Need Some Creative Sleeping Advice

My kids love their silkies. They make a small square blanket (sometimes they look like a bear) that have a silky underside. My three year old son still sleeps with his. They are machine washable and perfect for little hands to hold.

They have the small square silk edge blankets at walmart for less then $7. I bought one for my sister's baby.

A.,
I have a wonderful 5 month old baby girl and she also is a bad napper. She sleeps so good through the night that we have just learned to deal with the sparse napping.(usally 30-40 min twice a day.) To answer your question about the sliky, I found this silky that has a duck head and is a fuzzy peice of cloth with a silky back. It is probably about a 4X4, and it has a teether and little rattle on each end. I bought it in a hospital gift shop. Anna doesnt sleep with it but it might work for you and your baby. The brand is mudpie. PS its just too cute even if it just ends up being a chuch toy!
Good Luck
A.

A.,

Hello. My 9 month old has never been a good napper and it is hard sometimes to get through the day.... That said though, there should not be anything in the crib during naps or bedtime. No toys, stuffed animals, blankets, bumper, pillows, etc. The children should not have anything in there, except a pacifier. The risk of SIDS/suffocation is too high. I lost a 3 month old in a pack in play in April of 2007. Please don't listen to parents that say "my kids turned out fine and are still healthy". It doesn't work that way. It can happen to anyone and I am living proof of that. Cribs should be free of everything until well past 12 months. The naps will hopefully get better. You might try naps in a swing or bouncy for a short period and see if it helps. It is a little tighter area and maybe she'd sleep better. Good luck.

S.

Hi A.,
Congratulations on getting her to sleep through the night!
When my son was an infant he like to hold on to silky things to and my Mom went to the fabric store and got blanket binding and made him a small blanky about the size of a man handkerchief. He loved for years never new he got a new one when it needed to be washed lol.
Good Luck
M.

I always used blankets with all of my kids. My 3 1/2 year old still sleeps with her baby blanket that has the silk edges and she still rubs the silk to soothe herself. I'd just let her have the blanket and keep the monitor on so you can hear her. She's not likely to get tangled in a blanket at nap time - I think the risk of this is higher at night when they are sleeping for a longer period of time. My kids, who are all restless sleepers at night, pretty much laid fairly still at nap time when they were babies.

I am a working mother of 3 children. (6, 3, and 8 months).

Check out Taggie blankets. They are a piece of soft material that has little silky tags sewn around the edges. I'm not explaining it very well, but they're pretty cool. And I think they are small too. They have toys, stuffed animals and blankets. If you didn't want to give her a blanket, you could try a stuffed animal. We gave my dd a blanket almost from birth and I NEVER had any problems with it. Now she carries her 'little bleeblee' around everywhere. :D

Here's the link to the Taggie website http://www.taggies.com/home_us.html

I would make her a smaller blanket. If you don't sew there are some stores that carry them and they are silky on one side. Once upon a child carries little blankets that are new and soft on one side, silky on the other with little tags all over.

If she is able to roll over, I would just let her have the blanket.

For the record, I have a five year old, a seven month old, and they have both survived everything so far. LOL

Two of the three children have to have silkies. They're old enough now to use the silky blankies, but I actually used the stuffed animals that had silky tummies for them to sleep with when they were littler.

I think I haved seen small squares of blankets for just the purpose. You could cut her blanket into a 3" square and hem it, which would be cheaper than buying one premade. Then there's no danger of her getting tangled in it.

My daughter has always wanted to grab something while she was sleeping too. We bought her what we lovingly refer to as her "rubby". It is just a little animal head with a twelve inch blankie attatched to it. The underneath is silky. I think Alysia said she found one similar at a hospital gift shop. We have multiples (for washing purposes) that we have found at Walmart, Target, and Kmart for around $5-$10. It is small enough that I didn't worry about suffocation. Ultimately, just follow your instincts. Good luck and God bless.

