Sleep training for naps update: huge progress!
Like I say every month, the minute I hit "publish" on his monthly update, Nolan does a 180 on me and this month was no exception.
We began nap time sleep training on Tuesday 1/2 in an effort to 1) break Nolan of the habit of needing me to wear him in the Ergo for all his naps (three naps a day) and 2) give him the chance to get a real, restorative nap 2-3 times each day in his crib.
We developed our plan: we discussed a soothing nap time routine (turn on white noise, change his diaper, make room dark, snuggle while singing a lullaby, say; "I love you, good night", lay him in his crib, leave the room) that we will perform precisely every single day and found his prime nap times (after looking back over the last month we could easily see that Nolan naps every 2 hours which means we should begin our nap time routine at 1.5 hours) to ensure he didn't get overtired.
Because we had great success using the Cry It Out extinction method discussed in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child for night time we decided to use it for nap time. This method allows the child to cry/fuss for one hour at each nap with no checking, consoling of any kind. With our video monitor, it was calming and reassuring for me to do this as I could keep an eye on him and ensure he was just crying out of protest not out of any kind of pain. We decided to only work on one nap at a time and once mastered, we'd move on to training for the next nap. Why? Because our goal is to maximize sleep and minimize crying so that Nolan is as well-rested as possible the remainder of the day and can go to sleep at night easily.
This is how it went:
On Tuesday 1/2 Nolan cried the entire hour. After getting him up and calming him down we went about our day as usual. Then, I took him on a walk for his second nap to let him fall asleep in his car seat and wore him in the Ergo for his third nap, both in an effort to maximize sleep for the day and stay on track for a 5:30pm bedtime. He slept his usual half hour for both of those naps and slept through the night as usual.
On Wednesday 1/3 Nolan didn't cry but he did fuss for the entire hour on and off, not constantly like Tuesday. After an hour, David went up to check on him to make sure he didn't have a poopy diaper or a burp and we decided to put him back down for 20 minutes. And it was the right decision as he tossed his head side to side and rubbed his ankles together (these are his self-soothing techniques) and fell asleep for 17 minutes! We couldn't believe it, after only one day of nap time sleep-training Nolan fell asleep on his own in his crib! He slept 35 minutes at his second and third nap in the ergo and slept through the night.
On Thursday 1/4 Nolan only fussed 50 minutes before falling asleep for 25 minutes. Because we are only working on one nap at a time, I again took him on a walk for his second nap to let him fall asleep in his car seat and wore him in the Ergo for his third nap, both in an effort to maximize sleep for the day and stay on track for a 5:30pm bedtime. He slept 30 minutes for both naps and slept through the night. After three days of only working on the first nap and seeing his night time sleep stay in-tact, we felt comfortable and validated in our decision and agreed to attempt putting him in his crib for his second nap as well tomorrow.
On Thursday 1/5 Nolan didn't cry nor did he even fuss when I put him in his crib for his morning nap. He tossed his head side to side and rubbed his ankles together and fell asleep on his own for his morning nap and slept 25 minutes. Due to a school project where Emily needed me in the afternoon, I decided to go ahead and attempt his second nap in his crib and to my shock he only fussed four minutes and slept 35 minutes! I tried to put him down for his third nap in his crib as well, feeling as though we were on a roll and it wasn't successful (he fussed the entire hour) so, he went to bed at 5:30pm and slept through the night.
On Friday 1/6 Nolan didn't make a sound when put in his crib and fell asleep on his own for his morning nap and slept 45 minutes. Then, he fell asleep on his own in his crib for his second nap and slept 1 hour 5 minutes! There wasn't time for a third nap (it was after 4pm) so, he again went to bed at 5:30pm and slept through the night.
On Saturday 1/7 Nolan went down for his first nap without a sound and was asleep in two minutes for a 25 minute nap. A poopy diaper woke him up it seems and attempts to put him back down did not result in sleep so, we got him up and went about our day. His second nap was a huge success as he went down without a sound and slept 2 hours, which is is longest nap to-date since we began nap time sleep-training. It was too late for a third nap so he went to bed at 6pm and slept through the night.
So far, nap time sleep-training has been a huge success and the real reward is seeing Nolan waking up happy, instead of crying and exhausted with huge bags under his eyes as well as him getting closer to 14-15 hours of total sleep in a 24 hour period. Sleep-training isn't for everyone nor every baby but it has successfully worked with both my kids for night time and nap time and we are all more happy and well-rested for doing it.
We began nap time sleep training on Tuesday 1/2 in an effort to 1) break Nolan of the habit of needing me to wear him in the Ergo for all his naps (three naps a day) and 2) give him the chance to get a real, restorative nap 2-3 times each day in his crib.
