Hi moms!
My little boy is 17 months old and is a champ sleeper. However his nap is a little rough at times. If we happen to be out when he needs a nap he will crash in the car and then I just carry him to his bed and he is down for a good 2 hours. But when we are home, it is sometimes hard to get him to settle. He just scrumps and stuggles while I try to rock him to get him relaxed. That is getting to be tough because he is really tall and weighs close to 27lbs! He is a strong little man! So I was wondering, is it time to transition to like reading a story and then putting him down? I have always been able to just rock him a little, love on him, and then just lay him down and he would go to sleep by himself but now he tends to fuss a little. It doesn't go on for too long but I like for sleep to be a positive experience if at all possible. If anyone has any good little rituals that work for this age I would love to hear them. Thanks!
Read a story and play some soft music in the background while this is being done. These will relax him and hopefully he will go be sleep fast.
It's probably time to change up your routine a little. I definitely think you can sit with him on your lap in the rocking chair, but read him a story or two and maybe sing a quiet song, or just put some music on for him when you leave. I never really rocked my kids to sleep, but they both hated it, so that's probably part of the reason. Give it a try for a week or so (that's how long it will take to stick) and see how that goes. Good luck!
now would definitely be the time to stop the rocking. I would just hold him (if he wants to be held) on your lap and read him a story and maybe sing a couple calm songs, then tell him it's time to go to sleep and lay him down. If he has a lovey (blankie, stuffed animal, etc.) he can comfort himself with that, and if he doesn't have one, maybe you can take him to the store to pick out something special to be his bed buddy. It might be hard on him to transition at this age from the rocking (I stopped the rocking with both my girls a little earlier than that), but he will get the idea and eventually go to sleep. if he doesn't fall asleep within an hour, just get him up and try to keep him up until his normal bedtime and get him up the next morning at the same time so that he's extra tired the next day for his nap =) He will get the hang of it quickly, although 1 or 2 weeks can seem like forever to you!
Good luck!
I used to work with the little ones at church and our routine was put them down, turn the lights off (enough light came thru the window) and turn on soft music and do back rubs. It works wonders. He is much too big for you to try to carry and lift into bed.
As a mother of 3, I always laid them down and explained to them it is nap time. I will read you 2 books, after that close your eyes and go to sleep. I would sit and read my own book for 15 to 20 minuets then leave the room. They were usually asleep by then. Sometimes a warm bath may help. Or just try laying them on your lap on a pillow and gently rub his back.
I hope this is helpful to you.
Mary
our son will be one next month. i am not a fan of cry it out. one night a week ago it was comming up to 3 hours past his bed time. he was fighting it hard. i finally gave up. i removed him from his rocking chair and stuck him in bed. we all knew he was tired. yawning and rubbing his eyes he had already ate his dinner and bottle. so i said 15 min! thats the limit if he is still freaking out in 15 min i will stay up but i was beat tired myself. so about 12 min later he was out sound asleep. this was hard to hear our son crying/screaming. but serisouly we all needed to get some sleep and me being with him became a distraction not helping him at all. hope this helps you. God bless
I put my daughter down on her favorite blanket underneath the ceiling fan. She fell asleep peacefully watching the fan turn. If your son has a ceiling fan in his room, so much the better. White noise may work too.
My son was always difficult to get down for naps. I started doing an abbreviated version of his bedtime ritual for naps (mainly changing his diaper, drawing the curtains closed & then allowing him to pick out a book). We read the book together, tuck him under the covers and then tell him to have a nice sleep and I will see him when he wakes up. It took a few times for it to work, but now he goes down beautifully without any protests. I really believe books help to center a child and get their thoughts off play. Try to do what you do for night time - that helps get the cues for sleep going. Hope this helps!
I tell mine that they don't have to sleep. They just have to lay still and rest their eyes for a while (or until the timer goes off, ha). They will usually fall asleep on their own.
Naptime is my favorite time of the whole day! When my daughgter was around 1 she started to struggle to stay awake all day (and night). But naptime was the easiest time to fix. When she was smaller she would get a bottle and rocking to put her to sleep. Around 1 yrs old I just started having a few (like 5) quiet minutes and saying "it's naptime!" and putting her in bed. No fuss no muss and she would be asleep within 5-10 minutes (no crying or screaming either). Bedtime was a whole other story but that's b/c my husband and I fought about it and had 2 different routines for so many months, so stay consistent whatever you choose to do.
