My child can't take a nap longer than 1.5 hours because he wakes up and plays in his crib!
Here's the story: About a month ago, Sammy started standing up in his crib which lead to him taking forever to get to sleep, and then waking up early (overtired) from his afternoon nap and playing some more in his crib. If he doesn't get a good afternoon nap, he doesn't sleep as well at night (wakes up too early), and then he doesn't nap well the next day either . . . it's a vicious cycle.
Well about a week ago Sammy caught the cold/cough Renae had shared with us and was unable to sleep laying down. We let him sleep in his car seat all last week and he took great naps all week. Why? Because he couldn't move! That kid was buckled in to his temporary bed and I loved it. Now that his cold is gone, we decided to put him in his crib for naptime. Lo and behold . . . about 1.5 hours into naptime, Sammy woke up and started playing in his crib. He didn't cry so I left him in there the rest of naptime and by the time I went in to get him I saw he'd reached his chubby little arms through the crib slats, through the changing table slats, and into the diaper basket. He then carefully pulled his still chubby little arm (now holding a diaper) back through both slats and threw the diaper into the crib. I found him sitting amongst about 15 diapers. 15 trips back and forth to the diaper basket. No wonder he didn't fall back asleep!
Needless to say, I'm going to be moving the diaper basket out of reach. But I still need some Mommy advice! Did anyone else experience this? If so, what did you do when your child woke up early from nap time only to spend the rest of the time playing in the oh-so-fun crib play ground?
11 comments:
I guess some questions are.. how many naps is he taking right now? You may want to cut one or move the times. He may need to play more to really get him tired or get him up earlier. We had to take away everything and soon Hope and Preston learned that nap time is NAP time not play time. We had to have a routine so they would know what was coming next... sing a certain song, have a book, cuddle on the rocking chair, go to crib. I even had to get to the point for Preston to wear him out so much he was falling asleep on the floor right before nap time. Hopefully this will help, but he is changing and so is his stage, so this little season will pass, but you will need to evolve with it. Good luck!!!
Shelli Wilson
At least they weren't dirty diapers! Now that would be disastrous!
You could put a sheet over the crib with cloths pins. Oh, no wait, that is for getting out of the crib. Well, but then again that didn't stop me from getting out.
Mike Reger
Getting rid of the 3rd nap helped Bryce sleep longer and go to sleep faster for the other 2. I don't know how many naps Sammy takes so I don't know if that helps. I also lengthened his wake time a little and it seemed to help. I just went back to watching for sleepy cues to see how long he could really go. BUT, the bad news is Bryce hasn't taken naps longer than 1 1/2 hours since he was about 7 months old - unless he was sick.
Sammy still takes 2 naps, one at 9:00 (lasts until about 10:30) and usually takes one from 1:00-3:30. At least before his new skill and while he was sleeping in the carseat when he couldn't move!
Aiden has never taken one of those long 3 hour naps like some kids do so when I read that sammy slept for 1.5 hours I was like, "so whats the problem?" I have no advice. Not only has AIden never taken huge naps but he has NEVER napped in a crib, so I don't know. If I give you any advice I would just say that maybe he doesn't require as much sleep as Renae or maybe you should cut out a nap(but I do realize that when kids get over tired they don't sleep well and sleep less...vicious cycle!). Since he isn't walking yet it's hard, but maybe you need to wear him out more. If I want Aiden to fall asleep easily at night I run him ragged at the park and even then he still doesn't fall asleep easily. Can you believe that AIden has to be up from his nap by 1:30 if I want him to be asleep between 8:30 and 9?? It makes for a long day so I totally feel your pain! Good LUCK!
I just saw that Sammy is already down to just 2 naps so maybe cutting a nap won't work. I doubt that he could survive at this age without his morning nap. :)
Okay, so I'm with Jenny. I read "1.5 hours" and thought, "what's the problem?" Audrey rarely, if ever, slept longer than 45 minutes for her first year of life...anything longer than that was AWESOME!! But if he's having night waking problems b/c he's overtired, maybe he does need more sleep. We do room darkening shades in our kids rooms, and that seems to help cut out the distractions. I now travel with a black sheet anywhere we go, though, because then our kids need it dark to sleep. It's a trade-off in travelling convenience for good sleep at home. Have you read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child? It's a great reference. Anyway, good luck!
I'm with the two above. My kids never napped longer than 1.5 hours and Jack was the only one who ever slept in a crib at night or for a nap! Good luck...and let me know if you find something that works because I would LOVE a longer naptime!!
I don't know what to tell you! Adelyn has rarely slept longer than 1.5 hours, but my rule is now that she's old enough to hang out in her crib, she is there for 2 hours. That way I get my break and she is technically "resting" in her crib :) I just let her play. Sometimes she does go back to sleep.
She's still at 2 naps a day, but plays in her crib most of the morning one at this point, but she definitely not ready to go down to one nap, yet.
I hope you figure something out! :)
You make me laugh!! 1.5 hours is great! Espeically if there are TWO of those! My boys have only just now started sleeping a little longer then that for their 2nd nap and that's since they've been crawling/walking. I think you should thank your lucky stars! And if he's happy playing in his crib(minus the diapers!), let him play! Your stories crack me up, but between Sammy and Taylor, I'm getting a litte nervous about the genes my kids are getting!!!
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