That is amazing SE!!!! Wow!! You are now the official baby sleep guru. I'm flying you to Dubai as a sleep consultant.
Bite your tongue!
We'll see how tonight goes. And then there's the withdrawal part to be nervous about! I'm feeling a little more hopeful though. It might have just been a matter of hitting on the right thing.
Re: rocking, I'm sure you've heard/read before that naps are controlled by different systems from night sleep. So if you are working on rocking less at night then I agree with Noelle, keep doing what's working during the day. I've resigned myself to catnaps because there's just no reliable way to lengthen Munchkin's naps.
But then he does pretty well on catnaps when night sleep is in order, anyway.
Amy, I think you've gotten a lot of good advice. We went cold turkey on 2 naps (straight from 4) too because Munchkin just stopped going down for his usual naps. But it was not a fun or short transition. Almost all babies seem to do what Stephie said and adjust within a few days, but if that doesn't happen, don't get discouraged! Polaris is another mama on this thread with a kid who has struggled with nap transitions. But chances are you will be fine
But if you do get a catnap, I would agree with Noelle, keep the WTs the same and bring bedtime earlier (within reason). I also agree that it probably is not the time to tackle sleeping in the crib. Once you have a better routine in place with napping he will have a drive to sleep at the right times and it will be easier to make other changes.
I would definitely cap each nap at 2 hours and no naps after 4 PM if possible. Those are great general rules. If you're just not going to make it on the 4 PM rule -- like if the second nap ended at 1:30 or something -- it's ok to have a 20-30 minute catnap, but still try to make it as early as possible. IMO the last wake time is the most important one, so if you need to cut into the second to last one a bit to fit in a catnap, that's the better way to do it. But others might disagree. So with a 1:30 wakeup, for example, I would try to put down around 3:30-4.
Your night definitely sounds better!
Of course Dad is fun...tell him to GET OUT!
Mine gets the death glare if he's hovering at bedtime
of course, if he's helping, that's something else, just just standing there giving LO hope is not helpful.
To answer your question, what I've been doing for a few months now is nursing until LO falls asleep and then moving him right away, and not especially carefully, to his crib. So the transition always wakes him up. Last night, if he hadn't stopped nursing while awake, I was planning to sing to him for a minute before putting him down or something like that. When I've done that before to try to gradually shift nursing earlier (which didn't work), it made him mad, so I definitely think it would wake him up. But I think even just waking him up during the transition has helped a lot in preparing him to learn to self settle.
NotNic, so glad things are going better!
It really is wonderful to have a happy and well rested kiddo!
Vikki, I agree, if the late bedtime made things worse then definitely take early mornings! Glad you are back to STTN. Hope you get later mornings soon though!
Polaris, so sorry you are struggling again this week
I think Noelle gave you good advice regarding cosleeping -- if you don't think that's going to result in the best sleep for Clara, then I don't think it's a good solution even if it helps you cope with the situation in the short term.
I think you may have said a while ago that you were considering gradual withdrawal? And that it comforts Clara to have you next to her? Given how last night went (night 1 of gradual withdrawal), I'm thinking the checking last time was a disaster for Munchkin given his separation anxiety. Of course, we'll see how it goes when I'm no longer right next to him, but in theory his SS skills should be better by then. I could go on and on about the differences between night 1 this time and night 1 with checks, at least. Anyway, is that something you would consider trying?
Of course, I don't even know yet whether this will work better for us down the road, and even if it does, that doesn't mean it will work for you. But I do think Munchkin and Clara have some relevant similarities. If it's something you were thinking about trying anyway, I think it may be worthwhile.
Kettle, I think it depends on the baby, but if LO isn't fighting, then you're not putting down too soon. My LO sometimes rubs his face when he's hungry. He would never go to sleep if I tried putting him down just based on that, so I know it's not the right cue. Also, as a reality check, 1 hr 45 min WT sounds appropriate for your LO's age, so you are probably not too far off.
However, I am afraid I have made things too easy by nursing right before sleep. I took him off awake (he didn't come off on his own today) -- which he wouldn't have agreed to before, so it's progress, but still the nursing probably helped. So we're going to take a detour from withdrawing and start doing nursing earlier in the routine tomorrow. Eek! I am really nervous about that. Hopefully he is ready.
