to sleep, or not to sleep (in the crib)

a successful nap
a successful nap
2 comments

So today marks 3 weeks that Owen has been sleeping nights in his crib. He generally falls asleep after his last feeding so there was no reason not to start putting him down in his crib. Once we did, he started extending his sleeping too - working up to almost 9 hours last week. He'd go down around 9/9.30pm and sleep till 6, then again to 9.

The real accomplishment came two nights ago when I laid him in the crib at bed time and he woke up. He started sucking on his fingers so I tucked him in, turned off the light and left. I listened intently to the monitor and his sucking eventually turned to snoring. So he put himself to sleep for the first time!

But now I think he's getting ready for an earlier bedtime. Two nights ago he went to bed at 8.30, but got up at 4. Last night, after a 45 minute struggle to get him down for his 5pm nap (I gave up on the crib and resorted to the bouncy chair), he slept right through his 6pm feeding and barely opened his eyes when I woke him up to feed him at 8.30. After a diaper change and feeding, he was back to sleep around 9. But he woke up at 2.30, 4, 6, 7am... these were partly my fault because I was dozing off while feeding so he was only getting one side at a time and waking up a little later for more. But still, I don't know what to make of the 5.45p - 2.30a deal.

Those of you with older babies, when did you start putting them down earlier? I'm wondering if we should be transitioning to something like 7p - 7a. Any tips?

Then we're still having napping issues. The nanny I think we're going to hire is pretty strict about a 10a and 2p nap. But so far O's been having 3 naps a day, though they range from 30/45m to an hour. I think he could use fewer and longer naps, so I'm happy to let her try. And I have the hardest time getting him to fall asleep in his crib. I'll hold the nuk, rub his belly, sing and shush for up to 30m before he'll fall asleep. And if he's getting too angry, I give up and use the bouncy chair. I've been happy if I can get at least one of his three daily naps to be in his crib. Speaking of which, I hear him starting to wake up (he fell asleep after his 12.30 lunch and has been napping in the crib)...

Tags:

Next Posts

Previous Posts

Comments

Anya's Mom
BT started going to bed earlier (like 6-7) at about 3.5 months. Before that she had been doing the same 9 hour sleep pattern that it sounds like Owen is in. Naps were a struggle (and sometime continue to be) for a long time. Now I put her down to nap when she gives me the tired cues like rubbing her eyes or getting cranky. She had been taking 3 naps a day, but weekends always get the schedule messed up and I think she might be transitioning to a 2 nap schedule. She only naps in her crib now, but sometimes I have to leave her in there to complain for a while before she actually falls asleep. A completely complaint free nap is almost unheard of for her, and when she does fall asleep it can be for 30 mins up to 2+ hours. The nighttime sleep was much easier for us to figure out. Naps are still somewhat of a mystery.
calimama
This is probably bad, but we still let Jake pretty much set his own schedule. Meaning that when he starts making obvious "tired" signs (rubbing his eyes, burying his face, getting really cranky, making that weird moan like Billy Crystal in "When Harry Met Sally"...) we put him down. This goes for naps and for the night, and Patty does the same thing with him at daycare. As long as we put him down when he's really tired (as opposed to when we just WISH he was really tired), he falls asleep with minimal fussing. Jake usually takes a short morning nap, a longer early-mid afternoon nap and then sometimes takes about an hour-long one after I feed him when I get home (he'll usually fall asleep anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 if he takes this one). The nights he takes the early evening nap he obviously falls asleep for the night a bit later (sometimes as late as 10pm), and sometimes we have to wake him up from this early evening nap to feed him, but he usually goes right back to sleep (barely wakes for the feeding). Lately, he's been going to sleep between 8 and 9pm. This all really fell into a pattern around the time that I returned to work (at about 3.5 months) -- partially, I think, out of necessity (since Mommy couldn't grab naps during the day anymore) and also because of daycare (although she agrees with our philosophy of letting him largely determine his own schedule, it is a more rigid setting since she's got other kids she need to take care of, too). Hope this helps, though I don't think we're the ones you want to model yourselves after! :)
mojitomama
thanks - good to know Anya and Jake are still taking 3 naps a day. The nanny worked with her last kids from 3mo. to 15mo., so the 2 naps a day didn't happen until they were older. I did create our routine around his natural schedule, but he was very consistent from early on as far as mealtimes so it made it easy. Now this past week it's just been totally at random, although he's now getting back towards the regular 3hr. feeding interval. I was hoping for some consistency with the nanny starting next week but it just doesn't look like that's going to happen.

It definitely helps with naps if I put him down at the first sign of tiredness; when I wait too long and he's overtired it's a lost cause for the crib. But I've resorted to the bouncy chair a lot this week. :(