Nap and play
Another new piece of baby furniture:
I’ve been avoiding setting up the pack n’ play because I thought it would be a pain to assemble (even though it’s a pack n’ play and made for travel…I know) and I wasn’t sure if Livi would like it, since she sleeps at night in the bassinet and hasn’t ventured into the crib yet.
While mom and nana were over earlier today, I was telling them that even though Liv has become a napping pro, she only takes really good naps if I’m holding her, or if she’s in the Moby. I love holding her all day (and smell her perfect baby skin and hair), but when I go back to work in a little over 4 weeks, even though it’s only 3 days (and one day she’ll be with her daddy all day), I want her to be able to nap in her crib, or in the pack n’ play. Naptime is also really the only time I have to get things done around the house, and while I can do most of it with her in the Moby, some things are impossible (like pump, pre-make dinner, or do a workout DVD).
Mom and nana told me it isn’t realistic to hold her for the entirety of every nap, and that they thought she was old enough to give the pack n’ play a try. Madre and I set it up (which took about 5 minutes, haha), and they sent me on a Trader Joe’s run to get groceries for the week.
Here’s the text I got while I was there:
Definitely a fan!
When I got home, she was awake, kicking, gurgling and staring at the owls… she absolutely loves it, and I’m glad to have a safe place when I need to put her down for a second when we’re downstairs. We’ve been using the Boppy lounger (another amazing creation) but she’s getting to the point where she’s kicking a ton and trying to roll, so I don’t trust it. The pack n’ play is perfect, especially since we can take it with us to California this summer 🙂
Livi’s naps remind me of the naptime shenanigans I used to get into. My mom would put me down for a “nap,” I’d close my eyes so she thought I was sleeping, and then when she left the room, I’d wake up and quietly play with my dolls or color. I did get in trouble when I snuck into the kitchen, took the scissors out of the drawer, cut a chunk of my hair off and hid it in my toy box. I have no idea how I thought my mom, a stylist, wouldn’t notice the handful of hair that was missing 😉
Moms out there, what’s your naptime strategy? How old was your baby when he/she started sleeping in a crib at night?
We’re waiting until she outgrows the Orbit bassinet, but she’s getting close.
Friends sans kids: did you fight naptime as a child, or embrace it? I think most kids fight naptime, until we get older and realize that naps.are.awesome.
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Even though I loved holding my little one, my goal was to get her to sleep and pacify herself from the youngest so that it was a natural habit. She actually slept in her crib from the day we came home from the hospital, when she was 3 days old. She napped in the pack n play, too, but for the most part it was in her crib in her room. Each to their own as to where their baby sleeps, but it’s worked for us. She’s 3 1/2 now and sleeps like a champ. She started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks and moved into a big girl bed at 15months after climbing out of her crib A LOT. Do what feels right to you! I know it’s great to hold them all the time, but remember that there will be times when you can’t, or she’s with other people and it’s for everyone’s benefit if she’s able to sleep someplace other than your arms. Glad to see Livi enjoyed her pack n play!
I absolutely hated nap time at daycare – the worst!! Haha. I do remember that I would climb into my playpen by myself when my mom took a shower and then get out by myself when she was done, haha. Not very rebellious as a little kid. I have a feeling every little girl cuts her own hair at one point – it must be a right of passage or something. I decided I wanted bangs and my mom found me cutting a chunk of hair right in the middle of my forehead, super short. It took years to grow out, and there are so many pictures of that section of hair escaping my headband and flopping into my eyes. So stylish. PS Love the pic of Livi napping with her hands over her head! Adorable.
She sleeps in the same position that I did (and still do) when I was a baby. She is so adorable. Looks just like her mama
She is so cute! I hated taking naps as a kid. What I would do now, as an adult, to have a midday siesta at work lol.
I loved naps…still do! I was only 5 pounds when I was born, so I slept a lot. Even when I was in school, I would take a nap when I got home. My parents house is 150 feet from the road and when my brother and I would get off the school bus, my brother would run up the driveway. Me? Mom was afraid I was going to fall asleep before I made it halfway! Ha! Once I hit middle school and started after-school activities, nap time stopped.
