cat-napper

[jerabelle]

any help from those of you who have or had a cat-napper and how you handled it??

DS is 5mo and refuses to nap in crib - or really anywhere for that matter - only naps for 5 to 10 min, unless he falls asleep in car or while being held/nursed.  we know he's tired and would love to be able to lay him down for a few naps/day.  he's a great night sleeper, but not so much during the day.

ideas?

suggestions?

advice?

THANK YOU!!

[31rubies]

Wish there was an answer!  All of my children have been hard to get to nap by themselves!

[Knitting Mama]

The only suggestion I have is to get into wearing him so you can still do stuff while he's sleeping or see if he likes the swing. My daughter wouldn't sleep anywhere but on me for the first 4 months of her life, and after that she would only sleep on me or in the swing (motion really helped). Now, at 9 months, she will sleep in the bed. It's just a slowish process getting her to do something different for sleep.

[newsolarmomma2]

I have a cat napper!!!! he is 5mo and would NOT nap more than 10-15min here and there. he does sleep all night,6-6, but the lack of daytime naps makes him a MAJOR crab! But, I found a solution!

When he is tired during the day, we now swaddle him, put him in our bed or his,, and feed him- hes out in less than 3min! Best part, he gets a good hour or two. The difference is that when his arms are free, they flail and wake him up constantly, so he never gets to fall into a deep enough sleep- everything will wake him up if hes not sleeping deeply!

Warning- my son HATES when we put the swaddle on, and may fight it, scream or wail. Its hard to hear. But once its on, you can see him visibly relax, I swear he would thank me if he could. if hes not too crabby he will smile real big, them conk out. (he is a VERY fussy baby btw). he wears it at night, so we should have tried it in the day sooner.

You can buy velcro ones or use a blanket. He is getting too big for the swaddles we bought, the weight limit is 17 and hes 21.5, but without it he sleeps so poorly. I cant say it will work for everyone, but its works for us.

[hapi2help]

Meow! I have a kitty too!

DD is 6mo and I can get her to nap in her cosleeper for short times but nothing substantial. I just know it gets better. My ds was a kitty too but I persistently kept at it. I *needed* to be away from him for a bit. He got better eventually, around 9 mo or so.

[31rubies]

I bought some big muslim swaddling blankets from Target last night.  I am going to wash them now and try swaddling my little one tomorrow.  He is a big boy, and regular receiving blankets are getting too small, he has actually been unwrapping himself a while now.   He is only 6 weeks old, so I'm worried now that he won't sleep long unless I am holding/nursing him or he is right beside me in his bouncer.  But with 4 children, I do hope he will nap well when he gets a bit older!