Sleep Training

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to do if nap training is impossible??  What I mean is, this is dd # 4 and our life is so busy, that we are hardly ever home, and when we are, we're only home for an hour or two before running out the door again.  My 3 older daughters are either in school, preschool, swim, ballet, irish dance, soccer.....ugh.  It's exhausting for my youngest, and she currently only naps in her swing when we are home, and in the car seat when we are out.  She only naps maybe 30mins at a time and never in her crib.  She is 4 months now, and I can tell she needs better naps.  Nighttime sleep was really good up until about a week or two ago, and now it's falling apart too, and I think it's because she is so overtired.     I don't remember having this problem with any of the others....we weren't so busy when they were babies.  Thanks in advance for any advice!

i'm sorry that no one has answered your post yet.

with 4 children, your life must be really hectic! but if you want your baby to sleep properly in her crib, i think you may need to enlist some help with your other children so you can stay home for a while and nap train your baby. sleeping in the car or stroller once in a while is ok but not as restorative as sleeping in her crib. and 30min catnaps will create an overtired baby, esp since yours is still very young.

so my only advice is to ask for some help with your other children while you nap train; maybe you can get a neighbor to car pool or hire a sitter/nanny if that's possible.. maybe ask your in-laws to help out and take care of the other children?

nap training is harder and takes a while to work and works if you're able to stay home and have her sleep in her crib. her bad night sleep is most likely due to overtiredness from taking short naps during the day. try and ease that by putting her to bed earlier for the night but wrt nap training, i would commit to at least 3 weeks at home so she can learn how to nap properly. i know it sounds like a long time but who knows, maybe your baby will get it quickly or it might take a little longer... it really depends on the baby.

i know it's hard because you're always out and about but if you want your baby to sleep better, then you may have to ask for some help

GL!