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9/12/11 at 7:03pm
Thread Starter 

DD is 20 1/2 mos old and we've always had a bit of tough time with her and sleeping.  However, if we follow our instincts and meet her needs (plus lots of help from this forum and fantastic books!), we typically figure out a routine that works for her.

 

As a background- she is down to one afternoon nap per day, typically starting around noon, and about a month ago she would sleep 2-3 hours fairly consistently.  Our naptime routine was after lunch we'd read books, listen to relaxing music, nurse and if she didn't fall asleep nursing, I would wear her in a front carry in the mei tai, bouncing on an athletic ball, until she fell asleep.  I'd then transfer her to our bed.  She has fallen asleep either nursing or "bouncing" in the carrier pretty much since birth.

 

A little over a month ago we started transitioning her to her own bed- a twin mattress on the floor next to our king mattress.  This went way better than we thought- she had about a week of some difficulties transitioning, but mostly because she was so excited to have her own bed.

 

We had about a week of resuming back to normal when the first trimester symptoms hit me pretty hard (I'm currently 9 weeks pregnant).  By the time naptime rolled around, I was so sick and exhausted, I decided I better start laying down with her to rest and not do the "bouncing" anymore.  I also figured this would be a good time to transition out of that routine anyway since pretty soon the baby bump would be prohibitive to the front carry (back carry NEVER worked for getting her down).

 

Again, we had about a week of difficulty transitioning, which I expected, then we had almost a week of "normal" napping.  For the past 4-5 days, things have gone downhill.  When we get to her bed, she gets very fidgety, sometimes refuses to nurse and cuddle and is constantly struggling to get up and crawl around.  My one "rule" with new naptime is that she has to lay down, she doesn't have to sleep, but just rest.  So, as she is trying to get up/crawl/etc,  I start out calmly saying "no, no, it's naptime, lay down and rest" and lay her back down.  Of course my patience gets thin quickly and pretty soon I'm saying firmly (and even yelling) "NO NO, NAPTIME, THAT'S ENOUGH!"  This of course results in a lot of crying, wanting to cuddle but not wanting to cuddle, then resuming the wiggles. She ends up either crying herself to sleep on my shoulder or eventually dozing while I'm dozing, but never getting more than 45 min of sleep.

 

I feel HORRIBLE.  The past couple of days while DH was home, she would cry and cling to him at naptime.  Today I was gone for work so DH watched her and used the "old" method of bouncing to sleep, she was out in minutes and stayed asleep for almost 2 hours.  So I know she's not ready to give up nap yet, I'm sure it's just a transition issue fueled by the monster-tired-sick-preggo mommy that seems to come out at naptime. :(

 

This is such unfamiliar territory for me.  We've always taken her lead with sleep; this is the first time that I've made changes based on MY needs, not hers.

 

Here's the meat of it: Ultimately, I need her to go to sleep for nap in her own bed without wearing her/bouncing her to sleep first.  Ideally it would be nice to do a routine, put her in bed awake and have her fall asleep on her own, but I'm not expecting miracles here.  I'm fine with being with her, napping with her, whatever it takes.

 

Here are the big questions: Since the new routine seems to be failing miserably, should I go back to the old routine until the baby bump is too big and then try the transition again, only with some new strategies?  Or do I stick to my guns and keep on with the new routine?  And if I keep on with the new routine, how do I make it more bearable for both of us?

 

"The No-Cry Nap Solutions" is on the way to my house as we speak, but I would sincerely appreciate any advice that you wise mamas have to give.  And thanks for reading through my entire rambly thread! :)

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