Laughs, Kicks, Grins, and Giggles

Let's talk sleep! :-) Little Miss' sleep that is...

Blah blah blah, I've been a nanny for several years, random babysitter since I was 11, worked in day cares, church nurseries, helped my mom when she babysat, etc... All the tricks to put babies to sleep, I did. I was {mostly} successful. My own? Ha!

It all started on Thanksgiving day 2010... That was the first day she has flat refused to sleep! She sleeps a whopping 20 to a rare 30 minutes for her naps which only happen a handful of times during the day. Thankfully though, she is a happy non napper and a fantastic night sleeper so I really can't complain. I've learned though that when she first shuts her eyes to jump in and out of the shower really quick if I have any hopes of showering at all when Charles is at work.

So besides swaddling {she HATES being confined and has since like day 3 of life}, tummy/back/side sleeping {she's a side sleeper}, sleeping in a swing/bouncer {hates the swing and bouncer she likes only when well, bouncing}, and white noise things that turn off after X amount of time- what are your tricks???

This 20 minutes is regardless if she puts herself to sleep {I don't let her CIO, she's too young in my book so it's the moments she just lays there and drifts to sleep}, rocking, bouncing, nursing, baby wearing, dark room, bright room, car rides, shopping, loud, quiet, etc.

Example- She fell asleep so I put her in the co sleeper. She slept through the dogs barking, me showering, and my cell phone ringing right next to her. Yet at that 20 minute mark she was wide eyed and ready to roll. Crazy, huh?

The only three times she has had a good long nap since Thanksgiving Day is one day when she was sick she slept for 3 hours on the couch, I took a nap with her in our bed and she slept for 45 minutes, and today on Charles she slept for just over an hour.

She wakes for the day between 6 and 8 am happy and goes to bed between 7 and 8 pm. She sleeps a good 7 hours before waking for her first feeding and then sleeps another few hours before waking for a feed and the day. This I do NOT want to change, obviously.

Again, it's not like she acts tired all day by being fussy or crying. She's happy and talking and smiling and alert and playing all day when not in her little cat naps.

So I'm asking, just to humor me, for your sure thing ways to get baby to sleep!

Comments

The Fat Chick said…
I told you it would be different when it was yours ;) I dont have any sure fires. My girls have always napped well (between 1-3 hours a day) but they did it all by themselves. Hope you get some answers... except well, if she's happy sometimes its better to not mess up a good thing. :D
Angela said…
To be quite honest with you Ayden is the EXACT same way. Not to mention we just discovered that swaddling him at night allows him to sleep more. That took almost 3 months to adjust to, because we had tried it the very first few weeks with no results. At that point he slept during the day perfectly, so i had no complaints. Then a month ago it seems as if he has come to the decision all on his own to do away with nap time and replace it with cat naps. I struggled with it thinking surely he must be tired, but as you have experienced he never show signs of being cranky. So in my opinion, when Austyn goes down for his noon nap, and he sleeps about 2 hours, me and Ayden cuddle and nap at that time. He stays down the whole time until Austyn wakes up, so therefore that's the only way i know he is getting at least one good nap in a day. It also gives me a chance to breathe and relax, even if it's just an hour. It doesnt seem to have affected his night schedule either, so i'll roll with it. The rest i just adjusted to.
Unknown said…
Reagan loved the white noise and we couldn't figure out what to get to make that noise. We finally bought a vaporizer and ran it no water and it will go on high or low FOREVER! It was great for providing the "white noise" and blocking some of the other house noise (Harrison!!).

Amy
Annie Kates said…
My little Nat was a short nap taker at her age. What I did was "set up camp" near him when I put him down for a nap. I'd usually have a book with me. When it was close to the time that he would start to wake up, I would stand next to his crib and wait for him to stir. Before he would fully wake up, I would start to softly rub his little head from back to front while shushing him. You have to catch them before they fully wake up. That would usually cause him to stay asleep.
Another trick is to stir her while she is asleep. Just enough to not fully waken her, but enough so that she comes out of a deep sleep state and goes back in to a lighter one. You are trying to "reset" her sleep routine. She may just be used to sleeping for short amounts of time.
Jessica said…
she's active girl! lol....she doesn't want to miss out on anything fun!
mom said…
Your little brother Ryan NEVER slept!!! At least Maddie is sleeping at night. I think you've already learned that there is no such thing as "Normal" for babies, or kids for that matter.