No nap time strategy as Max hates napping in the house. He only really naps if we go for a drive or on a stroll. Sometimes he sleeps in his bouncy chair. He doesn’t like the bassinet during the day, but sleeps instantly in it at night (I don’t get it)
We are almost at 11 weeks and still in the bassinet. We are waiting until after he grows out of it to make the switch and perhaps might be moving the crib into our room until 6 months….but we will see
This makes me love your mom so much. My mom did something similar. They’re life savers! Our first few months were similar and quite frankly wonderful/horrible. I felt a little trapped and I would try to lay her down and she would jolt awake… ugh. It was hard! (especially when we quit swaddling). but I started letting her cry 5 minutes, then comfort her, give her a paci etc., then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes and then repeat. It was rough for a day or two but my husband and I stuck with it at EVERY sleeping time and now she goes down and rolls onto her side and sleeps (I lay her down when she’s drowsy now and started that in the “sleep training”). I have no doubt that it’s different for each baby and family and ours STILL doesn’t sleep through the night but I don’t mind anymore. She wakes up, nurses and goes down awake again even at night.
And I’m not going to lie, when she could roll over I started putting her on her tummy and she would sleep DEEP- I would watch her like a hawk but was just thrilled she would sleep. It’s like it made her realize she COULD Sleep deeply without me. After that she started sleeping better(even though she doesn’t sleep on her tummy at all now).
Good luck.
Glad to hear it’s easy to set up. Maybe I am unrealistic, but I am planning to start Day 1 in the crib when upstairs and pack and play when downstairs. And all sleeping in the crib! Is the Moby easy for you to wrap and figure out in the beginning?
not unrealistic, Marci! I actually wanted my daughter in a bassinet in our room, but she wouldn’t have it!! so, from night 1 at home, she was in her crib in her room with the door closed. I have NO IDEA if these things are related, but she turned out to be a world class sleeper, sleeping 7-8 hour stretches at 9 weeks old and sleeping 11-13 hours a night shortly after and still now (as 13 mos).
good luck!!
Naptime…what works this week, won’t work next week, and vice versa. It’s truly a work in progress, that changes daily!
But I can tell you, from birth to about 18 months, I scheduled as much as humanly possible in my day around naptime. i.e. I wouldn’t plan to meet someone, plan an appt, or whatever it was if I knew that there was a high likelihood it would coincide with naptime b/c trying to do a routine, stick to a schedule, even if she didnt want to, we at least tried it…that was the most helpful of all. For her, for me, for both physical and emotional (mine!) well-being…to have a small block of time each day that I could…like, shower 🙂
Our little one wasn’t big on the Pac-N-Play, at least for sleeping. I don’t think it felt secure enough for her or something. So, for the first month or so, we alternated between our bed and her crib. Not sure when she went to her crib full time, but for a while she preferred her car seat carrier, and we ended up actually putting it in the crib. Hey, it worked. 🙂 Oh, and she loved taking her morning nap in her swing. LOVED the swing.
However, we did use the Pac-N-Play a ton when she was older. She would lie in it while I did stuff around the house in the morning, and then when she started getting close to sitting up, I’d prop her up in the Boppy in the Pac-N-Play. She played in it everyday until she started crawling, and then she was done.
We started putting our son in the crib at 3-ish months – so he’s been sleeping in the nursery (down the hall way) for two weeks at this point. I was planning on waiting until 4 months but he was getting too big for the bassinet – some mornings he’d have his ankles draped over the edge! We put him down in his crib for naps for a couple of days before full nights so he would get familiar with the nursery. The night I left him in the nursery, he didn’t even notice but I stayed up staring at the video monitor until 3 a.m. anyway. However, he has begun to sleep much much better at night – even though he was sleeping up to ten hours a night before, he’d stir/cry out for a couple seconds for no reason/grunt/squirm a lot but now sleeps like a champ thank God – happy times for all!
