Monday, August 04, 2008

Still battling

I wish someone could tell me if there really is such thing as a 30 minute napper... and if it's healthy or not. On the flip side, if a 30 minute napper is just a result of a weak parent, could someone tell me that? This guessing game has me on a ledge.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay this may sound patheic but when you put him down do you lay down with him? I know sometimes with Shyann if I don't lay down with her til she is completely asleep she wakes up. Try doing that if you haven't done so already. So my suggestion is lay down with him til he is completely asleep than put him in his crib or just leave him in the bed and put pillows all around him. Hope it works!

Anonymous said...

i have to agree with jessica up there...i know some people advocate the family bed...all the time. we don't, but i have to admit that i lay down with savannah in our bed. she doesn't go in her crib at all during the day...if i put her there, sleeps only 10, 15 mins. but our bed, at least an hour and a half up to 3 hours. that said, i have heard of kids who are short nappers but sleep all night...try your bed ONLY during the day.

Anonymous said...

oh and one more thing...result of a weak parent? gimme a break...don't even think that...that's just ridiculous...this age they are just discovering that there is another world besides you, and that does not make you weak because chase won't sleep. please don't think that! try your bed for naps...just try it! you never know...

Anonymous said...

The person to tell you if this is healthy or not is your pediatrician. Please call them. It won't hurt anything to call, it doesn't make you weak, or a bad parent. It shows that you love your child and care enough to ask for help when you need it. It's why they are there.

chocolate hug said...

I haven't asked yet, and I don't think you've mentioned anything about it. When Chase wakes up do you leave him or do you go get him right away? We've moved Sam to one afternoon nap and he usually wakes up after an hour. If I wait he typically cries and goes back to sleep. Every week he sleep a little bit longer before he wakes up, at first he slept half an hour, today we reached the hour and a half mark (it's taken almost two months!) It's taking some time, but we're getting there. Maybe let him cry for half an hour or so just to see if he'll fall back asleep. Chances are he's waking up after half an hour becuase that's what his schedule has become. In other words he gets up because he knows you'll come get him. I've also noticed that Sam wakes up especially crazy when he hasn't had enough sleep. That's how I realized that I have to let him sleep longer.

Blessings on all you try! Keep at it! Sometimes it takes a while but once you make up your mind and stick to a plan Chase will eventually adjust...or should anyway!

diana

LoveLladro said...

jess - i haven't tried the idea of co-sleeping only because i think he would be too wound up with me next to him. unfortch i wouldn't be able to put the pillows and leave either... he is fully mobile and without fear!

amy - same reasoning as i told jess... he gets so excited when i am there he refuses to calm down. i have in the past let him sleep on me if he happened to fall asleep nursing... and it still only lasts for 30 minutes. i try to shhh and coax him back to sleep... nothing. wide awake and ready to go.

all that being said... i will give it a try and see how he reacts!

anon - i did ask the ped and she said that 30 min naps are fine... part of me believes her and the other part knows that docs don't know everything and that you should always question their diagnosis. sometimes i think its ok and then other times i think i need to 'train' him then other times i think he is impossible to train for naps so he must just be a 30 min napper... vicious cycle!

diana - it depends on what we are doing at that particular time. i used to just get him out and try to be ok with it. then i started thinking that he needed to be trained so i let him sleep for the 30 min and then cry for the remainder of 'nap time'... which he proceeded to do... for an hour. we have done this 2 days running. even further back in the past i would let him fuss and cry for a half hour or an hour depending on how long he slept. i feel like i have tried it all in little bits... and nothing worked. if i knew that the current method would garner results, i would stick with it unquestioningly but i just wonder if i am spinning my wheels and creating a negative environment for chase and i (more for me as i get frustrated and therefore negative ;~) i think you hit the nail on the head when you said 'make up your mind and stick to a plan'... currently something i am faltering on.

chocolate hug said...

Jess, Chase won't know what to expect from you if you keep changing...one plan may take longer than a different one, but in the long run it's better for both of you if Chase knows what to expect. Like I said, it's taken two months to get Sam on a new schedule...it took about three the last time, but once Sam got the groove it was awesome!....So if two days are not showing any results don't worry about it, give it more time dear, Chase will be FINE!
Here's praying for you! This stuff isn't easy!

diana

KaraB said...

Claire sometimes will take no more than a 20-minute nap at daycare because she's as nosy as they come and doesn't want to miss anything. She then comes up and promptly passes out at 6:30 pm and sleeps until 7 am the next morning. She's happy and growing, so I say that's just probably the kind of sleeper she is. Weak parenting? That's an oxymoron...parenting takes more strength than I thought possible...I look at pictures of your little peanut and I see a happy, loved little angel!

Kara (Rose's friend and Claire's mommy!!)

Anonymous said...

If he's wide awake and ready to go, plus he's sleeping 12 hours a night, and your pediatrician said he's ok, then why are you so worried about more napping? Sounds like he's getting plenty of sleep and is not a napper at this point. you can't train him to be tired.

JenniferW said...

There is totally such thing as a 30-minute-napper and NO such thing as a weak parent!!! For a while I wondered if there was a reason that most of Ethan's naps only last 20 minutes, but now I think that it's just Ethan being Ethan.

Looking forward to seeing you guys this weekend! Come play with me, Ethan and Anna sometime :-)

kathi said...

Maybe he just doesn't need more right now. When he needs more, he'll sleep more. :)