Hi all. I have been doing 'nap training' with my 4.5 month old girl. She has never been a good napper and gets so overtired that at the end of each day she would cry anywhere from 1-3 hours.
So, I am NOT the CIO type, but since she was crying for so long at the end of every day, I decided to try and let her cry during naps.
Now mind you this is torture for me, and I had tried a BUNCH of other things, and it was only getting worse. She was napping as little as 10 minutes - the poor thing!
CIO has only partially worked. First of all, I never let her get hysterical, only fuss, whimper and cry a bit. I am lucky that she has only gotten hysterical twice, and both times I went and got her.
Sometimes I put her down for a nap and not a peep. Other times she'll cry 10-20 minutes. Will this ever stop? Will she always cry?
Her naps are now anywhere from 25-60 minutes - better than 10! And her meltdowns at the end of the day - have not subsided, but are certainly less frequent. There is some progress....
I don't like the crying AT ALL, but I know she needs sleep more than she needs my cuddles.
I have tried staying in the room with her, but it doesn't work - it almost seems to make it worse.
I do take her in the car sometimes for a nap to avoid the crying, and if she happens to fall asleep on me (which I love, but she won't always do it) I simply let her be.
We do not struggle with this at bedtime nearly as much, just nap time.
Hi G.,
I'm a mom of 6, soon to be 7, and we've had our share of sleep issues. First of all, your daughter is just reaching the age where sleep training is most effective, and everything you're talking about sounds normal. But the most important thing is consistency. The book that saved my sanity when I was ready to pull my hair out with my fourth child is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. In fact, I have recommended it to so many people the author should start paying me royalties! This book is a step by step guide to sleep training, and it is the best I've ever read on the subject. It walks you through the whole process, and breaks things down by age. It even helps when you have various sleep issues later. I'm currently using it for my 2 and 4-year-olds. And it helps to have something to read when you are letting baby "cry it out" to reassure yourself that you're not damaging your child. It's worked like a charm for us every time. Good luck! Enjoy that precious little one -- they grow up so fast.
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K.B.
answers from
Boston
on
Hi there,
We had the same struggles with our youngest daughter. Have you tried going into her room in intervals? (I think it's called the Ferber method). It's a little more gentle than just letting her cry straight through.
The way it works is: Put her down, leave the room, and if she is crying go back in 5 minutes. Don't touch her or pick her up, but tell her gently that it's time to sleep. Leave again (be prepared for the crying to get temporarily louder when she realizes you weren't coming in to get her), then go back in 10 minutes and tell her again that it's time to sleep. Repeat, adding 5 minutes each time to the amount of time you let her cry before going into the room.
This worked with our daughter and she never made it past 45 minutes. It was difficult, but it only took a day or two to train her, and the rewards (for both of us) were well worth it! Eventually she realized that the crying was only going to get her a very short visit from me.
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L.R.
answers from
Hartford
on
I'm having trouble with the CIO method, too, mostly with naps. Staying in the room definitely makes it worse. I do let my son get hysterical, but I set the limit at 2 hours of crying. He hardly ever makes it that far. So I would try and stick it out--put on headphones or go in another room where you can't hear her and set a timer...
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I.L.
answers from
Boston
on
don't give up!
my toddler would cry and complain for 2 hours every day for a month during naptime. During the crying I woulf find myself doing house work, and reading, after 10 days became music to my ears, next thing I knew, she was sleeping and now, after days and weeks of crying, she lets me know when she is ready to nap.
