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Topic: naptime routine/sleep associations (Read 2024 times)
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naturalmama
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Hi, I'm mother to a 9mo sweetie, and sleep seems to be our main issue.....
She naps for only 20 min - 1/2 hour at a time so needs 3 a day, and needs breastfeeding or bouncing to sleep each time. The problem is I am getting RSI in my wrist from the bouncing (and my toes strangely enough) - it takes a while of crying and bouncing before she settles - or I have to coincide her feed times with nap times. I am wondering will I always have to feed her to sleep? My husband has a neck injury which means he cant do the bouncing (and obviously cant do the feeding) so this has led to her exclusively needing me to be the sleep inducer. I would like to see her going to sleep with less input from me, and in a way which means my husband can put her to bed, or a babysitter etc. How do babies learn that sleep is a lovely thing and it feels nice to surrender to it.....
I am interested in everyones routines for nap times and how they got to that point.
Thanks - Liz.
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moogie
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For naps and bed my dd is breastfed to sleep. If she doesn't go to sleep this way dh or i rock her. she is just now starting to cuddle rather than feed back to sleep. i think it all comes with time. As they feel more aware with the world and more rational they will start to get it. Not everyone agrees, but i think in your stuation where neither you or your dh can really rock her to sleep, that introducing a bottle(of expressed or formula) may be the way to go. It can mean that someone other than you may be able to put her to sleep. my dd will drink a bottle but she wont go to sleep with drinking it. if rocking is too much maybe sway a little or just stand, then gently sit down and cuddle her. if she has been given a calm before bed routine this may work. so gentle music, dim light, gentle stroking. my dd won't do this but its worth a try.
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skeettafic
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I wish I had something to offer you but I wanted to let you know that our biggest struggles with sleep were around that 9 month initial separation anxiety stage. Jocelyn never fed to sleep - she just never fell asleep that way - and before we hit this stage she was happy to just go to her crib and talk herself to sleep. When her sleep got crazy though, it was the bouncing that got her to sleep. We also had similar problems with the bouncing mainly because she was a large solid baby and she also started to struggle while we were doing it because she did not want to sleep.
What we did was to start a really solid routine that was similar before nap and bed (bedtime was a little longer). After that we would initially bounce her to sleep and then lay her down; after a couple of weeks she started to go to sleep easily with the bouncing instead of all the fighting and crying so we would bounce until she was settled and then sway for a little. After she settled easily with bouncing then swaying we switched to swaying then rocking then from rocking to sleep to rocking to very drowsy, etc, etc. Wach time we changed things a little she would protest but she generally accepted the transitions within a couple of days.
I'd be happy to post more info if you feel it would be helpful. And welcome to the boards!
Jessica
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naturalmama
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Thanks Meg and Jessica for your helpful ideas, I have decided to try and transition Olivia gradually the way you explained Jessica - the hardest part is the move from putting her down asleep, to putting her down drowsy..... it will happen over time though, Im confident about that. I suppose there are some days where it seems too much and I just have to remind myself that Im not here to control her or make her do what I want, she's a little person with her own needs and wants and sometimes just doesnt want to sleep thank you very much!  Liz |
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skeettafic
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Thanks Meg and Jessica for your helpful ideas, I have decided to try and transition Olivia gradually the way you explained Jessica - the hardest part is the move from putting her down asleep, to putting her down drowsy..... it will happen over time though, Im confident about that. I suppose there are some days where it seems too much and I just have to remind myself that Im not here to control her or make her do what I want, she's a little person with her own needs and wants and sometimes just doesnt want to sleep thank you very much! Liz Ah, something I myself have had to remind myself many a time! Especially in regards to sleep! |
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