Getting Baby to Nap

Posted on October 1, 2008 in Health & Safety, Parenting by little mochi

Often times, Little Mochi does not nap at all.  I guess it’s understandable at his age.  He’s 15 months now (Wow, 15 months gone by just like that!)  and walking.  Scratch that.  He’s running now.  And he’s full of curiosity.  He’ll grab a ball from one basket, run to another basket, and throw the ball in that 2nd basket.  He’ll then run back to the first basket, grab another ball, run back to the second basket, throw the ball in, and laugh.  He’ll do this until he either runs out of balls in the first basket or until something else catches his eye.

One would think all that running around would tire a toddler out.  Where does all that energy come from?

I notice that his eyes look extremely tired.  So I wash his his hands, wipe his face, change his diaper, and set him down for a few minutes while I use the restroom.  When I come back, he is up and about, full of energy again.  I have lost that window of opportunity for an hour or two of peace and quiet.

Wouldn’t that be great if you can sleep throughout the night too?  Here is a schedule that shows the number of naps and how many hours of naptime your baby / toddler should be getting:

Age Number of Naps Hours of Naptime
4 months 3 4 – 6
6 months 2 3 – 4
9 months 2 2 1/2 – 4
12 months 1-2 2 – 3
2 years 1 1 – 2
3 years 1 1 – 1 1/2



I sure have trouble getting Little Mochi to lie down these days.  I would be lucky if Little Mochi naps once a day.  Yesterday, my mom had to drive Little Mochi around the block a few times just so he can nap.

This is how I’ve been able to get Little Mochi to nap in the past.

  1. Just what my mom did, drive your baby around the block a few times.  If you’re enviromentally cautious, this may not be your preference.
  2. When you see signs of tiredness, start winding him down.  Do not overtire your baby as he may get even fussier.  It will be even more difficult to put him down.  Some signs of tiredness are eye rubbing, quietness, mubbling nonsense to himself, yawning, looking for pacifier or blanket or other things of comfort, and lying down.  I let him lie on our bed and rub his back.
  3. I turn on the TV and hold him while we watch TV together.  He eventually falls asleep in my arms.

But the question is, how do you get your baby / toddler to take his routine naps?



Comments

5 comments to “Getting Baby to Nap”

  1. Julia on October 13th, 2008 8:30 pm

    My hubby had to hold her in his arms so that she would stop running around. I don’t know how long he held her but she did eventually go to sleep. When I had trouble putting her to nap during those days, I did the same thing and i only had to carry her for 5-10 min. Not too bad. before learning this advice from my hubby, i just lied in bed and pretended to sleep and had the bedroom door closed. she would eventally climb in bed with me to nap (there’s no toys in the bedroom). LOL. of course, that only works if the baby co-sleeps with the parents like mine does. =)

  2. little mochi on October 14th, 2008 8:45 am

    Hi Julia,

    I have tried the “let’s fall asleep together” method too. For some reason, he thinks I’m playing with him and starts poking at my eyes and hits me all over to wake me up. When I open my eyes, he laughs!

  3. Julia on October 17th, 2008 2:04 pm

    hahaha… my girl did the same. that was a great way to teach her body parts. i forgot how i eventually ended the game. she still does that to me some times and i just continue to pretend to sleep without opening my eyes. she lost interest, got bored, fell asleep. for a month now, i tell her 3 stories, then i tell her, “no more talking, no more thinking, close your eyes and go to sleep.” some times, she will just talk herself to sleep; other times, she just fall asleep, just like that! 15 months age is tough. he is still exploring the house. =) how does your mom do put little mochi to nap?

  4. little mochi on October 17th, 2008 9:17 pm

    My mom just lets him run around until his head is full of sweat and until he is too tired to run around anymore. She then gives him a bottle of milk and he eventually falls asleep. But that’s during the day. It’s hard at night because I want to get good sleep and if I let him run around until he gets tired, he won’t sleep until almost midnight. Sigh…

  5. Julia on October 18th, 2008 5:32 pm

    sleep routine? with my girl, sleep routine works even if it means changing it every few months or if it means 2.5 hours! when it got out of hand.. like 2.5 hours to put her to sleep… i cut down the number of story i read to her and the number of times i carry her, etc. she understood number quite well early on. or she learned number that way. LOL. she learned “the last one” quite early on also. =)

Leave a Comment