wind-down suggestions?

[katemom]

Hi,

I used to do the same wind-down routine every time and it seemed to work pretty well, but lately my daughter lets out a cry as soon as I take her in the room where I read to her and sing to her for her wind-down.  (It's also the same room she sleeps in).  It seems like she is stimulated now by the books, and then when I try to hold her afterwards, she is very wiggly/kicky and doesn't let me hold her close to block out stimulation.  I sing my heart out but I can't get the sleepy eyes as easily when she's not nestled into me.  Anyway, maybe I should mix things up - what are all of you doing for your wind-down?  Can I steal some of your ideas?

Constantly on my toes...keeping up with kate (15 weeks)

kate's Mom

[samijoe]

My dd started to do this maybe around the 5 or 6mths mark.

I thought the same as you at first...then i realized she'd rather soothe herself (because i taught her to) than have me around to stimulate her more.

So our routine is almost nothing.  She usually gets her diaper changed, i hold her and tell her that i will see her when she is done napping....i put her in the crib and walk out.  If i try to hold her for too long she gets wiggly and squirmy and even whines...as if to say "let me go!"

Try it, then listen to her on the monitor.  You might hear her mantra cry a bit and squirm around and then fall asleep.

hth good luck
sami

[magda1461]

i give her a bath,  then dress her in her room, read 2 books to her that are non stimulating so no bright colours i then give her a cuddle kiss, give her her bedtime bottle then she goes down to bed. All in her own room so she knows after bath time its getting ready for bed time.

[mich0902]

My LO started doing this too (around 5 months), she has a very hard time settling down.  At night, I feed her before bed, and even if she doesn't fall asleep on the breast, it seems to help her calm down and she manages to go to sleep by herself.  But for her naps, I just have to insist and keep her firmly in my arms and then in her crib even if she squirms and fusses as she just builds up herself more and it's even worse.

Not much help, huh?   

[katemom]

Thanks everybody for sharing your own wind-down rituals.  After 3 bad nap times yesterday, I was ready to change things up today.  magda1461, I like the suggestion of using non-stimulating books without bright colors - I never thought of that.  Here I was putting all the bold illustrations in front of my lo before naptime!  OOPS!

Sami, I just tried a method similar to yours for this mornings wind-down.  I had some cuddle time with her in a different room, and then took her into the nap room, shut the curtains, turned on her lullaby music, and laid her in her crib.  I kissed her on the cheek and rubbed her face a few times to make sure she was happy there.  Then I told her it was naptime, and that I'd see her when she woke up.  She was content to look around and examine every inch of the room, for 20 MINUTES!  But then she went to sleep on her own without a cry or fuss.  After yesterdays nap fights, I was SO HAPPY!  I'm not expecting all naps to go so smoothly, but at least I know it's possible now! 

Sami, as for how long it took her to get to sleep, will she get faster at it?  Or is it all based on how I time things?  I wanted to make sure I timed it a little on the early side rather than the late side, as she gets overtired/angry pretty easily.  But how long does it take your little on to fall asleep after that kind of wind-down routine?

mich0902, I'm going to hope for the best for naptime, but if there are continued struggles, I can only imagine how difficult it would be with a larger, stronger, child at 5/6 months!  I'm sorry to hear you are well aware of the naptime fights!

Thanks again everyone,

kate's mom

[samijoe]

kate's mom,

i am glad to hear that you had some success.  sometimes cuddle time is really more for the mommy than the lo, if you know what i mean?

some lo's are perfectly happy to have a little bit of alone time.  some days, especially teething days, if Avery gets grouchy and is having a rough go of it...i put her in for her nap a bit early and let her chill out.  she really does seem to appreciate some alone-less stimulating time.

as for the 20minutes, that's ok.  it means she is probably ok to have another 10minutes added to her A time.  i am pretty strict about dd going down for her naps roughly 3.5hrs after waking, but when it begins to take her half hour to fall asleep for days and days at a time, i know she is ready to stay up a little longer.

i must caution though....not all babies are like this.  my dd will play in the crib until the exact moment her A time is done, then fall asleep.   some other babies are a little more compliant, and assume that because they are in the crib they must go to sleep.  just make sure that her naps stay as long as they should be...and don't get too short.  if you find she is taking lots of 45minute naps, i would increase her A time for sure.

hth and let me know if you have more questions.  i am stuck at home today with no car....so my plans are all BW!  lol
sami

[samijoe]

oh i wanted to mention,

that a good winddown is essential for some touchier babies and grouchy types.

mostly because these two types really tend to rely on their routine for reassuredness.

if you have done a good job teaching lo to sleep independently, you can be as heartless as i (i feel this way sometimes cuz i don't get to cuddle much) and just toss her in the crib!  lol

sami

[magda1461]

kates mum, glad things are improving..it does take time to get the right wind down routine..ours has only been implemented for about a month but has done wonders...