At around noon he was getting pretty sleepy so I started trying to get him to sleep by singing a lullaby and walking him around the room. I would jiggle him a little too and pause occasionally to be completely still and quiet for a few moments before resuming my dance of jiggling, swaying and singing our way around the room (The No Cry Nap Solution by Elizabeth Pantley refers to this as the Pantley Dance). It worked; I got him lowered into his crib without him batting an eyelid, and he stayed asleep. I decided to sneak away after 20 minutes to brush my teeth and put away his dirty diaper, but by the time I was finished I could hear him crying. I probably shouldn't have left so soon so that I could make sure he made it through his first sleep cycle okay (babies sleep in thirty minute cycles and often have trouble falling back to sleep on their own inbetween cycles). So I picked him up and comforted him and proceeded to carry him around the room. He was wide awake at this point so I decided to nurse him for a bit to aid in making him sleepy. Then I walked around the room some more. About a half hour later (my arms were killing me) he was sleeping again. Only this time I had a crash landing and jostled him a little on the way into the crib. He woke up but was still calm so I tried jiggling the mattress and singing to him. He started to close his eyes then suddenly decided he didn't want to sleep and became wide-eyed and started blowing raspberries. At this point I felt like I needed a nap! There was no getting him back to sleep again, I tried. I decided to go warm up some lunch and sit in the kitchen with him.
After lunch he was really cranky. I thought maybe we would go for a walk but by the time I got his "warm suit" on he was in tears and I couldn't get him to stop crying without taking it off. I decided then to just let him take a nap in bed with me; we had enough experimenting for one day!
Which leaves me where I am now, in bed with little Meo holding onto my arm while he sleeps. I'm not going to try the crib thing again tomorrow, instead I am going to try co-napping and rolling away. I think once I master rolling away and getting him to sleep for at least an hour and a half at a time in the bed by himself (that is how long he needs to sleep for the nap to be beneficial), then I will perhaps try the crib again. To me, it doesn't so much matter where he sleeps as long as I can get him to sleep independently. That way when I go out with him or if I want to do some uninterrupted yoga during the day, I will have that option without jeopardizing his naps. Being able to put himself to sleep is a good skill for him to learn I think! But I want him to feel secure and learn sleep independence at a rate that is comfortable for him (and me).
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| Meo napping in his crib today (lasted 20 minutes) |
If you really love having your sleeping baby in your arms and your daily schedule allows this pleasure, then continue on as you are with my blessing. Don't change what works for you and your baby because someone else told you that you should. If your baby is having long, restful naps in your arms or sling and you are happy holding him, go ahead and enjoy this precious, fleeting time in your life and his.Don't change what works today for some fear of future problems. It will likely be no harder or easier for your baby to make a change now or later, but it will be easier for you when you are truly ready and motivated to create change.
Babies are babies for a very short time - blink and they are off to college. So, if you are happy with today's in-arms nap routine, then carry on!
-Elizabeth PantleyThe No-Cry Nap Solution
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