Thursday, October 23, 2008
requests
This whole pregnancy thing is so much harder than I remember. Could 1 year of a sweet baby girl really make forget how terrible pregnancy is on my body? Yes, I think so.I go to bed at night not at all anticipating the next morning. Sometimes I wish I could just skip it, but that seems ridiculous since it isn't just the morning, its every single second of the day with a few periods of "relief" here and there.
I know, I'm complaining... and its terrible. So, can we just make this post a prayer request? Not only for my nauseated self, but for my selfish self? Thanks.
Oh...and here is my request for tips, advice, etc.? :
My 13 month old daughter only takes one 45 minute nap a day and that seems like far too little to me. Especially considering she wakes up still fussing and it is obvious she isn't rested. Is this normal? How on earth do I get her to rest more?
Heather Dowling at 2:26 PM
3 Comments
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at 2:59 PM
Mom2Zoey said... I'll give you advice but you might not like it. Both my girls weren't good nappers at first. Basically what I had to do was do a form of cry it out for naps. Make sure she is fed, changed and comfortable. Then put her down for a nap. At this age I would suggest around 11am (or whatever works for you but I wouldn't do any earlier than 10am). If she wakes up in under an hour leave her in the crib. Don't go to her the first time she cries. I would wait 15 minutes at least before going to her. Obviously if she is going crazy you can go to her but not otherwise. She will learn to just go back to sleep when she wakes and not cry because she knows you aren't going to come to get her right away. Eventually her body will adjust and she will sleep for a longer period. If she is still cranky when she gets up she isn't getting enough sleep and needs more. Just from my motherly experience she should get at least 2 hours straight during a nap. HTH and let me know if you have any questions. ~A
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at 6:34 AM
Jackie | One Redeemed Mom said...
I was also going to say that it might be time to just leave her in her crib for awhile. She'll cry but she will fall back to sleep. Its hard but you want her to get used to napping well before you have a litte(-er) one to care for also.
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at 8:55 AM
said... I have yet to have a baby who is a real "napper." All of mine have outgrown the 2 naps/day long before they reach 12 months of age. Usually in our house we have to begin transitioning to 1 nap/day between 8 and 10 months. From there, I push back the start of nap later and later in the day, as this increases the likelihood of actual sleeping. :)
For example, when they begin doing 1 nap/day, they're usually tired by 11am. But now that Aubrey is 13m, I usually try to push her until after lunch to go down. Sometimes she's really losing it and I do earlier, but my goal is no sooner than 12:30 or 1pm. Right now, she will often fall asleep when nursing at some point mid-morning, but I don't really let her sleep then because I want to "save up" for naptime.
And, yes, I know exactly what it's like for Baby to wake after a short time. Though I must confess that most days I would be happy with even 45 minutes (!), I do agree that your goal should be for her to sleep at least an hour, ideally 1.5 hours or so (give or take 15 minutes).
One of my favorite articles is this one by Dr. Jay Gordon. It's specifically for night-weaning, but I think his methods work well for naptime training, too.
Hang in there. It feels like a very long season when they aren't sleeping well, but now that I'm on the other side of a horrible sleeper (Gabriel definitely still takes the cake in this house!), I see how brief the season really was when all is said and done.
P.S. Will I see you later today at the demonstration? We probably won't be going until closer to 3:30 (I don't think the kids can handle the full 2 hours in the cold).