My Daughter Cat Naps

[KEG123]

So my daughter is almost 4 months old and takes many tiny naps per day, roughly 30 minutes each. I honestly would KILL for 1 hour naps. She is breastfed and normally falls asleep nursing. I know that is part of my problem, which is why I am asking for your input. As you all know, short naps do not work in a daycare setting.

So my question to you all is how to get my daughter to take longer naps. Pretend I am the mom and you are the daycare provider. How would you get this baby on track?

I have nursed her to sleep, rocked her to sleep, tried having her eat, then sit up right to play for a while after and get tired, but she never falls asleep, she gets overtired and cranky and will not fall asleep.

Help!

[daycare]

So my daughter is almost 4 months old and takes many tiny naps per day, roughly 30 minutes each. I honestly would KILL for 1 hour naps. She is breastfed and normally falls asleep nursing. I know that is part of my problem, which is why I am asking for your input. As you all know, short naps do not work in a daycare setting.

So my question to you all is how to get my daughter to take longer naps. Pretend I am the mom and you are the daycare provider. How would you get this baby on track?

I have nursed her to sleep, rocked her to sleep, tried having her eat, then sit up right to play for a while after and get tired, but she never falls asleep, she gets overtired and cranky and will not fall asleep.

Help!

sorry no advice, but she sounds like my sons twin. He was like that too and still is./ He is 4 years old and still does not sleep through the night.

[KEG123]

Oh and I'd like to add that I won't do CIO. I have let her fuss for a while to try and get her to work things out, but it never results in her falling asleep and instead gets her riled up and inconsolable.

[AfterSchoolMom]

I've had this problem a LOT. They generally catnap because their sleep is getting interrupted somehow during the part of their cycle when they're not so deeply asleep. I'd try a dark room and some sort of white noise that drowns out the other kids. I have a garage fan that I use - we call it the "miracle fan" because it magically transforms catnappers into great nappers.

Also, does she startle? Could you try a swaddle or a miracle blanket?

[bice99]

E at
A ctivity
S leep
Y our time (LOL)

Someone posted the EASY method here awhile back. It works great for all of my babies. It was basically what I did after realizing that babies who have been nursed to sleep (my own elem age DDs included) don't go down well and/or stay asleep. And once they learn how to roll over, laying on their tummies with full bellies isn't really the best option either.

I have actually had parents bring me their infants/toddlers/preschoolers on their off days (and paid extra) so their kids will nap so they will sleep well at night. I work very hard at educating parents about that whole good nap = good night time sleep issue.

I know CIO is hard but maybe in the future, you can give it a try - best before the child can pull up on the side of the crib and then freak out because he/she doesn't know how to let go and not fall. My oldest DD was home with me for her first 9 months. Then with my DH until 16 months. I did CIO one day after she was 6 months. 45 minutes the first day. 10 minutes the second day. 2 minutes the 3rd day. From then on she became an amazing sleeper - naps and nighttime - and still is. And she would nap longer because she knew where she was when she did the "one hour wiggle" and would go back to sleep after just a few minutes.

[KEG123]

Dark room, well, it's as dark as I can get it. I've got my livingroom and dining room for daycare. Most of the toys are in the dining room so when she's in the pnp (livingroom) they are playing.. But they're LOUD (yes I try to keep them quiet). White noise machine on, 30 minutes naps tops. On my lap, an hour will work while they're sleeping. She does startle sometimes but HATES to be swaddled. Pulls her arms out almost immediately. I sometimes swaddle her from the waist down, but that doesn't help with the startle.

And I already said, not gonna CIO.

[spud912]

Sorry not much advice either, but my daughter was like that until she started solid food. I think part of the problem was that she has a veracious appetite and I wasn't producing enough milk to completely satisfy her. When she did finally get the hang of solid food (around 8 months), she would eat more than I could eat during every meal (hard to believe considering she is in the 5th percentile for weight). I also had to cut out her second nap very early at around 10 months old. At that point, she started sleeping from 7:30 pm until ~9:30 am and afternoon nap from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. She is pretty much on the same schedule 6 months later, but does not sleep quite as long. She is one of my best sleepers now (hard to believe after all the sleepless nights and cat naps when she was really little)!