When my first son was a baby I took a receiving blanket and cut it up into smaller pieces...small enough that I didn't worry about it. He seemed content to have the piece of blanket to hold and cuddle and I didn't have to worry. Not sure how this would work with silk...you may have to sew the edges so that it doesn't fray. My second son is 14 months old now, but when he was a few months old my pediatrician said it would be okay to give him one small stuffed animal. One that is baby safe (no eyes or noses to be chewed off).

I cut a small square off of some silk pajamas I had in a drawer for my son. He loved it.

Can you try a lovey? It's like a mini blanket that's 12x12 or 12x18.

I think another poster mentioned it but I had a couple of these little square blankets. They were only probably about 12x12. I think they are called lovey blankets or something like that. They were super super soft. One was all pink and was silky on one side and like fleecy on the other side and the other one had a duck with chenille on one side and then the silk on the other side. You can probably get them at Target or even Walmart or something. They are perfect because they aren't big and bulky like blankets. Or if they have a blanket that they are attached to maybe just cut it up into smaller pieces. That could work too.

Hi A.! Congratulations on your precious little girl! I have one too, and I just love her to death! She was much like your daughter -- a horrible napper! Unfortunately for us, she was a horrible night sleeper as well. We used a blankie that was all silky on one side and soft/fuzzy fabric on the other side, and it was our saving grace! I think that since your daughter is about four months, she will probably be just fine. My daughter has slept with a blankie for as long as I can remember. Actually, all three of my kids did and were just fine. Let her use it during her nap, that way you can check on her to see how she does with it. I wish you the best of luck! Sleep is a wonderful thing!!

Hi A. - lots of advice on silkies and blankets, which certainly may be correct, but I thought I'd offer some other things to think about. Have you considered what the environment at school is like versus your home? Is the lighting similar at nap time? Do they wrap her in something at school that is different so that she notices the temperature difference? For example, at home I used wearable blankets (with a sleeper underneath - they didn't get tangled), but I presume that they use something different at daycare. Is there a mobile or something that eases her into sleep at daycare? Do they rock her completely to sleep (a no-no that buys later sleeping troubles from my experience.) Is there a nearby ambient noise in your home during the day that you might not notice? (The whine of a computer - you can hear mine through my daughter's wall, a refrigerator, etc.) Do they always do something in particular at daycare before nap? Is there any chance that she's hungry? 3-4 months has a big growth spurt if I remember correctly and maybe she needs more? My kids are 4 and 3. At this stage of their lives, if I remember correctly, they weren't really ready/in need of something that was a comfort item for them. It made me feel better (and if I'm honest, I thought it was cute) to give them something cuddly like one of those little silky friends, but I think at 4 months they are still about the basics. I would try and get information from your daycare staff about the conditions of the room before she is sleeping and thenwhen she is sleeping and try to reproduce it at home. I would consider whatever is happening at school to be her "normal." You could also try giving her 15 or 20 minutes of tummy -time on a play mat or play gym just prior to the nap so that she's had something to tire her out. Holding up your head and working with their little legs in that position is exhausting! Good luck!

Get an extra one and cut it into 12 " sections. Less likely to get tangled.

I don't know what it's called, but someone gave me a teddy bear/blanket combo. I think it had a teddy head and arms, but a blanket body. I don't think the blanket part was long enough to get tangled, and it was really soft. I think you can find these things at Target. Be glad your baby sleeps so well at night! Naps are not such a big deal, as long as she is getting enough total sleep. I would always just nurse my baby to sleep and nap with her. That was the only way she would stay asleep. You could also try wearing her in a sling or other front carrier. She may fall asleep while you take a walk or do housework, and then you can sit down with her still in the carrier once she falls asleep. Sometimes you can slip the carrier off you with the baby still in it, if she doesn't wake up. Wearing your baby is part of the attachment parenting philosophy. Read about this in books by William Sears. My mom would wear my brother while she vacuumed and that always did the trick for her!! Good luck!