Gwen has had several highs and lows when it comes to napping. I would have to say the lowest low came after our first move (for those of you who don't know, it took us 3 moves to get from Columbus to Pittsburgh). We would rock her to sleep and she would usually cry for about 30 minutes before each nap. Cry is actually an understatement; she would scream. No wonder she has had laryngitis three times already. 30 minutes of crying once a day wouldn't have been so bad, but she was taking 4-5 naps a day and would also cry like that before bedtime. Sometimes, after a half hour of trying, we would give up and let her be awake and cranky for a little while before trying again. At least cranky was better than screaming. This meant that daily she was crying (i.e. screaming) at least 3 hours.
After we moved the second time, into a short term apartment in Pittsburgh, I was able to reign in her crying to only about 10 minutes at each nap by letting her nap in our bed instead of in her pack and play (we didn't have a crib with us after we left my in-laws' house until we moved into our house). She was, however, still super grumpy during her awake time as she refused to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time.
The day we moved into our house, something magical happened. Gwen only took 3 naps. And one of them was more than an hour! As the weeks have passed in Pittsburgh (we have been here about 7 weeks now), Gwen has gone from taking five 30 minute naps to taking two 80 minute naps. I very much prefer the latter. She is generally happier during the day, she is able to stay awake for more than 90 minutes without melting into a puddle of tears, and (the best part) I only have to fight her to go to sleep 3 times a day now (2 naps and bedtime).
For the past month or so, naptime had actually become a peaceful, enjoyable experience. Gwen might fuss or cry for a few minutes, but she would eventually cuddle up next to me (yes, she was still in our bed or being rocked to sleep in a chair) and quietly drift into dreamland. But in the past week she has decided that laying down is for the birds. She knows how to crawl. She knows how to stand. And she is going to use her new skills, so help her.
I tried just letting her walk around the perimeter of her crib, hoping that she would tire herself out, lay down, and go to sleep (note: her crib is attached to our bed as a co-sleeper right now - it only has three sides, so it's not even like she is having to nap by herself - I am right there!). No such luck. She would eventually either hold onto the edge of the crib and scream because she was tired and couldn't fall asleep while standing, but was unwilling to lie down, or she would get so sleepy she would start tripping and falling over (onto a soft mattress) where she would start screaming because a.) she was no longer standing, and b.) apparently falling onto a soft mattress from standing is the end of the world.
So I started resorting to pinning her down. This is a miserable process. We'll use this nap as an example (she is napping next to me in our bed, and Simba has decided the crib is his bed for this nap). We just made a big shopping trip and she fell asleep in the car as we were pulling into our neighborhood. Often, when she has been asleep in the car for 10 minutes or more, I will just drive around and let her take her nap in the car since I don't want to have to fight her. But by the time we pulled into the driveway, she had been asleep for just 30 seconds, so I couldn't see the point of wasting gas. She woke up as soon as I turned off the car. We went inside and straight to bed. I turned out the light. I turned on the sound machine. I nursed her. She was happy, and since she had just fallen asleep in the car, I knew she was sleepy (she had been awake for almost 4 hours). I was hopeful that she would roll over after eating and fall right asleep. I was even halfway tempted to nurse her to sleep in order to keep the peace, but that is a habit that I have had to break more than once after having nights where I get woken about 20 times. Instead of falling right to sleep, she rolled over onto her side, but then kept rolling onto her belly. She hates being on her belly, so as soon as her belly hits any surface, she pulls her knees up underneath her and starts to crawl. When she starts to crawl she usually sets her sights on something that she can pull herself up with so she can stand and walk (since apparently, less than 2 weeks after learning to crawl, crawling is already for the birds...why crawl when you can cruise along furniture?). So she headed for the crib rails, and I knew that any hope that I had for a peaceful transition into dreamland was gone. After several minutes of her crawling, pulling herself up, standing, cruising, crying, me pulling her down to laying, and it all starting over again, I finally laid her down next to me, put pressure on her hip so she couldn't roll, and just hugged her while she cried herself to sleep.
Unfortunately, I think we are currently at a napping low. Thankfully, however, it only happens twice a day, and at least she is getting pretty good at locomotion.
After we moved the second time, into a short term apartment in Pittsburgh, I was able to reign in her crying to only about 10 minutes at each nap by letting her nap in our bed instead of in her pack and play (we didn't have a crib with us after we left my in-laws' house until we moved into our house). She was, however, still super grumpy during her awake time as she refused to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time.
The day we moved into our house, something magical happened. Gwen only took 3 naps. And one of them was more than an hour! As the weeks have passed in Pittsburgh (we have been here about 7 weeks now), Gwen has gone from taking five 30 minute naps to taking two 80 minute naps. I very much prefer the latter. She is generally happier during the day, she is able to stay awake for more than 90 minutes without melting into a puddle of tears, and (the best part) I only have to fight her to go to sleep 3 times a day now (2 naps and bedtime).
For the past month or so, naptime had actually become a peaceful, enjoyable experience. Gwen might fuss or cry for a few minutes, but she would eventually cuddle up next to me (yes, she was still in our bed or being rocked to sleep in a chair) and quietly drift into dreamland. But in the past week she has decided that laying down is for the birds. She knows how to crawl. She knows how to stand. And she is going to use her new skills, so help her.
I tried just letting her walk around the perimeter of her crib, hoping that she would tire herself out, lay down, and go to sleep (note: her crib is attached to our bed as a co-sleeper right now - it only has three sides, so it's not even like she is having to nap by herself - I am right there!). No such luck. She would eventually either hold onto the edge of the crib and scream because she was tired and couldn't fall asleep while standing, but was unwilling to lie down, or she would get so sleepy she would start tripping and falling over (onto a soft mattress) where she would start screaming because a.) she was no longer standing, and b.) apparently falling onto a soft mattress from standing is the end of the world.
So I started resorting to pinning her down. This is a miserable process. We'll use this nap as an example (she is napping next to me in our bed, and Simba has decided the crib is his bed for this nap). We just made a big shopping trip and she fell asleep in the car as we were pulling into our neighborhood. Often, when she has been asleep in the car for 10 minutes or more, I will just drive around and let her take her nap in the car since I don't want to have to fight her. But by the time we pulled into the driveway, she had been asleep for just 30 seconds, so I couldn't see the point of wasting gas. She woke up as soon as I turned off the car. We went inside and straight to bed. I turned out the light. I turned on the sound machine. I nursed her. She was happy, and since she had just fallen asleep in the car, I knew she was sleepy (she had been awake for almost 4 hours). I was hopeful that she would roll over after eating and fall right asleep. I was even halfway tempted to nurse her to sleep in order to keep the peace, but that is a habit that I have had to break more than once after having nights where I get woken about 20 times. Instead of falling right to sleep, she rolled over onto her side, but then kept rolling onto her belly. She hates being on her belly, so as soon as her belly hits any surface, she pulls her knees up underneath her and starts to crawl. When she starts to crawl she usually sets her sights on something that she can pull herself up with so she can stand and walk (since apparently, less than 2 weeks after learning to crawl, crawling is already for the birds...why crawl when you can cruise along furniture?). So she headed for the crib rails, and I knew that any hope that I had for a peaceful transition into dreamland was gone. After several minutes of her crawling, pulling herself up, standing, cruising, crying, me pulling her down to laying, and it all starting over again, I finally laid her down next to me, put pressure on her hip so she couldn't roll, and just hugged her while she cried herself to sleep.
Unfortunately, I think we are currently at a napping low. Thankfully, however, it only happens twice a day, and at least she is getting pretty good at locomotion.
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