Nap Time Help! - Flower Mound,TX

I recommend the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.
I disagree with the previous poster... I think I would start with attacking bedtime first and then once she can fall asleep unassissted for bedtime, try the nap. Naps are much trickier I've found than bedtime!
Good luck!

For both nap time and nighth time, I recommend that you sit in a chair next to her crib and read her a story. Since she is used to cuddling with you, this will be a hard transition to make. But, it will eventually work - if you are persistent with it. You may want to start just with the nap time and try to get consistent there. Also, something to consider is a big girl bed. If you have room, put one in her room and lie on it, next to her, for nap time. Read a story and when she drifts off to sleep, you can escape from the big girl bed yourself.

Oh..and I just read the other answers. They are right, in that you are potentially in for a big battle. My son was an easier sleeper and I never had to battle him. But, my daughter gave it a good fight (in that she woke up often as a baby at night). With her, I finally just had to put ear plugs in when she was about 15 months old and let her cry it out. I know that is not for some parents, but I was exhausted and I just refused to go in and help a child that age go back to sleep. So, a real plan of action to help with your daughter is to:

1. Start with the nap, as I recommended in my original statement. Read a story near her (not with her on your lap) and encourage her to lie down. You may want to plan on reading for quite a while the first few times because she will NOT be happy with this change of plans.

2. She might become accustomed to this routine and start going to sleep. However, if she does not, you may have to get aggressive with the program. I saw "The Nanny" once say that you start out with this type of training program by being next to them and then gradually moving the chair farther and farther away from them (like right next to them for a week, one foot away for a week, two feet away for a week, etc), so that they get used to you being further and further away and they get used to going to sleep on their own but with the comfort of knowing you are nearby.

3. I sleep trained my son when he was very young (4 months). At first, I patted him on the back in his crib and he cried. Then, I stood by the crib and talked to him while he went to sleep (I did not touch him at all). Then, I moved over to the door and stood there the whole time he was going to sleep. But, he was only 4 months old and so he transitioned to the new routine quite readily. As I mentioned to you earlier, that did NOT work with my daughter and I finally had to let her cry it out. She cried for hours for two nights and then after that she did not cry again.

4. The key to ALL of this is consistency. Once you start a program, you absolutely have to be committed to it. If you start out today by reading a story to her while she is in the crib and she cries and pleads with you and you then pick her up and rock her, you just lost the battle and you WILL be set back for weeks. So, if you really want time to yourself, you have to be willing to commit and fight a battle. YOU have to draw the line and be committed. If you are not committed, then don't even bother - you will confuse her and you will lose.

Also, the key to all of this is talking constantly and soothingly to them. You need to explain that it is time that she goes to sleep by herself, etc. I find that they really understand a lot more than you realize. Of course, she will say, "no, no, no, no, no...." to the game change plan.

Good luck!
L.

I had this issue for a very short time.
An experienced mom told me one thing that helped tremendously: if she
falls asleep in your arms while nursing or having a bottle the transition
window is about 10mins. No longer or shorter. Sit there w/her for a
few mins then gently get up & put her down in her crib. Sometimes the
crib is so way down that the effect of falling woke my baby up but we
just kept working on that to find a way to do it "just right".
At some poiint, she will have a time where she naps on some sort of
time frame (not schedule) but you will find there is a certain time of day
that she is tired (after lunch, after eating, after playing a lot) but get
ready because it will change. :)
For instance, my son would always nap 3 hrs after waking. Then that changed to 5 hrs after waking. Then that changed to only in the afternoon
after "hard" play where he exerted tons of energy etc. See?
So be willing to roll w/the punches, to adapt and change, also to keep an
eye out for the ever changing new patterns.
You can do it!
If I did, anyone can. :) I was a novice and seriously had no clue. :)
I made it through to the other side fairly unscathed. ha ha
Give her more interaction/play to use up her energy and make her tired, change the nap to a wee bit later w/each new growing stage etc.

Unfortunately there's not an easy way to take care of this problem if you want that nap time to yourself. And yes, I'm sure you do need that time! I don't know what I would do without my son's nap time for me time or getting things done!

