advice for a mom..?

Question

I have a 2 and a half year old son. My husband and I have rocked him to sleep since he was born. about three weeks ago we started a new bedtime routine with him, allowing him to learn to go to bed and go to sleep on his own. He's doing well with that part, but naps during the day are torture! He crys for about 2 hours (off and on) b4 finally going to sleep. Hers my ? If I rock him to sleep during the day for his naps will that cause him to regress at night? Will he need to be rocked at night again? Should I let him cry during the day or would it be ok to rock him at naptime only?? Please help! His crying breaks my heart.

for ge ge...I didnt rock him to sleep to spoil him and I didnt ask to be judged. Just so everyone knows, my son has had siezures since he was 2 days old and only has them as he falls asleep, thats why we rocked him for so long, so we could watch him for seizures. He doesnt have them very often now so we thought now was a good time to break that habbit. thanks everyone for the advice.

Answer 1

Our son wouldn't take naps after he was about a year and a half old, but our daughter (4) did, and from time to time still does. Some kids just don't get tired during the day. I found that if they had a nap, then they stayed awake later at night, but if they don't have a nap, they would be a little cranky around dinner, which usually resulted in a earlier bed time. I also found that if they need a nap, they will usually fall asleep. They may not be in bed when it happens, but that's not important. Don't go back to rocking him to sleep once you have broken that habit, you're only taking a step backwards. Our daughter used to sleep with us, and it took for ever to get her out of our bed.

Answer 2

If he is not teething and he is just used to being rocked to sleep at night then the new routine at night will take a minimum of three nights to break. I saw a show where a doctor took over and put cameras in the room to veiw the child in the crib. The child was also rocked to sleep and was around 18 mos. to two years. The baby started to cry then threw baby tantrums (rocking the crib screaming throwing his blanky out of the crib etc.) The mother, father and doctor watched the monitor from the other room. The baby carried on the first night for over an hour during which time the mother had to leave the house she couldn't bear it. The baby fell asleep after 1 hour and 15 mins.
On night 2 the same thing but for only 20 mins.
On night three less than 3mins.
I wish I could give you a reference to the program it was either 20 20 or dateline or 60 mins. when I don't know its been years. But I was amazed. And I'm a father of five from 27 to 12 I wish you good luck it'll get better cherish every minute they grow to fast.
But stop the rocking.

Answer 3

I did the same thing with my 3 children, but not consistently. Rocking was a treat for both of us. My first question would be "why does he cry for 2 hours when you put him down for a nap?" This pretty much defeats the purpose of a nap. Are you trying to make him go to sleep at a specific time? IF so, this isn't working. Let's say you put him down at 11, but he cries until 1. Why don't you just wait til 1? Obviously he isn't sleepy at 11. A child should nap when they are tired, not when you think it is time to take a nap. The worst thing to do with him is make napping, eating, etc., so structured that there is no flexibility in your routine. What if he goes to Grandma's for the weekend? What if you go on vacation? He'll be so upset by the disruption of his routine you will all be miserable. If you think that rocking is the answer, set a timer and tell him that Mommy with rock him until the timer goes off, then it is bedtime. I may be reading too much between the lines, but it sounds as if your son is dictating the schedule, not you, and he is crying because he knows it upsets you and you then give in to his wishes. That can be the downside to being a stay-at-home mom, children become used to having mom 24-7 and can be very demanding. Remember, quality time is better than quantity time.

Answer 4

He might be reaching an age where he is not going to need naps anymore. I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear, though. My son was 2 1/2 and had always been a really good sleeper, and right at that age, I would put him down for his naps and he would cry and cry and scream. One day he fell asleep half setting/half slouched against his crib, because he had been crying so vehemently. It was especially hard because I was due with his little sister in a few months and so nap-time was really needed. But I finally decided it was more torture than anything for both of us. So basically I eliminated his nap and just put him down about 1/2 hour earlier at night. Good luck with whatever you do. It's definitely good for you and your boy that you're not rocking him at night anymore. The nap time is a hard decision, though. Good luck.

Answer 5

I wouldn't rock him for naps.

Is it possible that he doesn't really NEED the nap any longer? Every kid is different in terms of when they stop needing to nap during the day. If he's crying for two full hours before falling asleep, it seems reasonable that he's just NOT sleepy. He may just be falling asleep eventually because he's exhausted himself!

If you think he still requires a nap, perhaps you can shorten it, or make it later in the day. For instance, if you usually put him down for a nap at 1 p.m., maybe try to do it at 3 instead.

Good luck!

Answer 6

As a mother of 3, discovering the right sleeping routine is hard because not all children have the same personalities. What you begin with is what your child gets used to. Start breaking the rocking to sleep routine slowly. Your child will cry and yes, it is heartbreaking, but no one ever died from crying. Start at nap time during the day and continue the same routine in the evening. Do not run to his bedside when he cries out for you. Allow him to hear your voice from a distance and reassure him that you are nearby. Good Luck. Ps...keep kleenex nearby for yourself, but be strong!

Answer 7

i have a 2 and a half year old and was in the same position as you are. i rocked her to sleep every night and finally realized with me being a single parent that it's gotta stop because there's other things that i have to do before i can go to bed. there's one of 2 things that i know of that i have done. what i do now, is i put a movie on on her room and she watches the movie and then she falls asleep during it. same thing at night. i tried the let them cry it out and it eventually worked and she realized that i wasnt going to budge with the whole situation and she just laid down finally and went to sleep. if you go to rocking him to sleep during the day, he's going to think that you should do it at night too. in his mind, she rocks me at nap time why not at bed time? good luck, hope this helped out, and hang in there!

Answer 8

The badest thing to do is to rock him to sleep at the age of 2 he is a big boy what u gonna do rock him to sleep til he get old enough to go to school?That is spoiling him know you then made it a habit know he is going want you to do it all the time!The only way you can break that habit is to let him cry to sleep!Then when he see's you are no t going to rock him to sleep anymore he will fall asleep on his own!AND DONT ROCK HIM @ DAY OR NIGHT!Thats the only way to get him to go to sleep on his own he is 2 years old!

Answer 9

Put him in school. They have naptime with everyone for about an hour. Once he is in a routine, everything will go smoothly. They also are brilliant with potty training. You can start the peer pressure early.

Answer 10

if you rock him during the day he will probably expect it at night also. if it is that bad don't make him take a nap. sooner or later he will get use to the idea of not being rocked.