Room of Infants - Wake Up Crying

[Unregistered]

Hello! So I have three infants in the same room for naps with no other areas available. Two are 14 months and one is 9 months. They are all in pack n plays. They all fall asleep pretty easily, on most days. The issue is that when any of the three wake up, they wake up SCREAMING which wakes the others. I then have a room of three screaming babies. I lay them all back down and tell them “it’s still nap time” the first time it happens. One or two may go back to sleep, or not. After that, when they inevitably cry or wake again I just lay them down repeatedly without saying anything until nap time is over.

I feel like I’m doing everything I can. Dark room, white noise and lullaby music. I turn off the music to let them know when nap time is over and that it’s okay to get up. If they have fallen back asleep, I don’t wake them up but just allow them to get up once the music is off. But they usually wake crying at this time as well.

I need help getting them to stop waking this way and constantly disturbing each other. What am I doing wrong? Thanks for any advice you can offer!

[LysesKids]

Hello! So I have three infants in the same room for naps with no other areas available. Two are 14 months and one is 9 months. They are all in pack n plays. They all fall asleep pretty easily, on most days. The issue is that when any of the three wake up, they wake up SCREAMING which wakes the others. I then have a room of three screaming babies. I lay them all back down and tell them “it’s still nap time” the first time it happens. One or two may go back to sleep, or not. After that, when they inevitably cry or wake again I just lay them down repeatedly without saying anything until nap time is over.

I feel like I’m doing everything I can. Dark room, white noise and lullaby music. I turn off the music to let them know when nap time is over and that it’s okay to get up. If they have fallen back asleep, I don’t wake them up but just allow them to get up once the music is off. But they usually wake crying at this time as well.

I need help getting them to stop waking this way and constantly disturbing each other. What am I doing wrong? Thanks for any advice you can offer!

Here in TN , all littles 12 months or older have to be on nap mats/floor beds... in my case, I have a 15 month that never slept past 30 minutes even at home for nap; she goes @ plays in play room because she will wake the others in the living room otherwise

[mamamanda]

I don't fight them on sleep when they're that little. I put them down at the same time. Everyone here goes down at 1:00, but if they wake early I let them get up & play quietly. We read books, do soft nursery rhymes or finger plays, etc. Very calm & low key, nothing exciting, but it allows me to"rest" with the little one who's awake while letting the others sleep.

[Unregistered]

I don't fight them on sleep when they're that little. I put them down at the same time. Everyone here goes down at 1:00, but if they wake early I let them get up & play quietly. We read books, do soft nursery rhymes or finger plays, etc. Very calm & low key, nothing exciting, but it allows me to"rest" with the little one who's awake while letting the others sleep.

At what age do you start enforcing your nap time then?

[mamamanda]

At what age do you start enforcing your nap time then?

I start around 2yo. In my experience they are much better at processing the need to lay still & quiet at that point. I will say that from what I've experienced, mine have all just naturally fell into pattern as they near 2 yo. I don't really enforce it so to speak. They notice the other kids laying still & quiet & I can say "o, it's still nap time. Let's lay down like so and so" & it just kinda happens. I somewhat follow their lead while still maintaining boundaries I'm comfortable with. If there's nothing exciting going on elsewhere there is no real appeal to waking early, kwim? However, young toddlers & infants aren't processing that. They're just crying b/c they're awake & ready to get up. I've never had a young child go back to sleep laying on their cot after a half hour or so of sleep. It just turns into a battle of the will to keep them there. So for me, I'd rather end the battle.

[jenboo]

I find that most infants wake up crying because parents get them up at the first little sound they make.
I teach the babies not to cry when they wake up.
I do this by leaving them in their beds until the end of nap time. If they get worked up, i will soothe them but i dont pick them up. It takes a few weeks but they all have caught on.

My biggest pet peeve is kids waking up crying. It just gets under my skin haha

[Georgiads]

I find that most infants wake up crying because parents get them up at the first little sound they make.
I teach the babies not to cry when they wake up.
I do this by leaving them in their beds until the end of nap time. If they get worked up, i will soothe them but i dont pick them up. It takes a few weeks but they all have caught on.

My biggest pet peeve is kids waking up crying. It just gets under my skin haha

I totally agree. Not all wake up crying but the ones who do it have learned that behavior.

After taking a nice nap there is no reason a child should wake up and instantly become hysterical, they are used to their parents fussing over every sound they make. Just leave them until nap is over and they will eventually learn that you are not coming.