You're unfortunately going to have to teach her to fall asleep on her own and to nap in her crib. She's probably not really learned to even sleep in her crib at night, since she's being put down asleep, it's all the same to her. Personally, I believe most in going cold turkey - if you can handle it, it will be the quickest way. Just spend a few minutes winding her down in the darkened bedroom. Read a book, snuggle and maybe even rock her a few minutes or whatever you usually do to put her asleep. The difference is, put her down before she's asleep, rather than after. Yes, she'll cry, scream, not nap etc. But she needs to be left in there for an hour regardless so that she learns that crying etc are not going to bring you back into the room. After one hour of crying, go to her and let her be awake. Don't get her to sleep then, because your nap/sleep schedule will be all off. Just do an ultra-early bed time that night. If she falls asleep but wakes after a short time, ignore her until that hour is up.The one thing you don't want is her getting over-tired - so be sure she goes to bed early if she took a bad nap (or none at all). Overtired makes it incredibly hard for a child to fall asleep. This shouldn't last long at all!

If you're feeling badly about leaving her in there, make sure that you remember that you are doing this for her own good. Learning to get regular naps and sooth herself to sleep is a valuable skill that contributes to her well-being. You're doing it FOR HER! You can more than make up for it with love and cuddles all the rest of the day long. :)

This is what I would do with my son. At around 4 months old I sleep trained him like this and since then have had zero nap or sleeping troubles. He has gone to sleep on his own from just a couple of months old and today he is 16 months old. When it's nap time, we go to the bedroom, read a book and sing a goodnight song. I say night night, Henry! And lay him down in his crib. He smiles up at me and I blow him a kiss and walk out of the room. He drifts off to sleep on his own....and I have 2 hours to myself and he has the peaceful rest he needs! This could be you, good luck!!!

I think, at 16 months, she needs to learn how to put herself to sleep...

She's just grown used to having you close when she falls asleep... unfortunately not learning to fall asleep on her own is a tough thing to break once she's at this age. When she wakes up at nap do you let her get up?

if you know that she typically need a couple of hours of sleep during her afternoon nap, you will probably have to go in and comfort her and then leave the room so she learns to go to sleep by herself. I am not a huge fan of CIO especially at infant age, but by 12 months and up it's past the time that they should be able to go to sleep by themselves, and you don't have a lot of choices.

You're in for a battle Mama... good luck~

You need to start letting your daughter learn to put herself to sleep. This isn't easy since she already has the habit of you putting her to sleep. But if you do it before she is able to crawl out of her bed herself, your life will be so much better!! Start putting her to bed at night before she is asleep. Go through your routine and then have her tell everyone night-night (go around and have her wave at family members) then put her in her bed and leave the room. She will really fight it (probably loudly) for a week and if she is really stubborn maybe a week and a half. But if you know she is safe and just angry, then let her work it out. She will soon learn how to soothe herself to sleep. And then she might be more receptive to nap time as well without you having to hold her the whole time.

Good luck!
VickiS

You may be waiting too long to put her down for a nap. Sleep begets sleep so if she gets her second wind, maybe that's part of the problem. Also, put up blankets or whatever on the windows to make the room absolutely dark. Use a fan or noise machine. To the putting her down asleep: I rocked my child to sleep every night and put her to bed asleep. Did it cause problems down the line? Yes. Did we fix the problem when she was older? Yes. Do I regret rocking her to sleep? NO! She ended up being my first and only baby. None of our other children survived pregnancy. You made need to cold turkey the nap for a while or bedtime. We had to do a modified cry it out method for bedtime but it only took a few days. Do what feels right to you, but definitely darken the room. Also, when my daughter was a little bit older I started letting her nap on our bed because it was quieter and I could darken the room easier. Saved my life!

my 18 mon old is the same way. i still nurse him for both nap and night. at night, he can go down with his eyes still open. for nap, he will not go in his crib. so we nurse on the trundle bed. he's low enough that he can't hurt himself.

My daughter was the same way, only wouldn't actually "sleep" at all. She would crawl up onto the couch around 2:30-3:00 every day and sit with her eyes open, staring at nothing for about 20 minutes. Then should would get down, fresh as a daisy. The point is, each child is different when it comes to just about everything. If your daughter seems to be sleeping well at night, and is doing ok during the day, and your pediatrician doesn't have any concerns, then I would think worrying is overly excessive. Set up the environment so that when your child does fall asleep, she is safe. Then you are free to take care of things around the house while she naps safely where she is comfortable. Then, work around the house, checking on her often, and leaving a baby monitor where she is sleeping. Your pediatrician will also have more (i.e., better) suggestions).

When I stopped nursing my 19mth old I read to him. Book after book till he went to sleep. You might try to put a pallet on the floor so she can't roll off and yet won't feel you get up. Keep a check on her but she should be fine.
There were many times I couldnt help but fall asleep myself! Don't apologize for loving the miracle God gave you!