What are you naps during the day like?

[engineer_mom]

Spin off post to the night sleep post!

Some naps my 7 wk old goes down for with minimum crying (rare!). Others...forget it! Yesterday she screamed for over an hour before finally settling down. I was ready to pull my hair out, especially because she screamed the past three days in the early afternoon. But she just can't be soothed to sleep when she starts showing signs of tiredness. ugh!

She actually nursed to sleep twice this week and I was sooo happy.

How on earth do you guys get your LO to sleep? A bouncy ball usually works & a sling and bouncy ball if she is tough.

[ChesapeakeBorn]

I was going to start this thread as the second installment, so I'm glad you did!

I'm sorry to hear about your LO's screaming sessions. I wonder if she is getting overly tired or stimulated?

We usually take 3-4 naps a day. Some days he goes down well in his co-sleeper other days he wants to nap near me. His first nap starts somewhere between 10am-11:30am and lasts for only 45min-1hr. His next nap starts around 1:30ish and that one can be up to 2.5 hours long. If not, he will take another nap around 5pm and that one can last up to 1.5 hours. Sometimes there is another short nap in there when he is in the swing or sling. Then he is down for the night between 8-9 depending on when he napped during the day.

We are on the go a lot, so often that first and/or second nap are in the carseat. Yesterday, they were both in his cosleeper. On those days when he doesn't want to nap in his bed, I always debate about whether I should keep trying to coax him back to sleep there or just put him in the sling and let him sleep with me (what I really want to do)...

[applecider]

We don't really have a nap schedule per say, but usually he's up at around 6-7 am. I get up with him, we hang out for maybe a half an hour (my internet time!) then he falls asleep while nursing or rocking (benefit of having a rocking chair at the computer desk). I then either hold him (more internet time!) or put him in his swing for a bit. He sleeps for maybe a half hour to an hour.

Throughout the day, he kind of cat naps, falls asleep nursing, if I hold him he'll sleep longer, but if I put him down he usually wakes up 10 minutes later. If he starts getting fussy, I'll put him in the moby for a good long nap. If we go anywhere in the car, he sleeps.

Then he usually takes a good nap in the after noon/evening time. I try to make sure he's not sleeping anywhere from 1-2 hours before bedtime which is 8pm for all of us around here. Then he nurses to sleep at bedtime and always falls asleep.

So far, so good (knock on wood!). I think I remember being much more stressed out about DS1's naps when he was this age, but now I'm more like, when he naps, he naps.

[engineer_mom]

I'm sorry to hear about your LO's screaming sessions. I wonder if she is getting overly tired or stimulated?

I've wondered if i miss the cues...but on almost every nap???
She's only awake for about 45 min before she yawns. Then if she falls asleep easily, its only for 5-10 min. Then she's awake for 10-20 min. Then she screams. ugh. Usually bouncing helps. Lately not even that has been working.

Some days he goes down well in his co-sleeper

How do you do that? When he is awake, drowsy, or sleeping??

[ChesapeakeBorn]

Originally Posted by engineer_mom

I've wondered if i miss the cues...but on almost every nap???
She's only awake for about 45 min before she yawns. Then if she falls asleep easily, its only for 5-10 min. Then she's awake for 10-20 min. Then she screams. ugh. Usually bouncing helps. Lately not even that has been working.

So, I'm just throwing some stuff out there that you've probably already tried, but just in case.... That falling asleep then waking up thing happens here too and sometimes I have found that he needs to get out another good burp - even if I burped him before putting him down. What happens if you don't pick her up when she wakes? Will she scream or drift back to sleep? It could just be that your LO needs help sleeping through that lighter sleep stage of her sleep cycle. She wakes up and doesn't know how to get back to sleep then she gets even more tired and screams? My DD use to wake up 20 minutes after I put her down without fail. I had to go in there and help her get back to sleep. Eventually her body learned to sleep through that part of her sleep cycle and she became a great napper. Or could your LO have reflux that wakes her up after you put her down and causes discomfort? Or maybe it is just a phase...

How do you do that? When he is awake, drowsy, or sleeping??

He's usually either drowsy or asleep when I put him down. Some days it is better to put him down drowsy and stand there while he falls asleep (no fussing). Other days, he'll perk right up when I do that, so I have to sway with him until he is good and asleep. If he stirs a bit after I put him down, I put my hands around him and he drifts back to sleep. If he wakes up more fully, I pick him up and sway with him some more. He's not usually crying during this time - just kinda fussy. Sometimes it takes a few attempts, other times it doesn't. I have noticed that if he falls asleep in my arms in a different room than where his cosleeper is, he is more likely to wake up when I put him down in the cosleeper than if he falls asleep when I am holding him in our bedroom. Strange.

[namistenicole]

Oy, I've got a screamer too. If I start the process before she's crazy tired it does help, but it doesn't eliminate it. It seems she needs to cry a little before sleeping. I dunno.

She's 11 weeks tomorrow and has been settling into a nap schedule. Morning nap 1.5 hours after waking. I usually have to bounce her on the edge of the bed until she falls asleep (crying!), then I lay her down and pat or nurse. She usually wakes after 20 minutes and I nurse her again. She'll sleep for an hour or so. Around noon she goes down for a second nap, and this is the long one - usually 3 hours - but she might wake a couple times in between. She'll either sleep in our bed our in her moby wrap (as she is right now). Then she'll go down for another nap in the afternoon (same method) for 30 minutes or so. Her wake cycles seem to be consistently around 90 minutes, getting tired about 10 minutes before that.

She's time intensive to get to sleep, but at least she stays asleep for a while. Her brother would take an hour to get to sleep and then only stay asleep for 20 minutes. Maddening!

[League_mama]

This boy 'wrap naps' mostly (in the Moby). DD did too for her first several months, can't remember how long, then as we gradually transitioned to a crib for nights and naps she gradually transitioned to bed sleeping. She always nursed to sleep after that, for two years. And she has always been a champion napper (3_ hrs still if I let her!). Maybe I'm lazy but it's just easier to wear him than fuss with getting him down (when I try he just wakes up like you guys said in 10 minutes--the burp thing is an idea, he has some deep burps). I found that gradually, as DD became less of a newborn and her reflexes (curled limbs, startle reflex) disappeared, she preferred napping out of the wrap. We'll see about him. But he sleeps most of the day, 2 hrs am (either car seat or wrap), 2-3 hrs afternoon, up briefly and then ideally again an hour or two in evening. It's bedtimes that are problematic. We go to bed late (too late) and he's usually overtired and a pill to get to sleep. My nipples are about to fall off before he finally crashes usually!

[engineer_mom]

Thanks for all the ideas, ChesapeakeBorn!
I find it truely amazing some babies can be put in the crib and they go to sleep with no screaming. wow...mindblowing to me! I'm definitly paying more attention to burping her before trying to put her to sleep. Hopefully that helps.

My LO goes straight from happy to screaming with no fussing in between. LOL Yesterday I was wondering about reflux because she kept spitting up and grimacing. Most of the time, though, when she spits up she doesn't appear disturbed. ahhh...and she's waking up now!