You could try:

1. Dark Room
2. Tight swaddle
3. Regular routine
4. Plenty of activity and floor time
5. Start to introduce spoon-feeding rice cereal (dependent on what your doctor recommends....I always try to wait until 6 months)

Generally, though, I would give it time. Stick it out for another couple of months when she can really start solid food and I bet that will help her sleep for longer periods of time. For the younger babies, I always try to keep them up for 2-3 hours at a time and it helps them go down for longer periods of time.

[jojosmommy]

I have the same issue with my 3month old dd. My two yr old son was like that when he was little too. I think until they are older their sleep patterns are irregular.

Does your child sleep in pnp at night? I would try putting her in her nighttime bed to keep things consistent. I also think it helps to get your little one used to sleeping with noise so that every little noise doesn't wake them. Noise here happens no matter what I do so I try to get my kids used to it. I am currently nursing, if my lo falls asleep I try to wake her, read a book to her, and snuggle her to very close to asleep but not asleep, then put her in crib. She usually fusses but I stay in room shushing her and holding her hand or placing my hand on her belly. I stay for about 1 min, then walk out, if she fusses I wait 1 min and go back and shush with my hand on her belly. I repeat this only a few times (she is usually out within 1 time). If she doesn't we get up and try again in a few minutes. I do the same if she gets up after a nap. Sometimes she falls back to sleep again and takes a longer nap. I would try putting her in pnp or crib for 1 nap a day and increase until all naps are in crib. Then once she is used to crib, and falling asleep alone work on longer naps.

Have you read The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley? It outlines an approach similar to this, not cio.

[cheerfuldom]

It takes time to get on a routine so dont stress expecting too much from a 3 month old. I like the EASY method. I nurse too but never nurse to sleep. I also don't rock my babies only because it is not realistic to do that long term with three kids plus the daycare kids. Swaddling, white noise should do the trick. I am not advocating CIO with a 3 month old but sometimes hesitating for a minute or two is all it takes for baby to soothe themselves. Don't feel that you always have to be doing something and getting her to sleep. Back off a bit and see what she can do on her own. dont go in and fuss over her at every squeak

[Unregistered]

So my daughter is almost 4 months old and takes many tiny naps per day, roughly 30 minutes each. I honestly would KILL for 1 hour naps. She is breastfed and normally falls asleep nursing. I know that is part of my problem, which is why I am asking for your input. As you all know, short naps do not work in a daycare setting.

So my question to you all is how to get my daughter to take longer naps. Pretend I am the mom and you are the daycare provider. How would you get this baby on track?

I have nursed her to sleep, rocked her to sleep, tried having her eat, then sit up right to play for a while after and get tired, but she never falls asleep, she gets overtired and cranky and will not fall asleep.

Help!

I went through the same thing with my EBF daughter as well. I had to hold her for naps, or lie next to her until I could get her to sleep for over an hour while she was with me. Once we got that accomplished, I would lay her down on the couch and literally watch her sleep, and as soon as she was about to wake up at that 35 minute mark, I would shhhhsh and rub her back to help her transition to the next sleep cycle. Some days, I carried in my Mei Tai baby carrier on my back and she would nap that way. Eventually, when she started taking 1 hour naps, I was able to lay her down in a pack and play and lay next to it while she fell asleep. If she started to wake upbefore an hour, I would rush in and shhhhsh and pat her back until she fell back asleep. Finally, at 12 months, I was able to lay her in her crib for a 1.5 to 2 hr nap.

I know that sounds like a lot of work! But it was worth it. She was one of those babies who do not cry it out. When I was working, I did a modified CIO with my daycare provider, and it never worked for her either. (She ended up terming my daughter and I quit my job and started a daycare- can't blame her). I tried Weissbluth, Ferber, etc, and nothing- the only thing that worked was the modified scaffolding technique above. I wouldn't recommend CIO for a child under 6 months, but I am more AP style for my own children

Good luck- all babies are different so other methods may work for you. Read "The No Cry Sleep Solution" for Elizabeth Pantly, that helped me a lot.