Save the nap!!!

[newmamalizzy]

Still struggling with naps over here w/my now 5 month old. Things have gotten a little better, but now I have a new question:

So, our typical sequence during the day is active time - quiet time - prenap time - nap time. Let's say I get DD up to prenap time. She's soooo sleepy and her little eyes start to clooooose, then - BAM. They're open again. We try several more times, but those eyes refuse to stay closed. What's the best way to salvage the nap without getting DD too overtired to sleep? Do I...

A. Briefly re-engage her in active play then progress through quiet time and prenap time again?
B. Step back into quiet time until she's ready to try sleeping again?
C. Keep trying to get her to sleep without leaving the bedroom?
D. Give up on this nap entirely and just wait for the whole sequence of events to happen again in a little while?
E. Other

I've been opting for B, and it does work, albeit very slowly. I end up spending upwards of 1.5 hrs getting her down for one 40 minute nap. Blah!

[Knitting Mama]

Have you tried different ways to get her from pre-nap to nap, like bouncing, walking around in a wrap/carrier, car, swaddle?

[Tway]

When DD does the close/open eyes thing, I put my nose between her eyes or kiss her between the eyes until she keeps them closed. She seems to need some encouragement to cut off the world for awhile. I've also discovered that I can tuck her back in against my chest and hold her that way, and she'll usually fall asleep in a few minutes. Took me 10 months to figure that one out, though!

[jsh7809]

Mine does the same thing, she's just super alert and likes to be LOOKING all of the time during the day. I've found that she needs to suck to fall asleep (though not nurse, so I give her my fingers to suck on), so that + white noise + rocking or swinging or snuggling seems to help. But sometimes it just won't happen. She is a BIG sleep fighter.
Whenever I seem to have a handle on her sleep patterns, she switches them up. So I don't know if I have a recommendation, exactly, except that I typically keep trying for 20-30 minutes if I'm pretty sure she's sleepy (i.e., she's yawning, rubbing her eyes, etc) but at a certain point I do give up and wait until the next sleepy signs, or I try another way of helping her calm down.
If I give her my fingers to suck on and her eyes start closing and rolling back in her head, I figure she'll fall asleep soon, even if she fights it and it takes awhile. If she stays pretty alert with open eyes, I usually go back to playing with her.
Oh, the naps!!

[texmati]

we do a or d. it seems to work better and less frustrating for all of us.

[newmamalizzy]

Originally Posted by jsh7809

Oh, the naps!!

Tell me about it. Your LO sounds a lot like mine. I guess they'll outgrow it eventually (like, by the time they're 12).

[newmamalizzy]

Originally Posted by Tway

When DD does the close/open eyes thing, I put my nose between her eyes or kiss her between the eyes until she keeps them closed. She seems to need some encouragement to cut off the world for awhile. I've also discovered that I can tuck her back in against my chest and hold her that way, and she'll usually fall asleep in a few minutes. Took me 10 months to figure that one out, though!

This sometimes works for us, too - that is, if she isn't rubbing her eyes and kicking around so frantically that she bats my face away. It's a great point, though - it took her four months to learn that she could control her hands and feet. I don't think she realizes that she can deliberately close her eyes when she's tired instead of waiting until she gets so sleepy they close on their own.

[jsh7809]

Originally Posted by newmamalizzy

Tell me about it. Your LO sounds a lot like mine. I guess they'll outgrow it eventually (like, by the time they're 12).

Our kids should hang out and NOT nap together. Maybe we can send them off to summer camp together when they're 12 (an arts camp, no doubt - all that looking and sensitivity must mean that they're going to have artistic souls, right?) and then we can finally nap...

[newmamalizzy]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama

Have you tried different ways to get her from pre-nap to nap, like bouncing, walking around in a wrap/carrier, car, swaddle?

And more. Some of these have worked in the past, over the past day or two absolutely NOTHING I do seems to work and poor baby is exhausted and frustrated. I'm starting to wonder if she'll have to learn to put herself to sleep w/o my help. I feel so awful that I can't find the right thing to help her