We developed our plan: we discussed a soothing nap time routine (turn on white noise, change his diaper, make room dark, snuggle while singing a lullaby, say; "I love you, good night", lay him in his crib, leave the room) that we will perform precisely every single day and found his prime nap times (after looking back over the last month we could easily see that Nolan naps every 2 hours which means we should begin our nap time routine at 1.5 hours) to ensure he didn't get overtired.
Because we had great success using the Cry It Out extinction method discussed in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child for night time we decided to use it for nap time. This method allows the child to cry/fuss for one hour at each nap with no checking, consoling of any kind. With our video monitor, it was calming and reassuring for me to do this as I could keep an eye on him and ensure he was just crying out of protest not out of any kind of pain. We decided to only work on one nap at a time and once mastered, we'd move on to training for the next nap. Why? Because our goal is to maximize sleep and minimize crying so that Nolan is as well-rested as possible the remainder of the day and can go to sleep at night easily.
This is how it went:
On Tuesday 1/2 Nolan cried the entire hour. After getting him up and calming him down we went about our day as usual. Then, I took him on a walk for his second nap to let him fall asleep in his car seat and wore him in the Ergo for his third nap, both in an effort to maximize sleep for the day and stay on track for a 5:30pm bedtime. He slept his usual half hour for both of those naps and slept through the night as usual.
On Wednesday 1/3 Nolan didn't cry but he did fuss for the entire hour on and off, not constantly like Tuesday. After an hour, David went up to check on him to make sure he didn't have a poopy diaper or a burp and we decided to put him back down for 20 minutes. And it was the right decision as he tossed his head side to side and rubbed his ankles together (these are his self-soothing techniques) and fell asleep for 17 minutes! We couldn't believe it, after only one day of nap time sleep-training Nolan fell asleep on his own in his crib! He slept 35 minutes at his second and third nap in the ergo and slept through the night.
On Thursday 1/4 Nolan only fussed 50 minutes before falling asleep for 25 minutes. Because we are only working on one nap at a time, I again took him on a walk for his second nap to let him fall asleep in his car seat and wore him in the Ergo for his third nap, both in an effort to maximize sleep for the day and stay on track for a 5:30pm bedtime. He slept 30 minutes for both naps and slept through the night. After three days of only working on the first nap and seeing his night time sleep stay in-tact, we felt comfortable and validated in our decision and agreed to attempt putting him in his crib for his second nap as well tomorrow.
On Thursday 1/5 Nolan didn't cry nor did he even fuss when I put him in his crib for his morning nap. He tossed his head side to side and rubbed his ankles together and fell asleep on his own for his morning nap and slept 25 minutes. Due to a school project where Emily needed me in the afternoon, I decided to go ahead and attempt his second nap in his crib and to my shock he only fussed four minutes and slept 35 minutes! I tried to put him down for his third nap in his crib as well, feeling as though we were on a roll and it wasn't successful (he fussed the entire hour) so, he went to bed at 5:30pm and slept through the night.
On Friday 1/6 Nolan didn't make a sound when put in his crib and fell asleep on his own for his morning nap and slept 45 minutes. Then, he fell asleep on his own in his crib for his second nap and slept 1 hour 5 minutes! There wasn't time for a third nap (it was after 4pm) so, he again went to bed at 5:30pm and slept through the night.
On Saturday 1/7 Nolan went down for his first nap without a sound and was asleep in two minutes for a 25 minute nap. A poopy diaper woke him up it seems and attempts to put him back down did not result in sleep so, we got him up and went about our day. His second nap was a huge success as he went down without a sound and slept 2 hours, which is is longest nap to-date since we began nap time sleep-training. It was too late for a third nap so he went to bed at 6pm and slept through the night.
So far, nap time sleep-training has been a huge success and the real reward is seeing Nolan waking up happy, instead of crying and exhausted with huge bags under his eyes as well as him getting closer to 14-15 hours of total sleep in a 24 hour period. Sleep-training isn't for everyone nor every baby but it has successfully worked with both my kids for night time and nap time and we are all more happy and well-rested for doing it.
That's great!!! My little guy will only nap for a decent length of time if he's in his swing :/ At 6 months we've got to stop that. We can lay him down in his crib but he'll only sleep for about 30 minutes, then be cranky. He goes down no probably for bed time, so who knows what the deal is. Glad it's working so well for you!
ReplyDeleteSo a few things, yes, I know this post is over a year old. It came up on a google search for nap sleep training. Second, I don't know if it will work, but I am praying it will. While my daughter is probably older than your little boy was we are doing this in the somewhat same order so I am hopeful. Lastly, thank you for posting something about your experience with nap sleep training. There is so much on nighttime sleep training and so very little for naps. Thank you!
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