His naps have become more predictable as his feeding settled into a routine so now I know he’ll nap once for the hour before it’s time to eat (that’s about 4-5 naps a day). Usually he’ll start getting a little fussy or call out to be put down for a nap! As soon as I see he’s fixing to nap, I take him to the nursery, put him in a loose swaddle, watch his eyes droop shut and do a little happy dance as I leave him to workout/cook/clean/shower!
Our son started napping in the crib and pack and play around 3-4 weeks…..We also had him sleeping in one when we went to Jamaica when he was 5 months old….never was anissue for him or us!
On a side note my son used to sleep like that all the time too and they say it’s a sign of a happy baby! 🙂
I just finished the book Babywise (controversial, I know), and he makes a pretty big deal about how it isn’t smart to babywear 100% of the time– that the baby becomes too dependent on needing that closeness to you to sleep. I’ve heard that the sooner you can start transitioning them to the crib (and letting them fall asleep on their own, rather than rocking them to sleep), the easier it will be for you in the long run. Of course…easier said that done, right?! When our baby comes in about a month, I’d like to transition her to the crib relatively quickly, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.
My daughter slept the first 2.5 months in a Pack n Play in our bedroom. At that time, she napped either in her swing or bouncy chair during the day.
We made the decision to move her to her crib once she was sleeping 8+ straight hours at night, and then she started napping in the crib as well. It was a shockingly easy transition for all of us!
This is awesome Gina! We started doing a lot of overnights with my daughter when she was around Livi’s age and she loved her Pack and Play! The first night she slept in it almost through the entire night! When she was around two and half months we started letting her sleep in it instead of her bassinet (and moved her into her own roo,) and she did awesome 🙂 She made a seamless transition into her crib when she was about 3 1/2 months. I think its great practice for them! She napped in a swing for the first three months Now she naps in her crib with no trouble at all but still likes to be swaddled even for naps. Go Livi!
I’m not a mom yet but it’s been fun watching bloggers I love make the transition. I feel like I’m already picking up pointers and tips for the future! Who needs to read books these days when you can get advice from moms who have been there!! Good luck!
Funny you talk about this. My SIL still holds her baby for naps. Her baby (my niece) is 20 months!!! She doesn’t sleep in her crib at night bc she is so used to sleeping with them. Bad habits!! Now they are due for another baby pretty soon. I’m afraid its gonna get ugly when new baby comes along:/
We got the same pack and play! (I think) Ours is called Forest Friends from Babies R Us. I liked it bc The reviews said how easy it is to assemble and that its not huge and bulky for travel. Glad to hear that you were able to set it up in 5 minutes! Love the pic of her sleeping. She’s so sweet!
she LOVES the owls! hopefully your little one will too 🙂
Thanks! I sure hope so…Her bedding has some owls in it as well as some decorations in the nursery!
My oldest started sleeping in his crib around 2 mos. We had trouble breastfeeding, so he didn’t HAVE to be in our room and it was so hard to sleep when he was in there. My youngest breastfed until 15 mos., so he stayed in the pack and play in our room for about 8 mos. They both napped in their crib, though they preferred either the sling/wrap or a swing. I started keeping my oldest in the sling all the time to nap because it seemed the only way he would. It started to get hard to do a lot of the things that I needed to get done during nap time, so I started trying the crib…man…what a relief that was! They are both still taking mid-day naps (3 and 5 years old). It’s so nice to have good nappers. 🙂
My little man wasn’t the best napper, until he hit the 3 month mark. I’m not entirely sure what happened, as I kept to the same nap time “rituals” as best I could, maybe he just figured out that hey, I do like to sleep! We had him in the moses basket until about 9 weeks when he got too long, and then straight into the cot/crib. Thankfully there was no fussy transition period, it was the middle of a very hot summer so it might have actually been a welcome change for him! Now he will nap happily in either his cot, the carseat, or portacot, just so long as he has his cuddly 🙂
At around 2 months I started putting him down for a nap after 2 hours of awake time. He fusses a bit sometimes, but puts himself to sleep within 10 minutes. Nap length varies.
