Naps

What I did with my little guy was let him sleep in a swing. About a month ago (4 months) he showed signs of actually wanting to go to sleep, he snuggles. When he gets like this I started putting him in his crib or laying him down in a "pack and play" in the other room. He slept fine. Before this he would sleep in the swing and car seat and it didn't ruin his ability to sleep in a crib when he got older at all.

The swing "coaxed" him into sleeping when he was fighting the sand man. But now that he is a little older he lets himself fall asleep easier, hence the ability to fall asleep without movement.

Good luck!!!

I would not worry about where your baby sleeps at such a young age. It actually is good to teach a baby to sleep other places besides the crib (because then when you are away from home the baby will still be able to sleep) At this point I think the real thing to focus on is getting days and nights straight and getting feedings down. If you have that...you are doing phenominal!!!

When my son was born he was a night owl. He would sleep no problem in his bassinet during the day but at night would only sleep in my arms, in the swing or bouncy seat with vibrating on. He is my first so of course I wanted to do anything to get him to sleep so I could sleep myself. I refused to let him cry himself to sleep no matter what anyone said to me including his pedi. They all said let him cry himself to sleep. Finally at 5 months old I could not take it anymore and by then he was in his crib (not bassinet anymore)& I let him cry it out. We started with naps which was easier than bedtime. I tried keeping him awake during the day the best I could which was very, very hard to do! Finally after about 5 days he was sleeping great and till this day sleeps awesome & he is now 17 months old. I have to give most of the credit to a book called Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby by Marc Weisbluth. Life saver.
I am now 18+ weeks pregnant and now I know the correct and healthy way to get my 2nd child to sleep at an early age and not give into holding him while sleeping, swings, bouncy seats with vibration, ect. After they are 6 weeks old they say it is okay to let them cry it out. GOOD LUCK, I have been there, done that. I feel your pain & aggravation. Most of all you want what is best for your baby too!!

Dear J.,

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about where she sleeps until she starts to show signs of only being able to sleep well in her crib. My son did that around 8 months or so. Until then it was nice to be able to have him sleep almost anywhere - he loved his infant carseat for naps. It gave me more mobility. I would bring a book with me wherever we went so I didn't have to wake him when he fell asleep in the car. Of course this is easier when you are a SAHM.

Around 4 months is when we had to do some sleep training to help him fall asleep on his own but that was independent of location for nap time.

I hope this helps,
A.

Hi J.,
I just had my 7th baby, and I am totally with you on establishing good sleep habits, but at 10 weeks, thet're too young to have it really make a difference where they sleep. It can actually help them to differentiate their day and night sleep when they don't sleep in their crib during the day. Mine would fall asleep anywhere -- car seat, reclined high chair, the swing if they were fussy, in people's arms, or in the sling I used for my last one. I never really rocked any of my kids to sleep. When they reach about 4 months, they are ready to take longer, more regularly scheduled naps -- this would be a good time to start establishing real naps in the crib. I highly recommend the sleep book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. I have used it over and over, at every age and stage, and with various sleep issues. I've more than gotten my money's worth out of it, not to mentioned restored sanity!
Good luck. Enjoy that baby!

My son is almost 4 months old. For the last few weeks he has been going to bed at 8:30pm and waking between 6 and 7am. He does not wake up during the night anymore. For naps there are days where he'll take 30 minutes here and there, and other times up to an hour and a half. I believe that as long as she sleeps in her crib at night that right now let her nap where ever she is comfortable. Once she gets older then you can start instituting the crib for nap time. My son naps on the floor, in a swing, in a vibrating chair, in a playpen, and when I allow it, on my chest so I can nap. She is still learning day/night. It's okay if she doesn't nap in her crib. As long as you encourage quiet time and/or nap time then she will understand.

I hope this helps.

Hi J.,

At that age, a baby's primarily sleeps, eats, and poops - I'm sure you know this by now - :-) It's still very early in the game, and the baby is going to sleep where and when she can/wants to, without a whole lot of bad habits being formed.

I think that swing naps (or naps in the swing) during the day are fine. I don't think it instills bad sleep habits per se, but I would caution to also put her in her crib at nighttime to sleep.

My thoughts are as she seems to get sleepy, try putting her in her crib. She will probably cry, but it's a different cry from a hunger cry or a cry if she is injured, so in this case, let her cry it out.

As far as where she sleeps, do what works for your family. If co-sleeping in the bed with you works and gets you shut-eye, more power to you.

