Any Advice on Creating a Nap Routine? ( I Tried Almost Everything) Thanks!!!!!

Hi Sleepless, I always rocked my 3 babies and I whistled the Blue Danube wals to them. Every time, 5 minutes of the Blue Danube put them to sleep at night. In the afternoon I put them to bed but I let them play and they eventually napped.
Please let us know if that helped. You may get a record with the Blue Danube and other walces. Hanna

I can only speak from my own personal experience. At 7 months my daughter who began sleeping thru the night at 3 months, started waking up 3 & 4 times a night and getting her to sleep wasn't easy either. I started a very rigid routine of bathing her at 8 PM - warm bath with Lavendar scented soap not too much playtime in the bath as not to overstimulate. I then take her into her room where the lights are already dim and I have soft classical music playing. Give her a full body massage with Johnson & Johnson Sleepy Time Lotion (lavendar again). She likes a pacifier so I give her the pacifier while I'm massaging her as it soothes her and calms her down even more. Turn off all the lights, feed her her bottle while rocking her in the rocking chair and she's out like a light. It took a little while but she began to associate sleepy time when she heard the music believe it or not. I personally leave the music playing all night as in the beginning she still use to wake up but she'd fall right back to sleep listening to the music. It sounds like a lot of work but I don't mind it. I'm a working mother so this routine is my alone time with her. Works for us. Good luck to you.

Hi! Does he cry and cry when you lay him down?

I have three kids and what I did at that age was basically this: up at 7 AM, breakfast/playtime then naptime around 9-11, then wake time: lunch/lots of active playtime (esp for a boy!) and then another nap around 2-4.

I spoke to a mom with a boys and she said she had to 'get their energy out' in order for them to nap.

I know it can be frustrating if your baby cries a lot when it's naptime, keep checking to see if he's okay, but sometimes they hit a phase where they cry a bit before bed. Perhaps if you get that extra energy out he'll be ready and in need of rest at naptime.

Best to you! Keep at it!

My third baby is not big on naps either. He will sleep in the car for most errands I run but as soon as we get home, he's wide awake. I know first hand how frustrating this is for various reasons: (1) you want to nap yourself and baby won't let you because he wants to play and (2) you're hopeful to get something done while baby sleeps. My boy is tired but he fights it too. The best you can do is just provide quiet time when you want him to nap. What I do is turn off the TV and play some very, very quiet classical music. IF I'm lucky, my son will fall asleep in my arms as I rock him or something that also lulls him to sleepy time is if I very slowly dance with him to the soft music. If all else fails, try an early morning stroll around the block and perhaps that will be enough to put him into a good slumbering state. Good luck...I've tried just about everything too. It's often a hit or miss.

E. D,
I am a mom of 3- 8 months, 2 1/2 years, and 4 1/2 years. All girls. I know that boys are different than girls when it comes to sleep. There are so many aspects to naptime. Personality, consistency, and routine. I know that you have tried lots of things, the thing is you have to keep doing the same things for it seems like a long time. At 10 months old your baby should be taking 2 naps 1 1/2-2 hours each nap. a morning nap and an afternoon nap. First look at your babies nighttime sleep-is that consistent? Same bedtime routine? Same bedtime? Also, they are extremely smart-my first knew at that young age that she was "missing out" and tried her hardest many naptimes to stay awake no matter how tired she was. When I was consistant and left her in her crib to play for at least an hour-she realized that was nap time. (she did not cry during this time-was mad and would cry-yell for the first 10 minutes sometimes-but i would just tell her she needs a nap time). Put down at the same time every day (I do 9:00/9:30 and 1:00). Try and not skip the naps. Be at home and make this a priority. If you are going out 2 or three times a week during these times, this is not consistent and your baby will not be in a routine. Have the room quiet and low light. I use a fan for my 8 month old because she is such a light sleeper. Teething affects her greatly-she does not nap when she is teething-she just won't. I keep laying her down at the same time though. Also watch your diet. Are you nursing and drinking coffee? Caffeine? Lots of sugar? I also put a few soft dolls/toys in the crib so my daughter can play with them to calm herself down. Did your son learn how to fall asleep on his own-or does he not know that skill? (they learn how to do this on their own-if you rock them, or help them fall asleep for every nap/bedtime, they will not know how to do this by themselves). I hope this was helpful. Also, do a routine. Say night night time, change diaper, read a short book, then gently lay down with blankie, kiss and say goodnight. Leave him. If he doesn't go to sleep and is happy-leave him for up to an hour or hour and a half. If he is mad, keep going in and tell him its nap time, he needs to sleep. Be consistent. YOu are the parent, he doesn't know what he needs. You do.

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There are two things I recommend, one, buy a glider (modern baby rocking chair), two, buy baby classical music. My oldest (who is 11 now) didn't like to go to sleep also, so I purchased what I recommended, put her on my lap, played the music, low, and glided. It was amazing how easy it became to put her to sleep. At 15 months she did not want to sleep in her crib, so I bought her a bed, and eureka, it also worked. Eventually all I had to do was play the music and she fell asleep on her own.
Good Luck

Dear E.,

I know a lot of moms say cry it out but that didn't always work for me and Dr. Sears doesn't agree with it. Have you tried taking a walk in the stroller or a car ride, music is also helpful. Check out my website we sell a baby sleeping CD, it's beautiful. www.DiscoveryToysLink.com/LisaRyan
Good Luck- L.
P.S -My son used to nap with me and he is almost 18months, sometimes that is still the only way he will fall asleep.

my advise is to: first you need to be relax because babies fill your tension. second but the child in the crib and walk way but just stand by the doorway for about five min. if the child start to cry or dosen't cry before the five min. don't go in just wait the five min. repeat this. I didn't with my son. he would never take a nap, but he new that when i put him in his crib at the same time everyday it was nap time, sometimes he would sleep sometimes he would just lay there for an hour, but it work for me. He never nap from the time he was 2 1/2 to 5 yrs old. But he new that at 1pm it was time for crib.
try it, it might work. it did for me. or try laying on the floor next to him i did that somethimes too.

I would not let any child of any age cry it out.
You say your baby is full, happy and dry but he might not be sleepy. Cuddling is a need, talking is a need. He might need those things. If you are talking about napping during the day, I would try rocking him, singing, etc. Maybe you can even lie down w/ him and nurse him if you are breastfeeding. If he doesn't like that then let him be.

When our son is fighting it out we usually play music with a steady even beat (similar to heart beat) and rock him and he's out in 5 minutes. If he still fights after that I lay down with him like I'm going to sleep too and he calms down and falls asleep about 10 minutes in. Then I put him in his crib and go about my business. I know you've tried almost everything and these are pretty simple ideas but I hope they help!

When you say he just won't sleep, I'm assuming that you mean he cries. My best friend just went through the same thing with her baby. I have three kids, 11-8-6...I was told by my mother to just let the baby cry themselves to sleep. It may be hard at first, to just leave them and let them cry it out and it may take a great cry, but he may be so used to you coming when he cries. I may take a few days and some long cries, but if all his needs are met, and the doctor says he's fine, there is no reason he should be awake. My friend finally listened to me and it did take a few long nights of this, but he finally got the picture and went to sleep, now he sleeps through the night. Hope this helps.

this is what my son's routine for a nap was when he was that age... he woke up at 7am and napped from 10-11am and then napped again from 3-4:30pm and he was in bed by 7:30pm and slept through the nite.
thats what worked for me .
good luck
D.