Hi moms,
My daughter is 13 months old and I am having trouble finding a way to have her fall asleep for a nap in her crib. She can fall asleep in the car but if I move her she will wake up. I can nurse her on my lap and if I move her to her crib she will immediately wake up and start crying.I tried nursing her on the bed and then leaving and this worked at first but slowly turned into 20 minute naps. I am desperate so I am trying to let her "cry it out" but it isn't going well. I have been doing this for a week with no signs of improvement.The crying goes on for an hour and the nap is only about 40 minutes. This doesn't seem worth the distress it is causing her! Her nature is extremely alert and she is a very light sleeper. I keep this house quiet when she sleeps because it seems any little noise wakes her up. I also have some white noise in her room and some soft music.If anyone has been in this situation, I would love some input.
Hi M. Have you tried bathing her with lavender gerber brand shampoo? thats what I did for my child and it helped. Put the same naptime every day.
I would try putting her down before she is tired. My daughter wakes up at 7 am and I put her down at 8:45 she is asleep by 9 am. I have a lot of toys in there for her to play with and keep her occupied. She used to be a light sleeper but when she was in daycare that fixed the problem so now I go about my day and she sleeps just fine the normal house noise.
I am not big on the crying out method only because it NEVER worked with my baby. Let her cry a little bit but dont pick her up until she is inconsolable. I have an air bed next to her crib and I sit or lay next to her until she would fall asleep...this worked great for her.
Now she goes down for nap without a problem. Bed time I am still working on...I still have to rock her to sleep.
If you have tried the crying out method, then I am assuming you are not against it. I bet if you are consistant and let her cry after about three days she will give it up a realize that it is nap time and noone is going to "rescue" her if she cries. It is what worked for my SIL. GOod Luck!
Sounds like she may be overly-tired. You should try putting her down before she gets cranky, when she is calm and fully awake (preferably at the same time everyday). If you wait until she is halfway asleep, she will depend on you to get her to that point. I feel it is best to teach your child to put themselves to sleep. I have done that with both of my boys and they are great sleepers. She may cry for a few days, but if you are consistent and strong, she will learn to fall asleep and stay asleep for nap time.
Read "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems" by Tracy Hogg. It's genius and has worked for everyone I know that's tried it. Basically, she'll tell you to put your daughter in her bed and stay there with her while she cries - Never leave the room! When the crying gets to the point where she is inconsolable then pick her up and comfort her. The second she's calmed down put her back in bed! Of course, she'll start crying again and you'll have to repeat the process. You may have to do this a hundred times (literally) the first time but it will get better! Within a couple weeks she will be going to sleep by herself. It will be hard but I PROMISE it will work! Tracy's point is to help children learn to self-soothe and get to sleep on their own.
When/If you have your next baby I suggest reading "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" by the same author before you give birth.
I hope this helps!
