Help! 3 month old will not nap

[Anonymous]

Honestly OP it doesn’t sound like you want to make any changes so you and your nanny will just have to wait.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the club! As you said, the real problem here is short maternity leaves, not babies. That said, from what I hear, a lot of babies are "better" nappers at daycare/with nannies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly OP it doesn’t sound like you want to make any changes so you and your nanny will just have to wait.

LOL because I explained why the Snoo isn't a viable option for naps and why I'm not comfortable swaddling my 15 week old who shows signs of rolling? Neither of those things make me unwilling to make changes. I was asking for advice if anyone else went through something similar and what methods worked for them to get their baby to nap in the crib. I don't think going back to swaddling a 15 week old is the only suggestion for crib naps.

I am absolutely open to changes and suggestions for making crib naps happen outside of swaddling if anyone has success stories. And yes, I agree, it might just come down to time! Was hoping that since it's pretty common to go back to work at 3 months, someone else might have gone through something similar and have some good ideas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the club! As you said, the real problem here is short maternity leaves, not babies. That said, from what I hear, a lot of babies are "better" nappers at daycare/with nannies.

Thanks! I'm hoping that becomes the case because our poor nanny right now is not having a ton of luck. I am keeping fingers crossed it's just the adjustment period for our little guy and he (and she) will figure out what works for them soon.

[Anonymous]

Try zippity zip for transition from swaddle but it’s mainly time, esp for nap consolidation

[Anonymous]

What’s the point of the snoo if you’re not going to use it for naps?

This makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a logistics problem. He's doing great in the Snoo, and there's no reason not to have him in it for naps, so I would figure out a way to get that to work. For a while, we taped up black out curtains over a random window (where we knew it'd be temporary and didn't want to buy and install a curtain rod). Move it to a different room. Whatever it takes.

Once he's four months, you can start weaning off the snoo and into the crib, but at that point, CIO is an option if it doesn't go smoothly. At three months, just have him sleep all the time in the snoo.

He didn't ever nap great in the Snoo either, even before he was more aware and distracted by light/shadows/ceiling fans. But still totally agree with you, it IS a logistics problem but not one with an easy solution. Our bedroom has 4 windows, 2 french doors, and a skylight. It's not as easy as just covering a window with a garbage bag. And our nursery is upstairs, and since it's so far away, I'm not ready to move him there for night sleep if we were to just put the Snoo up there. It's not an easy situation to just move the Snoo up there every morning and back down to our bedroom after work. And part of me feels like it's silly to force the Snoo to work for naps for another month or so before we transition him at night anyway.

I know from reading numerous blogs, TCB, etc. that I am not unique in trying to get my 3 month old to start napping in the crib, even if still sleeping in parents' room at night. I guess I'm just looking for anecdotal stories or reassurance that it'll get better in time if anyone else had a baby who was a great night sleeper but terrible napper (preferring contact naps) and what, if any, tips they might have for helping to get him to nap in his crib for the nanny.

I'm the PP. This makes sense. Is there somewhere else closer to you you could put the Snoo? Our baby took his naps in a closet for a long time. Or a hallway?

I wish and thank you for the suggestions! Not in the cards in this house. The hallway to our bedroom also has skylights (and the bathroom!) and no walk-in closet. The rest of the main level is not an option because of open floor plan and DH's office. We love the natural light but boy does it make this specific situation super frustrating!!

PP again - argh, that is super tough!!

How about a slumber pod?

https://www.slumberpod.com

Or is there a Snoo specific option?

If not, yeah, I'd literally spend a weekend taping garbage bags over all 4 windows, both French doors, and the skylight. It's one month, and the kid needs sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the point of the snoo if you’re not going to use it for naps?

This makes no sense.

He's sleeping consistently 9-12 hrs at night before a wake up with just a good consistent bedtime routine. And goes down in the Snoo awake since 6-7 weeks and is out within 5 minutes. It did lots of soothing after night feeds in earlier weeks too. So I don't really feel like "what's the point of the Snoo?" It's given us amazing night sleep and we are super grateful. He won't be put down for a nap longer than 30 minutes, even in the Snoo so I don't see any point in forcing it at 15 weeks, when he'll probably transition out in a month or so anyway. We forced it til 10 weeks and then said, let's try something else.

[Anonymous]

Why cant nanny babywear?

