Naps are still tough, definitely. Mostly it's the getting-her-to-sleep part. We are very anti-cry-it-out, but it's exhausting getting her down for a nap sometimes. I know we set her up for "bad habits" in the sleep department, and we're working on fixing them.
Right now, it takes a lot of swaying, holding, rocking, bouncing on the exercise ball, nursing, etc. to get her down. Sometimes only one of those things, sometimes all. She yawns, and I start the process because you're supposed to get them down before they become re-wired, but it still takes a while. Sometimes she's up for another whole hour. And if I hadn't made the decision that it was naptime, I wouldn't care that she'd be awake for another hour. But after deciding that hey, this is naptime now, why won't you sleep? it becomes a lot more tiring for me.
BUT! She is sleeping longer! After reading the No-Cry Sleep Solution (still reading but highly recommend for anyone who thinks crying it out doesn't feel right for you), I've been able to get her to sleep for longer than 30 minutes. Elizabeth Pantley, the author, suggests that you go into your baby's room right before that normal wake up time, which for us was pretty much 30 minutes on the dot. When your baby stirs - NOT wakes up, just stirs like she's going to wake up - do what you need to do to put her back to sleep. This could be offering the pacifier, rocking her, patting her, or even nursing her. I just go in and pat her bottom, kind of rocking her at the same time. Pantley says that after a week or so of this, your baby will be able to sleep longer stretches on her own.
We saw a difference after just a couple of days. !!! She's now sleeping at least 45 minutes before stirring, and yesterday she slept a whole hour and fifteen minutes! Did you hear me? That is over double her normal nap time! Exciting news, to say the least.
And when she wakes up, she'll usually play in her crib for at least 10-15 minutes before she starts fussing. It's like she says "Hey! I'm awake! Where ARE you???"
Any advice for getting her to sleep without so much help?
I feel positively giddy about this. Yay for long naps!
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