Sleep training naps but keeping flexibility?

[rjm405]

I am currently sleep training my 6.5 month old at night time via the Ferber method and it's going okay so far. I am considering sleep training for naps after but I dont want to lose flexibility of going out in the day (e.g I dont want to not be able to leave the house between 12 and 2 because that's when my baby naps).

Has anyone sleep trained for naps and what was it like when you did then go out? Can the babies still do pram naps / carrier naps / naps in arms?

I currently feed to sleep and want to break that association but if baby is fed to sleep and for a few naps after nap training, does that undo all the hard work?

Thanks!

A genuine question and I really don’t mean this in a judgy way at all (we all have to make our own decisions as parents afterall) - do you find it okay for your mental health to let your baby cry? I guess I’m asking because it makes me feel actually unwell if my baby is crying and I can’t get to her straight away eg I’m helping another child with something.

I honestly can’t imagine actively choosing to allow my baby to cry, especially when they are so young and vulnerable. I, maybe naively, thought that sleep training was widely shunned these days.

Like you say, I think it comes down to the baby and possibly the parental relationships with them. I found it was quite intuitive, telling the difference between ‘I’m hungry/uncomfortable’ and ‘I’m so tired I need to sleep’. I think you just work out what’s best for you and your baby and parent in the way that works best for you as a family. Like you say, no judgement, just what works for everyone. Personally, I found my mental health improve 100% when my baby slept at night and we all had a good night’s sleep.

I didn't need to do it for naps as not every day was the same, so there was no set nap time. I let them nap in the pram, or in a sling. I fed to sleep each night as it worked for us, and by the time they were weaning, this lessened a lot. If this doesn’t work for you, then you could try it, but do you want to be tied to a regimented nap time? I used to meet friends, do shopping, go for a long lunch at weekends etc., so wouldn’t want to be tied to the house or have to get them in the pram at certain times.

A genuine question and I really don't mean this in a judgy way at all - do you not feel bad about making comments like this to make other mothers feel terrible about themselves? Being up every 45-60 mins for 3 months has been seriously impacting my health and yes, listening to my baby cry for 30 mins is awful but I've had to suffer longer in the car anyway where there is nothing I can do about it.

I honestly can't imagine actively choosing to allow myself to put someone else down. I, maybe naively, thought that judging other people's parenting decisions was widely shunned these days.

Thanks for your reply! I dont want to be tied to a regimented nap time so I can still go out and about, but I am worrying about the transition to nursery and my mum will be looking after my baby once a week and I dont know how they will get my baby to nap. Currently only I can via feeding to sleep, or on a carrier walk, or in the car (pram is a no for us) so am thinking about sleep training for naps more for the self settling aspect.

Nursery staff have magical powers. I had a nap refuser and they napped every day at nursery!! Your mum will just figure out what to do herself - she raised you ok by the sounds of it! She might not want to be tied into set nap times and durations. Sounds like your child is getting a good night sleep, so they will just nap when they need during the day. Mine didn’t really nap with me, but they had a good long sleep at night so it didn’t really affect them.

I wouldn’t bother, why waste your precious maternity leave being inside stressing over naps. Just do what works; get out and enjoy yourself. It’s much better for your baby to sleep on the go, rather than long naps in the dark - that can make night sleep worse. if your baby is waking frequently at night, they are probably
low sleep needs so you just want a few short naps in the day so theyre tired enough to sleep
longer at night. Sleep training is pointless unless they have enough sleep pressure at bedtime.
look at the Possums method.
mine only ever had contact naps/pram/sling naps and she napped fine at nursery.

Most babies aren’t crying…they’re shouting. I think a baby getting broken sleep night after night is far more damaging and stressful to them than a few nights spent sleep training. Ours went down within 15 mins on the first night (no crying) with me going back in maybe twice to comfort for a minute or two both times.

We sleep trained in 3 nights - going from maybe 5-6 wake ups and having to rock to sleep (inc naps) to waking twice a night to feed and conking out in 2 minutes from the kiss on the forehead.

He naturally falls asleep in the car or pram around his naptime. I’d say as long as 70% of the naps are in the crib, they’ll be fine

In my experience, sleep training all comes together better and results in a better rested child for naps to be under the same conditions as nighttime sleep. Yes, being restrictive with your schedule sucks, but it is what it is.

When babies get a bit older, and sleep routines and good rest is well established then you can be a little more flexible with it.

I’d ignore the poster above who says that on-the-go naps are better and naps in dark rooms result in poor night sleep, and that frequent night wakes mean a ‘low sleep needs’ baby.