For the last week or so I cannot get my daughter to take a nap. I wonder if I spoiled her while she was sick a couple of weeks ago. She will fall asleep on my chest, but as soon as I put her down she wakes up. If she does not take a nap of course she cries and whines all day. I am begining to lose my patients. When we first moved here, we did the cry it out method. She would for cry for aproxamately 3-4 hours for 2 weeks. By the end I could decide if I was cruel or just about to lose my mind. Please any ideas.
That happens in phases-especially after some change to the routine. Just don't give up.
Hi,
From my experience, I wonder if she is sleep-deprived? Once we went to grandma's house for the weekend. DS did not sleep well. When we came back, I noticed he would fall asleep on me, but he would not be in a deep sleep and could not be transferred to the crib. It was as if he was sleeping with one eye open and would wake up at any movement. I realized he was sleep-deprived and couldn't get into that deep sleep. Could that be your situation, since she was sick?
M.
I can tell you that my daughter stopped napping on a regular basis at 15 months old. However, she went down for the night at 7:00 to 7:30. Even at that, I would put her in her crib for an hour or so around 2:00, with music, favorite books, doll or stuffed animal and she would sing, talk, "read", play quietly and most of it laying down. That would get us through dinner and bath without a lot of misery and gave me a little bit of a break. She has always functioned better with her sleep all in one, long period with some quiet time during the day. I have had several friends who have had non-nappers as well. I worked at a private pre-shcool for two years and we always had 5 or 6 non sleepers. They were required to lay on their mats until the rest of the children were asleep and then we would move them to another area where they could read, color, play with quiet toys while on their mats. It worked well. Good luck.
Have you tried laying down with her and cuddling? My daughter takes the longest naps when I stay snuggled right beside her. I prefer to get things done while she sleeps, but I reason that in the long run our day will go smoother is she takes a good nap (and really it doesn't hurt if I rest too).
M.,
waw, 3-4 hours. That's brutal. We did the cry out method with my son as well, but he would only cry for maybe an hour and then go to sleep. Recently he was trying to phase out his naps (he is 3 now) and I started to put him in bed with books and a flashlight. He loved it so much that he was excited to get his stuff at nap time. He played with the books and flashlight for a while and eventually he would fall sleep in his bed (without the crying, which was great). A good friend was the one that told me about he flashlight. She said it worked for all of her 4 children. It really worked for us as well. Kids love flashlights.
A. H.
If they cry over 30 min, they aren't going to go to sleep, they have woke theirself up, that's too long in my opinion. But sometimes as they get bigger they don't require as much sleep, she may be where she only needs an afternoon nap. You could rock her a bit, get her all relaxed and soothed and then go lay her down and say nap time and give her a favorite stuffed toy maybe if that would help to cuddle with. You weren't spoiling her when you held her when she was sick, that was just being a nurturing mother.
have you tried to sit right beside her and pat her back or rub her back?
also i would try to wear her out for about and hour before nap time...expell sooo much energy that she goes to sleep
My child has a hard time taking naps as well. I especially remember this age being the hardest. There were a few times when she ended up having to take a nap later in the day b/c she would not go down imediately following lunch. I wouldn't worry about spoiling her when she was sick - I spoiled mine when she had strep throat a few weeks ago. Watched Calliou all day and layed on the couch to take her naps. Plus she slept with me in my bed for three days. We jumped right back into the routine as soon as she was all better - not even skipping a beat.
One of things that worked for me was letting her cry a bit, then checking on her and telling her it was time to take a nap. Then if she cried again, I would go back in there without saying a word to tuck her in again. Then usually after going in there 3-4 times she would eventually fall asleep. The key was always not saying anything or responding to her crying.
I also tried a softer approach; I would rock her until she was sleepy then lie her down. She would cry a bit then fall asleep b/c she was so tired.
Also, you may try putting her to bed earlier at night (not sure when you put her to be already) around 7:00pm. Then she would wake around 6-7am. Then should be extremely tired by 11:30 or so. My daughter would actually fall asleep in her high chair sometimes.
Good luck!!