I mean, its not like its you at home trying to work while also pumping and having a kid that wont sleep - my personal experience. Your baby is her job. I will say that if babe is sleeping 12 hours with only 0-1 wakeups you likely wont be getting large nap stretches until down to 1 nap. Baby may just be a cat napper, 20-30 min every 60-90 minutes is fine. 14 to 17 hours is normal for 3 months. So you are only going to get 2-5 hours of naps total. I was nursing and it was basically eat sleep play because milk and a full belly naturally makes them sleepy.

There also isnt a whole lotta stimulation requirements at this age. Her job is to feed, change, light stimulation, expose to light during day, free play, cuddles, and provide opportunities for sleep. Emphasis on feed and cuddle.
Will baby sleep on walks? Then I guess nanny is getting some steps in. Y'all keep wanting robots for kids. Not all kids sleep in the crib. Not all kids nap well. You have to work for naps and overnight seems like a swimming success!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try zippity zip for transition from swaddle but it’s mainly time, esp for nap consolidation

Thanks! We have heard good things about the zippity zip. Might be worth a try - I was trying to avoid another transition down the road by just doing sleep sack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why cant nanny babywear?

I mean, its not like its you at home trying to work while also pumping and having a kid that wont sleep - my personal experience. Your baby is her job. I will say that if babe is sleeping 12 hours with only 0-1 wakeups you likely wont be getting large nap stretches until down to 1 nap. Baby may just be a cat napper, 20-30 min every 60-90 minutes is fine. 14 to 17 hours is normal for 3 months. So you are only going to get 2-5 hours of naps total. I was nursing and it was basically eat sleep play because milk and a full belly naturally makes them sleepy.

There also isnt a whole lotta stimulation requirements at this age. Her job is to feed, change, light stimulation, expose to light during day, free play, cuddles, and provide opportunities for sleep. Emphasis on feed and cuddle.
Will baby sleep on walks? Then I guess nanny is getting some steps in. Y'all keep wanting robots for kids. Not all kids sleep in the crib. Not all kids nap well. You have to work for naps and overnight seems like a swimming success!

I agree, I recognize how lucky I am to not be trying to do it all on top of working given the circumstances of having a new baby in a pandemic world. This is fantastic perspective, and your personal experience sounds really tough and I have tons of respect for any family doing it all without help right now.

I would love for the nanny to baby wear but she is older and doesn't seem super comfortable with it - she has a wrap and carrier at her disposal. It's what I do to get a good hour+ long nap on weekends or after work. He wakes in the stroller after 30 minutes so that doesn't work. And you're absolutely right that part of the nap problem is likely that he's getting so much night sleep that he doesn't have enough drive for day sleep. But he just seems to wake up from every catnap grumpy too, and is usually pretty fussy by the end of a crap nap day (vs a good nap day), so I just worry that he's a high sleep needs little dude that is overtired all day because he isn't getting long naps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why cant nanny babywear?

I mean, its not like its you at home trying to work while also pumping and having a kid that wont sleep - my personal experience. Your baby is her job. I will say that if babe is sleeping 12 hours with only 0-1 wakeups you likely wont be getting large nap stretches until down to 1 nap. Baby may just be a cat napper, 20-30 min every 60-90 minutes is fine. 14 to 17 hours is normal for 3 months. So you are only going to get 2-5 hours of naps total. I was nursing and it was basically eat sleep play because milk and a full belly naturally makes them sleepy.

There also isnt a whole lotta stimulation requirements at this age. Her job is to feed, change, light stimulation, expose to light during day, free play, cuddles, and provide opportunities for sleep. Emphasis on feed and cuddle.
Will baby sleep on walks? Then I guess nanny is getting some steps in. Y'all keep wanting robots for kids. Not all kids sleep in the crib. Not all kids nap well. You have to work for naps and overnight seems like a swimming success!

I agree, I recognize how lucky I am to not be trying to do it all on top of working given the circumstances of having a new baby in a pandemic world. This is fantastic perspective, and your personal experience sounds really tough and I have tons of respect for any family doing it all without help right now.

I would love for the nanny to baby wear but she is older and doesn't seem super comfortable with it - she has a wrap and carrier at her disposal. It's what I do to get a good hour+ long nap on weekends or after work. He wakes in the stroller after 30 minutes so that doesn't work. And you're absolutely right that part of the nap problem is likely that he's getting so much night sleep that he doesn't have enough drive for day sleep. But he just seems to wake up from every catnap grumpy too, and is usually pretty fussy by the end of a crap nap day (vs a good nap day), so I just worry that he's a high sleep needs little dude that is overtired all day because he isn't getting long naps.