I can tell you, however, if you continue to rock her constantly to sleep, and put her in bed with you, she will not be able to fall asleep without your help and you will have an extra bed partner for a few YEARS to come. My 8 and 7 year olds STILL find a way into my bedroom in the middle of the night. It might be nice right now, but when she is older it might not work as well, not to mention no private time either.

Good luck to you!!

Hi,
You sound exactly like I did a few months ago. (my little girl is 7 mo now) First she would only sleep in her crib at night - then she'd add one nap - but only one. I was sooooo stressed out that I wasn't teaching her good sleep habits by letting her sleep on me or in a swing/bouncer for her other naps. I read 3 sleep books!! Finally I decided that I just wasn't going to stress about it anymore -but that i would keep trying her in her crib. I also decided that I'd let her cry for 15 min in her crib each time I laid her down - if she didn't go to sleep, I'd get her up (I, emotionally, couldn't let her cry endlessly) I know some people would say what I did wasn't good b/c the baby can learn to "outlast" you, but it worked for us!! Eventually she added another nap in her crib, and then another- until she was doing all her sleeping in the crib - this was by 4 mos old. Cherish this time with your little girl - you (and I) are sooooo lucky to be home with our babies, just rock her and hold her if you want because in a flash she'll be so big she won't want to snuggle anymore. She WILL learn to sleep on her own - just keep trying, but its not worth the stress - at least, thats what I decided for me!
oh, and only being awake for only an hour or so before being tired again sounds totally normal!!

Best of Luck!!

-C.

I just wanted to add - don't be afraid to put her down in a seat/swing/crib etc. and let her fuss a little. You may be surprised that she'll put herself to sleep and all she needed was some down time. I just had my 2nd and let her sleep anywhere for naps. She is almost 6 mos and she sleeps great in her crib. I agree she's too young to start worrying about where she's sleeping for naps, but I would be careful about not making her dependent on you for rocking her to sleep. That can become a nightmare to get them over later on.
Best of luck!

J.,

Your baby is way too young to be learning anything, so spare yourself the agony and let her fall asleep in her swing or vibrating seat during the day and save the rocking routine for night. Eventually (around 6-8 mos.) your baby will begin to prefer the comfort and expanse of a bed all the time, and will actually deny the other options. This happened with my 3 year old and is in the final stages for my 6 month old.

Mommyhood is tiring enough without spending half your day in a rocker with high anxiety and making deals with God should your angel fall asleep :)

L.
p.s. DO the routine at night: dim the lights, nurse, rock, etc ~ so that your little one comes to expect it.

My second also got increasingly difficult to put down at the end of the day. I ended up just wearing him in a carrier a little bit so that he could make it to bedtime. I support what others have said about letting her sleep where ever she wants. Eventually she'll be most comfortable in her crib/bed and that's where she'll want to sleep. Let her sleep where she's comfortable now. The only other thing that I would consider is letting her nap on her belly. I got a breathing monitor, which made me feel rediculous, but was such a godsend, because my son has been such a great sleeper. I know all the statistics, so obviously you'll make your choice, but just something else to consider. Good luck.

I think you're doing exactly what you should be doing. My son is 3.5 months, and we swaddle him, bounce him (on a therapy ball...saves our knees) to sleep for every nap. At first he would fight sleep and take forever, but now he falls asleep within minutes. It will get easier to read her cues and easier to put her to sleep. When she gets older (6 months) you can try to sleep train her, but right now she needs her mommy/daddy. Enjoy this time, it flies by too fast!

My advice would be to stop NOW! Use other methods to comfort during the day to get her to sleep on her own in her crib, such as swaddling, music, white noise, etc. The more use to she gets to you rocking her to sleep, the more she will expect it and not know how to fall asleep on her own. The best thing I did was to put my daughter to bed awake (yet sleepy) and have her sooth herself to sleep. My husband and I now have a baby that sleeps on schedule and sleeps in late!

