Getting a 3 month old to nap in a tiny, squeaky house with a 3-year-old...

[malayasmommy]

So the title explains it all...my son is in a great morning naptime routine--basically I nurse him to sleep, transfer him to the co-sleeper (heating pad on, swaddled) and he sleeps for about an hour.  My 3-year-old daughter needs a breathing treatment in the AM's, so I time her nebulizer (also her 1 TV show per day) with that and it works pretty well because she's occupied.  The rest of the day, I can tell he's tired at times so I'll do the same routine sans the 3-year-old in front of the boob tube.  Inevitably she drops something, or screams, or says something to wake him up either during the transfer to the co-sleeper or else once he's in the co-sleeper.  If it's not my daughter waking him up, it's our hardwood floors from the 1950's--the tiniest little noise and he's wide awake.  However he DOES sleep well in the baby swing which I HATE!!!!  But dang it, my 3-year-old needs attention and the baby needs sleep so I'm at a loss.  I know he'll outgrow the swing, and I know it's just bad in general so I need to find another solution, but I don't know what else to do to meet everyone's needs.

My husband has a hard time getting him to sleep at night as well.  I work 3 evenings per week, and while I can just nurse him to sleep and he's out like a light it doesn't work as well for hubby.  My son doesn't take a pacifier, and my husband lets my son "nurse" his finger but he still is awake for 30-45 min.  Out of desperation, my husband will sometimes cave and let him fall asleep in the swing.

I carry my son a lot, and he does pass out in that but not for very long as--again--my 3-year-old wakes him up.

I've read "No Cry Sleep Solution" and she recommends putting them down without nursing, awake but sleepy, but he has NEVER gone to sleep that way.  And I don't have all day to play with this, having a 3-year-old who needs my attention too.

My 3-year-old has been a challenging sleeper, and I desperately want to avoid some of the mistakes we made with her.  (i.e. swing, endless amts of time spend on the bedtime routine).  My husband works days, I work evenings, so we are always alone with the kids during the week so we don't have the option of one parent taking one child.

Thanks for reading this long, rambling message.  Appreciate any help.  Thank you so much!!!!

[Snapdragon]

why is the swing bad? I used one with my ds for months when he was little- it worked great for us- every daytim nap for months, and helped establish a good napping routine for him.  When he got too big for the swing we started nappong him in his sidecarred crib and it was an easy transition. Also, I would say if you can cut yourself slack, maybe you could give the 3 yr old more TV time for the baby's second nap too. sometimes you just have to do whatever works!! just my opinion- that is what I would do.

[DaisyMae08]

Supposedly moving sleep is not as restorative as stationary sleep...but it's certainly better than no sleep! 

[lilikoi]

How about trying a white noise machine like this? I also live in a tiny place so I am considering getting one.

[malayasmommy]

Well the reason for the "swing bad" mentality is that, like I said my daughter doesn't have the best sleeping habits and we're trying to avoid another 3 years of extreme sleep deprivation.  :-)  Good point though, in that some sleep is better than no sleep even if he is moving!  (Which is also the concern, that it's just not as restorative.)  Also, what do we do when he IS too big?  Isn't it better to try other routes to sleep other than the swing so that it doesn't become a habit (and then we have to break it, but it's even harder because it's a routine) later? 

[DaisyMae08]

It sounds to me like he sleeps fine in the co-sleeper as long as you're the one to put him down and as long as your daughter isn't waking him?  If that's the case, then I don't think that the problem is maybe as bad as you think it is.  Half the time he's sleeping where you'd ultimately like him to.  I wouldn't worry too much about the naps in the swing - though the white noise machine is definitely worth a go if it's really just the noise that's making it difficult.  At night is your husband trying to put him down too early?  Would he go down easier if he were a little bit more tired?  If not, I would just try to encourage your husband to stick with it and not cave in.  Do you all have a good bedtime routine established?

[CookAMH]

White noise, or a fan on high, might help as others suggested.

[Snapdragon]

I was concerned about using the swing a lot when ds was little too. (we swaddled his top half in the swing and used a paci also)

I was concerned that perhaps the motion was bad for him, and also how will he ever sleep without it-

but in my experience, it simply set his pattern for a good two naps every day. Then when we transitioned him to the crib, we still kept the swaddle and paci, and also used singing and patting- and for us he went to it fine! I really did feel that simply getting his body used to those regular naps- even though they were in the swing- was good for him as now he is used to the napping and does well with it. We tried lots of other methods and went to the swing when it was the only thing that worked, but I finally gave into it and I did find that he seemed fully rested from those naps. Just my own experience with it.