So this is one of those crossroads with childcare that you either have to let them work it out and let her just keep doing 30 min naps OR work with her on baby wearing. There is a lot of fear and learning curve with carriers. Id honestly ask her what she wants to do and/or how you can set her up to be successful during the day. It may be that you need to get a swing for downstairs, etc. He is also having to take in more milk during the day to make up for not waking at night. My kid at 2.5 still has dinner and then a snack before teeth and bed 90 minutes later. He also only wakes because he is hungry. I know because I gave him crackers in bed one morning when I couldnt sleep well that night and he laid back down with me and snuggled right back for an hour or so. His idea of fun is running hills with his Dad so it fits.

Id also say that babywearing with a nap after work is a great way to reconnect and get him to sleep. With an hour nap and 12 hours overnight, thats 13 hours. If she gets 3 or 4 30-min naps, then that is still within the norm. Id also consider seeing if a dreamfeed during the morning nap will work. He may wake cranky because he is hungry, especially if your nanny follows eat play sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why cant nanny babywear?

I mean, its not like its you at home trying to work while also pumping and having a kid that wont sleep - my personal experience. Your baby is her job. I will say that if babe is sleeping 12 hours with only 0-1 wakeups you likely wont be getting large nap stretches until down to 1 nap. Baby may just be a cat napper, 20-30 min every 60-90 minutes is fine. 14 to 17 hours is normal for 3 months. So you are only going to get 2-5 hours of naps total. I was nursing and it was basically eat sleep play because milk and a full belly naturally makes them sleepy.

There also isnt a whole lotta stimulation requirements at this age. Her job is to feed, change, light stimulation, expose to light during day, free play, cuddles, and provide opportunities for sleep. Emphasis on feed and cuddle.
Will baby sleep on walks? Then I guess nanny is getting some steps in. Y'all keep wanting robots for kids. Not all kids sleep in the crib. Not all kids nap well. You have to work for naps and overnight seems like a swimming success!

I agree, I recognize how lucky I am to not be trying to do it all on top of working given the circumstances of having a new baby in a pandemic world. This is fantastic perspective, and your personal experience sounds really tough and I have tons of respect for any family doing it all without help right now.

I would love for the nanny to baby wear but she is older and doesn't seem super comfortable with it - she has a wrap and carrier at her disposal. It's what I do to get a good hour+ long nap on weekends or after work. He wakes in the stroller after 30 minutes so that doesn't work. And you're absolutely right that part of the nap problem is likely that he's getting so much night sleep that he doesn't have enough drive for day sleep. But he just seems to wake up from every catnap grumpy too, and is usually pretty fussy by the end of a crap nap day (vs a good nap day), so I just worry that he's a high sleep needs little dude that is overtired all day because he isn't getting long naps.

So this is one of those crossroads with childcare that you either have to let them work it out and let her just keep doing 30 min naps OR work with her on baby wearing. There is a lot of fear and learning curve with carriers. Id honestly ask her what she wants to do and/or how you can set her up to be successful during the day. It may be that you need to get a swing for downstairs, etc. He is also having to take in more milk during the day to make up for not waking at night. My kid at 2.5 still has dinner and then a snack before teeth and bed 90 minutes later. He also only wakes because he is hungry. I know because I gave him crackers in bed one morning when I couldnt sleep well that night and he laid back down with me and snuggled right back for an hour or so. His idea of fun is running hills with his Dad so it fits.

Id also say that babywearing with a nap after work is a great way to reconnect and get him to sleep. With an hour nap and 12 hours overnight, thats 13 hours. If she gets 3 or 4 30-min naps, then that is still within the norm. Id also consider seeing if a dreamfeed during the morning nap will work. He may wake cranky because he is hungry, especially if your nanny follows eat play sleep.

Great suggestions, thank you!!

[Anonymous]

Merlin magic sleep suit. Worth every penny.

[Anonymous]

Zippy goes up to x large so you just size up. We wore up to large then sleep sack transition was painless around 18 or 20 months...or 2 years I forget. If you can afford a snoo, you can afford a few Zippys