My daughter slept in the pack ‘n play until about 6 weeks, and then we transferred her to her crib in her own room. My son slept in his crib from the first night, although his room was open to ours for about 6 weeks. I never snuggled or “wore” either of them for naps, as my daughter had been in the special care nursery and the nurses taught us that preemies, at least, get better quality rest when they’re not disturbed. Also, I have a nephew that took hours of coaxing to settle into sleep, so I’ve always been of the mind that the sooner I can teach them to fall asleep on their own, the better! And honestly, I think there is a “sweet spot” for this because we never had to CIO for more than about five minutes.
For my first, we used the crib for bedtime from day 1 and for nap time around 2 months when the light of the daytime and sounds of life started to keep her from sleeping. She would get too overtired and stimulated and couldnt fall asleep at all, or would only sleep short bursts because she was going to sleep upset! I used the baby whisperer method of sleep training and, also, planned my days around nap times! We were all happier that way! She would get her sleep and i could get anything done around the house i needed to! Now with two, it’s a little harder to plan around 2 nap times but we do our best! You have to do with works for you, i think if the pack n play works for now i wouldn’t mess with it or feel like you have to make her sleep in the crib anytime soon! If it’s not broke dont fix it! When and even if you start having problems then re-evaluate the whole sleep situation/method!
we used the baby whisperer method (after 8 months of no sleep) and loved it! it took a while since we didn’t start out with the routine but we stuck with it and it eventually paid off.
She’s too cute!
You have one beautiful baby on your hands. No kids here, but I was the same as you when I was little– I’d get tucked in, but wouldn’t usually sleep. I’d usually just read books or play with my stuffed animals. My mom knew about it, but was totally okay with it. We both were able to have some quiet alone time, and she probably needed the break more than anything.
I hated naps as a child and wouldn’t take them, even though I obviously needed them because I would fall asleep EVERYWHERE. My mom has pictures of my asleep on the sidewalk, in the highchair holding a chicken leg, and even on the potty chair. Haha!
Naps are the best 🙂 Yay for the pack and play!!!
Seriously – what a sweetie!
I transitioned my first baby into the crib around 6 weeks and then my 2nd around 3 months. It was oddly SO much harder the 2nd time! To be honest, I was kinda crazy about naps when they were little, but I definitely think it paid off.
My only nap suggestion (because it varies so much from baby to baby and can feel so stressful to mom), is to try to establish regular naps early. Location isn’t so important at first, just make sure they happen (easier said than done) so that baby gets used to sleeping during the day at regular intervals. Avoiding the over-tired state is key! Then once she hits 3-4 months and the pattern or routine is established, work on the location. For example, my most recent slept like a dream in his vibrating bouncy seat and napped there until around 4 months. Then we moved to the crib (where he’d already been sleeping at night). Every transition took a little time to get used to, but preserving that sleep routine was key! You are doing great!
My son was in NICU for the first 13 days of his life. Then when he came home we tried the bassinet thing, but he was a wiggle worm and kept us up all night. So with in 2 weeks of being home he went to sleep in his own crib in his own room. It made sleeping and “other” activities much easier. Nap times he would go to his crib, unless he fell asleep in his bouncy…then I just left him there and let him finish his nap.
We transitioned our daughter from the pack n play in our room to her crib around 2 months. I don’t think “regular” nap times settled in until 5 months- before then she was so unpredictable. She is 7 months now and she sometimes will skip an AM nap if she sleeps in past 8 and then she’ll be ready to go down from her afternoon nap around 12:30. We started occasionally putting her in her crib for naps since she was about a month but other wise she napped in my arms or in her pack n play. Honestly they are little for such a short time – enjoy that she prefers you as her bed! Even at 7 months I can tell she likes to stretch out and is a little to wiggly to sleep in my arms! One other unsolicited advice that I’d give is to try to mini-replicate your bedtime routine for naps (i.e. swaddle, book, nurse, cuddle) or whatever you do so she starts correlating that sequence with sleep! My daughter knows once we turn out the lights, sit in her rocking chair, give her the pacifier and her blankie that it’s time to sleep! Also- don’t drive yourself crazy trying to get a nap schedule before 4,5,or 6 months- they’re sleeping patterns are all over the place before then! Good luck! you sound like a great mommy!
