Like to share your nap winddown?

[michaeljacknnugg]

I'm after some ideas!

What do you do, and how long does it take, roughly?

[grace annes mommy]

Change diaper, white noise on, shades drawn.  Rock or bounce for like 2 minutes.  Very short.  BT she needs a longer WD though.

[lauradj]

Lullaby music on, sleep sack on, draw blinds, read story, switch to white noise, draw black out curtains, snuggles and into bed.

[Hedgehog17]

I would get him ready, darken the room, then sit by the cot rocking him very gently and humming a tune 

Humming is gentle, you can easily adjust the volume and tempo, and
I just instinctively knew he responded well to music 

When he got older I'd pop him in the cot, keep a calming hand on him, and hum gently.

Sometimes he'd be down in 5 mins, other times 30, depending on how settled / comfy he was (he had silent reflux) but mostly he was fine and I kept to the same routine as we both enjoyed it!

[amanda55]

Go upstairs into our room, into sleeping bag (already laid out), story, into his dark room, cuddle and song, into cot, white noise on, lovey and key phrase then leave ~5mins! (have a nearly 3yr old though who will charge upstairs if took any longer!).  Usually asleep within 10mins with no fussing.

[clazzat]

I used to just zip them into a sleeping bag and leave!

If you are having trouble getting him settled for his naps, I would suggest trying different ways - it took me a while to realise that the cuddling in a dark room and singing a song etc were actually counter-productive and they settled so much quicker when I left immediately.  Having said that, I know that there are a lot of people whose los will just get themselves really worked up when left to themselves.  I would also say that there are different times/stages that require a different wind down, so what works this month might not be as effective next month.

[michaeljacknnugg]

He struggles to sleep most of the time and we're just getting started with naps in his crib. I know it's fairly late but he's just one of *those* babies and we're taking it slowly.

I think as many cues for the different senses as possible are needed, but I could be wrong. Time will tell.

[Scottishmummy]

DD needs a very, very short WD -like only 5 mins before going in cot- we draw curtains, read a short story, play a short lullaby then put her in sleeping bag and put white noise on, she settles to sleep really quickly usually (within 5mins)

DS needed a much longer wind down before nap & bed- about 30 min before nap & an hour before bed. I had to take him away from v stimulating toys and environments and do quiet time before WD e.g, carrying him around, quiet toys (no lights & electronic music) then start a similar WD to DD's above around 20 min  before nap & allow at least 10-15 min for settling to sleep.

If your DS2 is easily OS, you may need a longer WD.  Tricky with DS1 around but maybe carrying in sling as part of WD without letting him sleep there might help?

[creations]

DS liked a very short WD.  I remember when I came to the forums (around 3.5 or 4 months I think) I tried to put in place a 'proper' WD of 20 mins but it back fired big time and soon I returned to super quick WD and he was happier with that. So he would go from fully energetic and playing, kicking around, looking at pictures etc to tired cues and I'd take him up stairs (think I might have changed nappy, can't remember) into room which was already dark.  I'd hold him and dance/rock whilst singing 1 song and put him in his hammock (say 3 mins).  During the song I could judge (not always successfully but I got better at it) if he needed the song repeated or cut short.  Once he was in his hammock I just said "have a nice sleep call if you need me" and left.
I say that like it was a breeze - that's how it was when things were fine - when I was introduced to the forums he was in his 4 month regression which had come early so actually we were struggling with 40 min naps 4 or 5 times per day until 5.5  months.
The short WD remained though.

[*Liz*]

Sleeping bag, give him his cloth (his 'ahhhhhh'  ), pop in cot and put white noise on.

At your Los age I used to walk and pace him to sleep on my shoulder, then put him down with white noise on for an invariably short nap. I think he was outgrowing being held for the whole nap at this point.

My wind downs have been short for all 3 really. I used to show DS1 a book first, DD I used to sing a few songs to. With DS2 I tend to just throw him in  .

[Elisanah]

About 10 mins before going upstairs we play with quieter toys or books. Then upstairs, dimmed lights, in mittens and sleeping bag, read a couple of stories, switch light off, little sing song whilst lying down in the cot with toy (takes 5-10 mins). We used to have a dream sheep and then a light show but eventually (9 months too late!) worked out they just overstimulated her.