where I wouldnt be able to listen to her and have the monitor showed me the lights when she cried... I didnt have to hear her which is very heart breaking, but I still knew if she was still crying or if she had actually fallen asleep by looking at the monitor.

Kids that nap are overall healtier and happier than kids that dont nap

Ashley - posted on 12/07/2008

I think these moms already gave some great suggestions... I just wanted to offer some support :) I am not big on scheduling when they are so little (then again, I am fortuante that my children both started sleeping 8+ hours a night before they were 6 weeks old) so don't feel bad if you don't have it down with him yet. My son is 13 weeks and has had some changes in his napping patterns... I think they just need some time to build consistency. Is there anything that never fails to put him to sleep? My little guy is a big cuddler... he takes his last bottle at about 7:00 and then I get him in his jammies, give him his paci and we snuggle up on the bed about 7:30-8pm. I hold him very close and he always falls right to sleep. Maybe you can try some soothing methods to get hm calm and sleepy during the day??

Samantha - posted on 12/07/2008

Thank you ladys for all of the tips and advice!! :)

AshLee - posted on 12/07/2008

I have an 15 month old that sometimes if we are lucky a 45 min nap. We have tried several things but nothing has worked. We asked the doctor and he told us some children just don't need as much sleep as others. Of course then we don't get much done!!

Brandee - posted on 12/07/2008

My little girl is close to 7 months and she has gone from regular napping to irregular to no naps back to schedule-type napping and back and forth again! She's fairly unpredictable and some days will nap twice for an hour or two each nap and then the next day she'll skip around with 30 min. naps. And she's exhausted! Pink rimmed eyes, cranky as all get out and yet won't let go. I just try to remember that she's feeling worse than I am and accept where she's at and be with her.

Kim - posted on 12/07/2008

$ months old is still a little young to have a rigid routine for naps. But it is a great time to start the routine so that by 5 months he will be used to it. Ususally babies this age can only stay up for about 1.5 hours and then they need to be put down for a nap. So He will most likely be taking 3-4 naps a day and they may only be for about 1-1.5 hours. babies this age also should be put don for the night sooner rather thatn later. I.E. between 7-8 pm. This will help him to get a good nights sleep and have a regular time to wake up. After he is up in the am for about 1-1.5 hours start your routine. Make it short and quieting. Then lay him in his crib and say"good night". It usually takes children just 3 days to learn a routine so if you are consistent over the 3 days, he will get the idea. ALso try not to pick him up out of the crib, soothe him as needed until he falls asleep. He may only sleep 1/2 hour at first but as long as you are consistent, he will eventually consolidate his sleeep into manageable naps. Hope this helps!

Laura - posted on 12/07/2008

My son has never, and continues to not be a napper (except at daycare for some reason). At about 7 months I started giving him set naps, 2 a day, we had the same routine everyday and it took about 1 month of 5-10 min. naps but he did build up to about 2 45 mins. naps a day.... this was great for me, as he never napped before. I feel very jealous of those moms who have babies that nap, but I figure that hopefully my second will nap. He is now 15months and naps once a day for about 1 1/2 hours, so hopefully it will workout for you.

Cindy - posted on 12/07/2008

Well, I think at 4 months babies dont always quite have their routine yet. And if he is sleeping good at night, then maybe he just doesnt need naps...or is he really cranky during the day? My daughter is 10 months now, and she has always needed a lot of sleep, and still takes about 3 naps during the day as well as sleeping about 11 hours at night. It took her a while to come to a full routine, but your baby will let you know when he is ready to sleep. If you really want him on a routine, with naptime during the day, I would say choose a time where he is usually his fussiest, make sure he is well fed, and just put him to bed. Let him cry a little if that's what he does, because he needs to get used to it. If he just keeps crying, but is happy to be up, then he just doesnt need his naps. Just give it a try over a few days, and just stick with the same time. Good luck