i love sleeping baby pics! so sweet 🙂
we put our son in the pack n play the first 2 nights we were home and he has slept in his crib every night after that. he just would not sleep in it and it didn’t look near as comfy as yours. we also weren’t swaddling him right those first 2 nights so that may have been the problem but once he was in his crib and being swaddled correctly he slept much better (1.5 hours straight rather than 20 mins max – it was craziness!!). my husband was awesome and created the fluffiest, comfiest “pallet” ever in the nursery and i slept in there for 3 months. looking back that seems insane but i just couldn’t leave my baby alone at night. but i missed my husband too so i had to ease myself away from the nursery and back into my real bed.
as for naps, he would only nap in the swing or car seat (or my arms) until he was almost 9 months old. naps were hard for us.
I totally embraced holding my LO for naps! She slept so much better than being alone. I think around 4 months she stopped napping in public (i.e. grocery store, mall walks, etc.) and did better in a dark room, flat bed (no swings), and sound machine (no music, loud noises). Parenting is intuitive and nothing lasts forever so enjoy holding your baby — it’s inconvenient but it ends so quickly! my 9 mo. old would barely sleep on me now if she had to!
Yay I’m glad she’s sleeping and that you’re getting a little time to yourself! She is so precious!
Oh my goodness! She looks SO adorable in the photo! Haha, so contented. I was sans nap for sure as a kid, but now I LOVE naps!
OMG Gina, I was just like you. I would lay there with my eyes closed just long enough to fool my mom, then when she left I would spring into action. Haha. Once, I even rearranged my furniture….no lie. I sat on the ground and used my legs & feet to push furniture across the room. SO weird! I would never nap back then, but man, do I love to nap now!!
hahah! i love it!
My older son was a cat napper (30 minutes here and there) until he was over a year old. He slept in a pack & play until he was about 5 months, then moved to the crib…then (gasp) moved to our bed until he was 2.5 YEARS old!
With my 2nd son, I had learned my lesson and put him in his crib from day one. He was a better napper and sleeper than my 1st son, but I don’t know if it had to do with the fact that he was in his crib from the get-go.
As far as strategy, I used the Baby Whisperer method: EASY- Eat, Activity, Sleep, YOU.
Basically the baby has a ‘structured” schedule of eating, play time, and sleep time, which gives you ME time. I put quotations around “structured” because, really, babies follow that pattern naturally anyway. Most babies have a 2-3 hr window before they get sleepy again, so I made sure my babies were napping that often in the early days. As they get older, their playtime lengthens and they drop naps, eventually needing only 1 nap, which is usually at about 18 months old.
My biggest advice to new moms is to just follow your babies natural patterns. Feed on demand, and let them sleep when they’re sleepy. A lot of moms mistakenly try to keep their babies awake in hopes of getting them to sleep longer at night, and a lot of the time, that has the opposite effect. Babies (and kids!) sleep best when they’re rested, as funny as that sounds. 🙂
Ok, let me shut up now…this has gotten long!
you’re totally right. liv didn’t get any long naps yesterday, and we were up all night. i think she was a little hungover from the excitement of the weekend 😉
I’m impressed! My 8 week old also naps like a champ, but only when he’s in the K’tan. I haven’t successfully gotten him to nap lying down yet. Although, to be fair, I haven’t tried very hard because I love snuggling and kissing his head while he’s sleeping. It would be nice to have the option to do a little more while he’s napping, though, like exercise.
Ah, my babies slept the same way. So very sweet.
It is so hard to know what to do, especially as a first time mom. You can find a book /philosophy to support any position. So how to decide?
Follow your instincts as other posters have said. It’s so hard to know if the way kids turn out are nature or nurture. I fell into the attachment parenting camp. I tended to cuddle alot and nurse to sleep. Is that why my kids have always had a hard time going to sleep without me? I don’t know. It has kept me from doing outside activities in the evening. Which isn’t good for me. But how long do you have your kids to cuddle and love?
