Possum method?

[RichTea63]

Has anyone had any success with this? We are in a daily nap battle with obsession over wake windows and avoiding an over or undertired DD (5 months) and i'm sure relaxing about it a bit would help. I also think my understanding of the possum method is a bit simplistic...you just go about your day and baby will sleep when they need to on the go?? I'm just not sure how i wont end up with a grumpy tired baby at the end of the day. If there is more to it than that please enlighten me...TIA x

Never heard of it. You just tuck them into a pouch?

I think all of this stuff about wake windows etc just gives parents(usually mums) more things to worry about, it’s all relatively new too. My eldest is 12 now and this wasn’t a thing then. My dc slept when they slept and that was it tbh.

I think relaxing about naps can help. I was obsessed with my first (party because she was such a bad night sleeper, pertly because it was lockdown so there was fuck all else to do) but it never really helped

with my second I tend to use wake windows to see if he’s fussy because he’s likely tired or if it’s a waste of time trying for a nap because he’s only been up for an hour for example so it must be another reason.

If I think he’s tired but won’t go to sleep / is getting really whingey then I pop him in the sling and carry on with my day. Sometimes he goes to sleep really quickly like that, sometimes he’s awake for ages but usually a lot quieter than he would be out of the sling so that’s still a win for me 🤷‍♀️

now he’s old enough that I can back carry him he isn’t really in the way, just means I can’t chill on the sofa (which I can’t do with a very grumpy baby either so at least this way the washing gets folded 😅)

I think in the kindest way possible you need to relax. It really shouldn’t be this stressful

wake windows are a load of rubbish. Every baby is different and you cannot force your baby to be tired just because google tells you she should be

let her sleep when she’s tired. Let her be awake when she’s not. She will soon fall into her natural pattern and you can then find a routine then

imagine if your partner said to you, right you must sleep now because you’ve been awake exactly 8 hours, no fussing or anything, just sleep. No different for a baby.

Why would babies needs to sleep in the exact time? Adults don't do that either!

Your baby won't be overtired if you look for the signs and get her to nap. It's not about timing it's about to learn when they need it: it won't be always at the same time.

I usually go on with my day, put my daughter into the carseat, pram, carrier when I'm on the move. If she sleeps she sleeps if not, not. I can't imagine organising my day around her nap time: I won't be able to plan or get anything done. Plus it will go out of the window as soon as they start teething or start nursery etc. anyways.

Forget about wake windows, chill out and watch for sleep queues (eye rub yawn, looking into the distance, getting a bit grumpy) are all signs they're tired and need a sleep, it's then you help them / encourage them to sleep depending on how you get them there.. Yes some babies do just fall asleep others need a bit of convincing (pram, rocking, patting shh ing whatever you need to do) don't worry about how long the nap was unless they wake up super grumps after ten mins and you know they've woken too early) and just roll with it. I didn't ever let mine sleep past 4pm after they were 6 months or so as I wanted to make sure they'd go to bed at a time that suited me but that's it really!

I had to follow Gina Ford to the letter in my last nanny job, and swore I wouldn’t do it with my own baby. So restrictive and downright cruel sometimes (there is a bit in there where you only let the baby sleep for 5 minutes (!!!!) when they’re showing signs of not needing a morning nap.

Never heard of the possum method. With mine, he sleeps if he’s tired. He’s 18 months old now so I know I am ‘supposed’ to have transitioned into one middle of day nap, but he prefers a kip in the morning and another in the afternoon, so I haven’t. He will sleep in his buggy when out so it’s not an issue.

I would just see if he can fall into his own rhythm, and pick up on his cues but don’t tie yourself in knots over it. It’s only with our firstborns we can give so much credence to wake windows and methods, after all!

It can work well if your baby likes to sleep in the pram/carrier/car seat. The idea is that you get on with your day and your baby will be interested in and stimulated by seeing what you are doing. If you provide conditions that allow your baby to nap, they will sleep when they are tired.

For me, I would put my DS in the pushchair and he would happily watch the the world go by, stand on my lap and look out the window of the bus etc. Then when he was tired he would fall asleep in the pushchair and I would just keep on walking. He could also fall asleep on my lap on the bus with his dummy, or breastfeeding at a baby group.

It doesn't work so well if the environment is too stimulating or they don't like to sleep on the go (can't sleep when tired), or if they are bored and cranky being carted around. I also found that the pushchair itself became a sleep cue - especially when DS was bundled up in a warm snowsuit in the middle of winter he would fall asleep just because he was in the pushchair, even if he wasn't that tired, which wasn't always helpful.

The overall message of don't stress the exact times for naps I found very helpful, but I think it's definitely designed for warmer climates that Scotland in January!

I didn’t know it had a name but I just get on with the day and baby sleeps if and when they’re tired. Best they learn to sleep wherever and whenever. Never wanted to fall into needing to be in their own bed / quiet etc

Yes I tried this method when my daughter was a few months old. I like that it is based on actual sleep research whereas a lot of other sleep training methods aren't. In the end the Possum's stuff didn't fully work and my daughter did need some help going to sleep by being rocked etc. I also found that it skimmed over the mother's mental health and sleep needs. But it was reassuring to know that by feeding her to sleep I also wasn't doing any harm.