Nap help

[Mommy2Haley]

I need help. I hate admitting it but I need help!!

DD is 14 months and for 95% of the naps she's taken in her short life they've been at the breast. She falls asleep at the breast and stays there for the duration. It just worked out that she would sleep longer at the breast and I got some computer time (essential when you're in graduate school!).

I don't necessarily have a problem with continuing this but I'm looking ahead to the future. I'm going back to work in September and then doing my student teaching (meaning daycare for DD) in January (which will last 16 weeks). So, I need to get her to sleep on her own and fall asleep on her own.

She's begun sleeping longer stretches at night (3ish hours) and now I can nurse her to sleep for naps and put her down in her crib. Naps range from 20-45-90 minutes (although the 90 minute mark is RARE). I KNOW she can do it!

I'm sure nap LENGTH will come in time but I guess my biggest issue is getting her to sleep. Any suggestions for a GENTLE way to get her to learn to fall asleep on her own?

(Small tanget here -- these are the moments I wish I had taught her to fall asleep on her own as a tiny baby -- but is that even possible?)

I also need some suggestions for pre-bed routines. We had tried routines and an early bedtime when she was younger and it didn't work so we ditched it all and let her stay up until she shows signs of being tired. Now she goes to bed anywhere between 7:30pm and 9:30pm. Our "routine" right now consists of dinner, play time, bath, nursing (and hopefully sleep). (FYI I don't get home from class until 7 on Tu,W,& TH <--I need dinner before I can tend to bedtime)

Sorry for the disjointed post. I'm trying to include all pertinent info

[Nonie's mom]

I'm glad you posted this. I was just about to post a sorta similar question. I have a 20mo old who does not fall asleep without being nursed down....with the exception of in the car occasionally.
I don't really mind spending an half hour or more getting her to sleep, but it would be nice if she would just lay down and go to sleep. That is so out there, I know now that I have typed it but I can still ask it. I watched John and Kate plus 8 the other day and she put all 6 of her LO to bed and turned the lights out and closed the door and that was nap time. I thought, man wouldn't that be nice. So, not to threadnap (no pun intended lol) or anything but I will be awaiting answers too.
I am a sahm and honestly don't have school or work or anything else to do but laying there 2-3 times a day for 45 minutes for the last 20 months adds up to a lot of time I could be sewing or something. That sounded selfish but I hope someone knows what I mean. I think I created a monster, that all there is to it.

[Mommy2Haley]

I'm glad (and sad) that we're in the same situation. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE nursing her to sleep and knowing that she's happy, safe, and secure. I'm just worried that if I keep doing it this way then she'll be shell shocked when things change .. or it'll be a faster transtition than I'd like to give her.

Oh, to be able to put her in her bed, turn off the light, and walk away. Wow. I've done that before ... when she was already FAST asleep. I've also put her in her bed and walked away to listen to her cry -- but only so I could pee!

Anyone have help for us? PLEASE

[gingerbane]

The way I helped the baby sleep on her own was this. She would eat until she was full and slightly drowsy. I would walk around with her more until she was more drowsy. Then I would gently lay her down. She usually has this immediate fussy reaction that last all of 5 seconds and then goes to sleep. If she starts crying or seriously fussing, I pick her up and repeat all the steps (I had to repeat a lot when we first did this). Also, sometimes I will lie with her until she falls asleep. In this case she will play with her feet, then suck her thumb while kicking, then eventually drift off to sleep. My boob is always right there in case she wants that too.

Now, she is very good about naps. Sometimes she naps for an hour, sometimes for four.

Hope this helps.

[go0ber]

do you have a rocking chair? dh and i just invested in this super nice solid oak rocking chair and it works like a charm. you can even go to a thrift store and get one if you don't have a budget for a new one too! i see them at thrift stores a lot. a few times at night dh has rocked ds to sleep to the point where he is conked out. he sleeps very lightly in the day. and then dh takes ds to bed and snuggles ds up to his arm which dh loves since ds ALWAYS rolls to me in the middle of the night since that's where his food is. it makes for a nice moment for them and then i usually stay up a half hour or hour later on the computer or reading and then i get a break!

the thing about the chair is that even if she becomes dependent on that, other people will be allowed to rock her and get her to sleep.

also ds sometimes fights us on it cause i don't think he likes to sleep much! hehe. but if he starts arching his back out of the cradling position you can just put him in your lap vertically so he is sitting up. then it tricks him into thinking he is alert and won't be rocked to sleep until he flops over. it's so cute.

[Mommy2Haley]

Yep, we have a rocking chair which I use for naps and bedtime.

Today is not a good sleep day. DD woke up around 8:30 and still hadn't gone down for her nap by the time I left for work at 12:15 (she usually naps about 3 hours after waking). So I went to work and was home at 3 -- she hadn't slept yet nor had she eaten anything. I nursed her and within 2 minutes she was out. But I don't want to teach her she has to be drop-dead tired to go to sleep!!

I just spent the last 70 minutes trying to get her to sleep. We nursed. We rocked. We read books. We laid in bed together (nursing and not nursing). We used the MeiTai (nursing and not nursing). Nothing. I was getting really frustrated so I put her in her crib and walked away, went downstairs and told DH, "1 hour and 10 minutes. I'm DONE. Your turn."

When is it Mommy's turn to get a break?