You need to find a balance that works for your life. If you are a working mom or busy with other things, it seems that you will want to transition to some independence.
i always cuddle and nurse to sleep, too. i can never put her down while she’s still awake, or let her cry.
i wish i could keep holding her for every nap, but since i go back to work soon, she has to get used to the pack n play for naps :/
That picture reminds me of the first time I put my daughter in her crib at 6 weeks…she was stretched out like…..looks like she is saying “ahhh…finally some room!” 🙂 My daughter loved her crib and started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks (she is not the norm!) but both my kids loved their cribs. Holding them is wonderful, but you just don’t know when you get to the point where they won’t want to be put down. Then you are in trouble!
My daughter slept in a bassinet in our room for the first 6 months, nap time included. She’d also nap in the pack and play we had in our family room. She always slept best with me and we’d nap together when I was on maternity leave. She’s a good napper, usually two 1-3 hour naps every day.
At 5 months we started putting her in her crib to nap. When we got home from vacation at 6 months, she went into her crib for naps and nighttime. It took a bit of getting used to for me, but we both sleep better now. She has room to stretch and I don’t wake every time she makes the slightest sound. She also knows how to self soothe which is a bonus.
Livi is just too cute!!!
I have been meaning to ask…where did you get the piece of furniture that has 6 baskets as drawers? Love it!
She’s adorable!!!
My BB was not much of a napper, I never got it quite right. She would only nap in her swing and I miserably failed every time I tried to put her in the crib for her nap.
One of my friends clued me in on a trick she used and I sooooo wish I had tried it, but by that time my BB was already down to one nap a day. She said she would take the shirt she wore the day before and tuck it under the fitted sheet so that the baby would feel secure with her scent.
Good luck!
Lucky! Our girl will not sleep in her pack n play. She still won’t nap in her crib either, I hold her for almost every nap. She did just start sleeping in her crib at night about 2 weeks ago. She just turned 6 months on Sunday.
We put H in the crib at 3 months. I cried my eyes out, then she slept 11 hours and I wasn’t so sad anymore 🙂
Haha! Did you swaddle her?
TOUCHDOWN!
Aghhh I miss that pose. So stinking cute!!
Ella started sleeping in her crib once she outgrew the co-sleeper. Although she napped in her crib when I went back to work [we live in a condo all one floor] when she was about 2 months or so old. Before that she napped in her vibrating chair or on me. Ella had to be held constantly. It was exhausting for everyone. I regret not using my moby more. That thing got so hot and Ella got so hot in it. We’d wake up from a nap together and both be soaked from sweat! So I didn’t use it as much I thought she was going to overheat or something haha. So you can imagine the upper body strength I built carrying her around 24/7 😉
I used to wake up my baby sister by poking her through the bars of her cot, then jump back into bed and yell to my mum that the baby was awake and making noise so that I couldn’t sleep (we were in separate rooms). I can’t think of my logic, just that it was boring in bed and amusing to hear my mum groaning and wondering why she had such a fussy baby.
I think I was a terrible toddler.
Goodness … Emmie has always been a pretty good napper. We transitioned from the basinet, to the pack-n-play, to the crib. Emmie decided she liked her crib better than the Pack-N-Play at 3 months. That’s when we moved her completely into her own room and we ALL sleep the better for it. She now naps and sleeps in her crib upstairs while I stalk the video baby monitor 😉
I know what you mean.. I wish I could somehow take all those naps that I missed now!
Livi looks like such a doll there!! How cute, no wonder why you don’t want to put her down!
LOL…had to laugh at that question! My daughter slept in a bassinet for the first few months, and then slept mostly with me…until she was about 5 years old!!!! (never liked her crib) My son on the other hand went from bassinet to crib after a few months and only slept with me occasionally! He slept better in the crib by himself and loved it! They both started sleeping in their own beds when my daughter was about 5 and my son was about 2 1/2! I had surgery and we explained to them that even though they wouldn’t mean to, they could really hurt mommy in their sleep! They have slept in their own beds (mostly) ever since! They are both now in their 20’s!!!