But last Friday, nothing was working. I was rocking him, bouncing him, swaying him, swaddled him... the boy would not go to sleep even though his eyes were rollin and it was obvious he NEEDED A NAP! So I decided at that moment that he needed to cry a little. I was going to put him down in his crib AWAKE (aaaah!) and let him fall asleep on his own. I'd read a bunch of books and blogs about conquering naps, and decided to follow the advice of The Sleep Lady.
That first try was torture. He was probably overtired and it took him almost a full hour to fall asleep. I would check on him every 5 minutes or so and tell him everything was ok. He would calm down, and then start to fuss again. But finally, one hour later, he fell asleep. (I should add that I was a complete wreck for the entire morning. I think more mama tears were shed than baby tears.) For his second nap that same day, he fussed for 30 minutes and then fell asleep.
Could it be?! Was he learning? The next day, for his first nap he fussed 10 minutes and for his second nap only 3 MINUTES! HE FELL RIGHT ASLEEP! I was amazed and annoyed at myself that I didn't just bite the bullet and do this sooner so he could get the daytime sleep he needs. But the idea of letting my little baby cry and not rushing to his aid was just too much for me; I wasn't ready until last week.
It's only been 3 days, but naps are already improving. Just the fact that we can lay him down in his crib awake and he's falling asleep is a breakthrough. Naps aren't lasting long enough yet (45 mins-1 hour), but I think it's because he's getting used to his crib since he's sill sleeping in our room at night.
Now I need to work on sticking to a schedule until he's done with nap "training"... looks like I'll be sticking close to home for a few weeks.
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| I spy a sleeping baby! |
