Nap Training, any ideas? (quite long post sorry)

[fumblemummy]

Hi,

So I have a 5 month old who just refuses naps generally.

She was 7 weeks prem, suffered from colic and reflux although the latter is improving with time. She has always slept well at night and self settles to sleep in her cot in our room beautifully.

She has never slept very well in the day since the reflux became sad at about 4 weeks. But we were able to get around this by keeping her upright in the Moby sling. She is now more comfortable and will lay flat. As she is getting bigger I just can't carry her so much anymore as I'm being treated for disc problems in my back. In the sling she will sleep for the full 45 minute nap (or double that in the middle of day nap)

Have asked HV for advice who sent a Nursery Nurse out to talk to me who suggested the pat/stroke to sleep in cot approach and we agreed that this week we would use this for the morning nap so that at the very least I can carry her through the longer lunchtime nap. She also suggested putting her in the gro-bag for naps and she checked I was reading the tiredness signs properly and the obvious things such as a dark bedroom. We have being doing this now since Thursday we little or no success.

As soon as DD sees the cot she starts yelling. Patting/stroking make no difference whatsoever and in fact seem to increase the volume and intensity of the crying which only stops momentarily once she is picked up before starting again due to overtiredness.

The only day we did have a success was the day I nipped out of the room for 5 minutes to answer the door to the postman. She was asleep by the time I came back, but woke again 10 minutes later.

I have tried the buggy, sometimes she will drop off after about 45minutes of walking outside but will again sleep for only about 15minutes. Never had any success just rocking it back and forth in or out of the house.

Any ideas? Will this patting thing work eventually and am I just being a wimp (I just don't know if I can listen/watch her cry anymore - I just end up crying myself )

Babies who had colic often do find it harder to sleep, especially in the day. It's really tough.

Does rocking rather than slinging work? Patting / shushing definitely doesn't work for my DS unless I rock / feed him to sleep first. When he was smaller, he'd only sleep in the sling.

Now I put him in my lap and rock in a rocking chair. I then put him down when he's just gone to sleep, then if he complains (which he often does a bit), I pat him until he goes off again. If he's really, cross I pick him up and rock him again. Some people use a gymn ball rather than a rocking chair.

When DS had a period of only wanting to sleep on my lap at around 6 months, I would put him down asleep, then sit by his cot and pat him every time he stirred throughout the whole nap. Otherwise he'd often wake after 10 mins. He got the hang of it surprisingly quickly.

If you're trying a different method of getting to sleep, I'd try soothing to sleep for the first nap an hour after waking if you can. That helps to avoid overtiredness. Many babies this age can only do 1.5 hours awake before their first nap.

Other tips are to have a phrase you say or music you play / sing as she is getting drowsy in the sling. You can use that as a cue to help her get drowsy when you're trying a different method. That made all the difference with my DS.

A short pre-nap routine can also help so she knows what's supposed to come next. For example, you could sit in the bedroom and read a short book with her, then put her in the sling & get her off. After a few days she'll know that sleep comes after reading the book. I don't think it will solve your problem, but I think it could help a bit.

Agree with Angel.

It's key to make sure they don't get overtired. Put her down for a morning nap after 90 mins, maybe less if she seems tired before.

Also get her used to her cot by putting toys in it for her and letting her play.

Is she on meds for the reflux? Have you tried a dummy? This can help soothe the pain (my DS has reflux).

Are you feeding her before a nap? I found that this could stop DS sleeping as he'd get wind (even if I didn't think he'd swallowed air) and would cry. So I spend a few mins rubbing his back whilst rocking before putting him down.

Thanks Angel & Igglybuff

I'm going to try the rocking chair today as thats where we do her final feed at night so maybe will trigger an association for her.

Has never taken a dummy, used to suck finger but not so much anymore likes her own hand now.

Has meds for the reflux.

Thanks for the suggestions

Let us know how it goes - good luck. :)