getting him to nap

8:30 a.m. He yawns. Place him in crib with rolled towels on either side as bolsters to hold him on his side. Pacifier in mouth. Lovey (small square fuzzy blanket with stuffie dog-head in center) under one arm. Goodbye Mr. Sun, we’re taking a nap. Put lullabye CD in player on low. Leave room.

8:34 a.m. Strange scuffle snort squeak sounds. Go into room. Boy is lying on back, arms and legs flailing, lovey sqarely on his face. Pull lovey off face. Boy laughs hysterically. This is his favorite game. Roll boy back onto side. Rub back a little. We’re taking a nap. Leave room.

8:something a.m. Very consistent whiney cry. Go back into room. No tears, but won’t stop cry/whine. Sit in child’s chair next to crib and lean in, in order to: Shush, pat, rub, stroke for an extended period. Time passes. At one point, he stops crying, looks up at you. Reaches towards your face with one hand. Continue stroking his head. Still no luck. Boy resumes crying. Lean your entire upper body over side, into crib, rest your head against his chest. Continue shushing and patting. Doubt whether you are doing any of this right or not. Worry that picking him up now will teach him bad habits. Give up, take him out of crib, try old rock-bounce technique. No luck. Check diaper. Wet. Change diaper. Return to crib. Boy resumes whiney cry. Shush pat some more. Check clock. It is now 9:15 a.m. Leave room. Cry.

9:17 a.m. Both of you are crying. Return to room. Take boy out of crib, pacifier out of mouth. Sit down in glider. Nurse.

9:34 a.m. Boy stops nursing. Falls asleep on lap. Place boy on back between towel bolsters in crib. Worry about suffocation risk. Tuck lovey under his arm. Exit.

10:04 a.m. Boy awakens, crying.

10:07 Concede. Remove baby from crib. Nurse.

10:17 a.m. Pray boy has forgiven you. Resume playing.

3 comments for “getting him to nap

  1. May 12, 2008 at 9:34 am

    Wow, this sounds tough, but I admire your fortitude. I’m sure there really is no “right way” to nap…. I’ve given up on trying to get Flann to nap on a schedule, or in any particular place. Doing so gave me agida, and never seemed to make a damned bit of difference to his night-time sleep.

    Laura’s last blog post..Dodging the sleep gods

  2. May 14, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    My almost 5 month old just sleeps on my lap, mostly. She doesn’t like to be alone. Even her crib is right next to our bed (with the side wall removed), although to be honest she actually sleeps in our bed as the crib is too far. If she’s been asleep on my lap for 1/2 hr or so I’m able to leave her on her own, but that doesn’t last for long. Why go through all the trouble of trying to force them to sleep alone? Almost all the babies I hear of need to be next to a parent.

    Athena’s last blog post..On second thought

  3. eva
    May 16, 2008 at 7:33 am

    Here’s a couple tips I “cribbed” from someone else’s sleep consultant:

    1) darken the room – extreme darkness – we hung heavy black towels over Megan’s blings

    2) we turn our faces away from Megan while she’s falling asleep because supposedly infants find faces too stimulating

    3) we don’t shush pat – we kind of hold her arms down for a couple of minutes until she sighs and/or yawns, then leave the room. there’s usually babbling or a few tears for 3-5 minutes then silence.

    Good luck!

    eva’s last blog post..The Princess Post

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