Ok so my son finally been retrained to fall asleep on his own (he had tummy issues and ear infections and we did this with out CIO, thank you very much. I know it's possible!!) at night, but now I am training him for naps. We are now just down to 30-40 minutes for him to play and lay then fall asleep on his own.
But it just feels like our entire day is him falling asleep. He takes 3 naps a day usually 9, 12, and 3 and bedtime at 6 and up at 5am. (i know seems so weird, but if not he's super tired and cranky. I've tried all sorts of schedules and this one works the best and i go to school early in the morning so early bedtime for both of us) Anyone else feel this way?
**He's 9 almost 10 months old.
Thanks gals! Glad I'm not the only one. But the sad thing is that his naps are short 1/2 hour long ones, so it's not much of a break :(
FYI I haven't tried to retrain him while sick and with pain. During the infection he slept constantly with me, hence the REtraining.
It is like that when they are so little. Mine did 2 naps until 12-15 months then down to 1 nap. It is hard to get out and do things sometimes with so many naps though.
Sadly, I think that the first 2 years (or more) of life are all about sleeping, not sleeping and how to get them to sleep! Ha! Hopefully he'll start sleeping longer time periods and move down to 2 naps, but if this works for your schedule then go for it!
I also just wanted to add that CIO is NOT meant for a baby who is sick or hurting b/c of tummy or ear issues! I am a supporter of CIO, but I never, never do it if my little ones are feeling under the weather or even if I suspect that is the case, so I just wanted to be clear about that, but good for you for hanging in there! It can be hard to cope through those tired times with a cranky little one!
I have a non sleeper. I love her to death but I would pay good money for my daughter to sleep that much! She, with any luck sleeps maybe a half hour to 45 min. at 10 a.m. and another half hour stretch at 3 p.m. Then, even though I put my older kids to bed at 7:30, she is up anywhere until 8 or 10. She only once has slept through the night (she is 11 months old) and wakes regularly at 6:30. And this is a significantly better situation than it was a month ago; she was waking up every two hours at night.
So if you have found a schedule that works for you, be thankful. Though I do not believe in cry it out and definitely know that you can get your child to sleep without it, with this child it was the only thing that worked and changed our situation to slightly better. My other two children never cried it out so I never thought I would resort to it. But though she is very loving, she does not want to be held when she is ready to go down. We are finally at the stage where I can put her in her crib awake and pat her back for awhile, and she is ready to be restful.
The best thing is to know your baby and react to your baby accordingly. Everything else and anyone's else suggestions are just that suggestions.
Yes, I felt like my now four year old slept the majority of his first year. But it is what they need. He went to two naps when he was 2 and by the time he was 3 it was just one nap in the afternoon.
Enjoy the napping while you still can, in just a short while you will be wondering where the sweet silent nap times have gone.
You might try moving to one nap a day, mid-day. At about 10 or 11 months my boy was awake all morning, then fell to sleep for about three hours in the late morning to mid afternoon, then to bed by 6:30.
We always walked away at nap times, whether it was 3 or 2 or ,1. Big snack, bottle, new diaper, kiss, hug, plop, bye bye. Which I guess could be called CIO since sometimes they fussed a little bit before drifting off, which is normal. I'm confused what the training consists of, maybe it's too elaborate. If he's exhausted, needs the nap, is past the medical issues and is almost 10 months old, I think he'll fall asleep faster if you just let him. Give yourself a break, walk away and let nature do her thing. That's a long routine 3 times a day!
Try cutting down to 2 naps. You might want to push the 9 o'clock nap to closer to 10--by that point he might be less likely to play before falling asleep. Move the 2nd one to 1:30 or 2. The 3 naps at this point are probably necessary because he is not getting past one sleep cycle for each nap (about 45 min. I would assume in my experience with kids) Try darkening the room and using some white noise? My daughter didn't start to nap well (more than 45 min.) until after she started being more mobile. We also used Baby Whisperer method with her since I didn't like CIO for infants. Look up the pick up -put down method for more info. Does he wake up crying after a half hour ? If not, you may want to let him be and see if he'll fall back asleep. At this point he may not dothis if he is used to being brought down as soon as you hear he is awake though. Good luck!
My son used to have similar nap schedule as your son but he is 11 months now and going to be 1 in two weeks and he is down to 2 naps a day now. I think he started two naps a day since 9 months or so. Now he only takes a nap at 9am and 3pm and bedtime at 7:30pm.
He did not have issues getting down for naps before he turned 7 months or so. Now that he is actively crawling and pulling up, the last thing he wants to do is nap even though he is super tired and cranky. So I usually put him down a bit earlier before he gets overtired. It sometimes takes me up to one hour to put him down so I do feel like all I do all day is trying to get him to sleep even though he only naps two times a day now. He's been a little bit better the last couple of days because I tried a different way of putting him down. I know it sounds strange but it works so far. We strap him in his stroller and then I would walk away and check up on him from time to time. I guess he is strapped in and can't go anywhere so eventually he would fall asleep after a little bit of fussing.
I have a 10 month old and I feel like our lives work around her naps! However she is at 2 a day. 9am and 2pm, with bed at 7.
She does take decent naps, so adding a 3rd would probably make them shorter. But it is normal to feel like they sleep all the time!
I would say if you can try and train his naps to be longer and get down to 2 a day you might get some free time.
Try white noise in his room! Worked wonders for both my girls!
Absolutely ...Im not a CIO fan and sometimes it takes me up to an hour and a half to get him to sleep and like you said you know he is tired. And some days it seems as though he is spending so much of the day trying to get to sleep and to sleep ....eventually Im sure it will get better!
Yes!
It will pass.
My son was taking 3 naps too... for the 1st year... and part of the 2nd year.
How old is your baby?