Have you read BabyWise???... it was a life saver for me in outlining a schedule for me kids. They are wonderful sleepers to this day b/c of the guidance offered in this book. (now 6 and 8)Well worth the purchase, it will give you some sanity back!

up until my daughter was about 6 mos old - she really napped where ever she fell asleep - bouncy seat/swing/boppy/carrier etc.... she was formula fed every 4 hours or so - so she'd eat, play for about an hour, nap for 30-60 minutes - then be up again for a little bit before she was ready to eat again.

at about 6 mos she really started showing signs of 2 formal naps (morning afternoon). so that is when i started to put her in her crib for napping..... when she started to show signs of sleepiness... i'd bring her in her room, pull the shade, put on her music, walk/rock her for like 5-10 minutes.... to really get her in that sleepy mode... i'd lay her down (while she was still awake but very sleepy) and she'd nod off on her own....

eventually that 5-10minute walk/rock i shortened..... and then eventually not doing that at all (by like 9 mos). my daughter is 21 mos now and we go through the same routine for both naps and bed time....

she gets the bink only for naps/night time sleeping, and she has her blanket and stuffed puppy dog - the minute she gets the 3 of those - it's like an instant sleeping pill - she quiets down, and lays down on the couch/floor for like 15-20 minutes then we bring her down to her room. in her room we have a 1 hour lullabye CD that we play (more to cover up noises from the rest of the house).

she has been a great sleeper - down to 1 nap a day for 1.5-2 hours and in bed 8pm, weekdays we need to wake her at 7 to get out the door, and weekends she doesn't make a peep until 8am (sometimes in hear her rustling around before then, but she's quite in playing so we leave her be - until she calls out for us, then it's time to get up).

follow the same routine and she has her few "things" to help her sleep and she does great with sleeping.

Good Morning J.,

WHen my daughter was that age I used to swaddler her and put her in her crib with her pacifier and she would go to sleep for her naps and she even started to sleep threw the night, soon she started to get used to it, then when she got a little bit older she started to unswaddler herself and still slept, I hope this helps you.

J. R

When my daughter was a newborn I would let her sleep in the swing to get a break from her. She is seven months now and takes every nap and spends all night in her crib. Good habits take time and some newborns are just harder to put down, my son was difficult that I wish I had gotten the swing sooner it may have helped. Good luck and it does get easier : )

Hi J.,

I agree with Kim's response. Only thing that I differed on was that my babies were in their cribs earlier than 6 months, but that was at night. For naps, I was a bit more lenient so that I made sure they got them in. The older one would pretty much sleep anywhere, once she finally got into the habit of actually sleeping, but the younger one only wanted her cradle then the crib anyway.

My son (now 18 months) slept only in his swing for the first 3 months of his life. Even through the night. It is what worked for us. He transitioned fine to his crib and has been and is a great sleeper. So I suggest at this point do what works, don't worry so much about what is right.
-S.

Hi J.

I personally think she is young enough that you should just let her sleep where ever she may be at the time. I'm sure she just takes cat naps, I dont see why not let her sleep for a limited amount of time in the swing or other seat that reclines. Of course night time she should be in her crib. And I am right there with you on instilling good sleep habits, but she is young. I dont think I had my two children in for good crib naps til they were closer to 6mo old.
I hope this helps some.

It is important to establish good sleep habits, but I agree with some of the other responses here that your daugther will likely end up sleeping in her crib when she is ready and if she naps well in the swing now let her nap in the swing- My daugther will be 12 mo. in just a couple of weeks and I worried about her not sleeping in her crib in the beginning as well. In the end she napped best in her swing, and then for a while on my bed and then eventually (I think around 5 months, when she got too big for the swing) it was like she wanted to sleep in her bed and would go to sleep easily there...You have to do what works for you, and if you can get her to nap in the crib then that's great, but for your peace of mind and a little extra down time for you let her sleep in the swing for now!

I wouldn't worry about developing bad habits until around the 3 month or even later stage. Right now it is more important for the child to get some sleep (and maybe a nap for you as well). When the child gets a little older she will transition more easily to the crib.

You are doing great! Keep at it. It gets harder as the day goes on because babies get more tired at the day goes on. Babies at 10 weeks can only stay awake for an hour to 90 minutes at a time, some even less! Get her first nap of the day down, and don't worry where she takes the others. It is good for her to learn to sleep elsewhere than her crib - mine will ONLY sleep in her crib and makes it impossible to take her anywhere.
She is still young, so the sleep training won't make much of a dfference right now, BUT if you keep doing what you are doing she will learn and you'll be happy you did it.
Good luck!

We had the exact same problem with our son and I think that all kids have this problem at some point. What worked for us is to swaddle, put in the crib and then pat/shhhh to sleep. It takes a while at first (up to 20-30 minutes), but after a while it only takes 5 minutes or so (or even less- I just put him down for his morning nap and he went down without a problem).

Make sure you drink lots of water before the shhhhing starts. It certainly dries my mouth out.

Good luck!
K.