How long is too long to leave them in their cribs?

We are transitioning to 1 nap. It seems like we've been doing this for months. <_< My problem is that by 9 - 10 am they are visibly tired, they yawn, rub their eyes, and start acting fussy. But when I put them down they just play. They will play peek-a-boo with each other, and then they throw their lovies and pacis out of the crib after awhile so they fuss, and then I go in and give them their pacis and lovies back and they continue to play. They'll do this for hours. What should I do? They are so tired but they fight it tooth and nail.

I'm thinking that what I should do is set a time and then after that time limit is up get them out of the cribs, but how long should I let them stay in the cribs? How long is too long? And if they play for an hour (or whatever the time limit is) and then I let them up - they are still tired so how long should I wait before putting them down again? If I let them continue to play in the cribs they do eventually go to sleep, but then they will have spent a total of 3 hours or more in the crib, but only about 45 minutes - 1 hour actually sleeping. So then they are tired again in the afternoon but I don't want to put them in the cribs again b/c I feel like I'm this mean mom who makes her children stay in their bed all day long - b/c they'll do the whole 3 hour scenario again in the afternoon if I let them.

Should I set a time limit for total maximum time they spend in the crib during the day? Does it sound like maybe we need to seperate them during nap time? Or do singletons do the same thing w/playing in their cribs and it has nothing to do with the fact sister is in the room? TIA, I need some suggestions.

 

During our transition my limit was an hour. After an hour we got up. What also helped was to have some high stim activities for them in the morning so they'd get used to being up and were less likely to be cranky. Outside play or going to the library or a play date. GL with the transition.

 

I think Leighann gave great advice about keeping them occupied by going somewhere and stimulating them. I really think that would work for us if I wanted to push our one nap later. Alas, I am not a morning person and prefer to get up and drink my coffee and play with them in our pajamas in the mornings.

Will your girls do some quiet time/down time when they are getting a bit tired? At 10 am when mine start the yawning and wanting their lovies, we have a tv program, milk and snack. Usually sesame street since it's 10. I give them their sippies and snack cups and they play a bit more and are somewhat disinterested. Then when they finish snack/milk I get their lovies and blankets and sometimes they lay on the floor with a pillow and sometimes they snuggle in a chair. They usually watch the rest of the program and if they seem to get groggy I'll take them in one at a time and put them in their cribs. Usually this is around 10:45-11 am. If they stay awake through the end of ss then it is nap time when it is over. Sometimes they will play in their cribs for a bit, but usually they are too tired.

They sleep for two hours, get up and have lunch. We usually have an outing or outside play after lunch. They do get a bit tired around 4:30. At that time I give them milk cups and it gives them that little boost until dinner at 5:30.

Giving up the second nap was not my decision and getting the first nap to be longer and later has been difficult for us. I still don't see our schedule as conveinent or easier. It just seems like I have crankier babies more often.

 

I try and take them somewhere in the am, but then they sleep in the car for about 15 mins. If we're home, I put them up for 30 mins, go in and give back blankets/pacis and tell them "night night". I give it another 30 mins and if they aren't asleep, I get them up. If just one is asleep, I'll go another 30 mins for the next one.

 

We are in this process too. We have been putting them up for naps about twenty minutes later each morning (we are up to about eleven), with the goal of making it until after lunch for a long snooze. So in the mornings we have been having breakfast and playing and then when they look like they are getting tired, taking them outside. They pep up. Then its snack and bed. Then when they get really cranky in the afternoon, I put them up again. They usually just play. I start dinner or put away laundry etc. It depends how long they are happy and how much I'd like to get done. If they are happy, I see no problem in leaving them for an hour- hour and a half. I do not however go back in there to give pacifiers and lovies. If I do, then the curtains open and I give them books. I figure quiet time is still quiet time. This has been working OK but we are ALL cranky by the end of the day (around seven). Now that there is no going back to the sweet sweet two nap scene I CANT wait to just be one nappers. HTH. Thanks for starting this topic today.

 

When we transitioned, we just tried to keep them very occupied until lunch time at 11:00 and and as soon as lunch was over, we put them down for their nap. The trick for us was keeping them busy enough so they weren't too cranky in the morning to make it to lunch and then nap.

 

Ditto snoopytwins about keeping them busy. When we cut out the morning nap, I took them to the park around naptime. It was a great distraction, and really helped us through! We'd go home, eat lunch, play a bit longer, then have an afternoon nap.

I think if they're really not sleeping at all, you might want to stop putting them in their cribs. (But that's just me - I'm always paranoid about making sure my kids know I mean business when I put them down for a nap.) If there's a tiny chance they might actually get a morning nap, I'd leave them no longer than 1 hr and then give up.

Hm, maybe if they switch from tired and cranky to playing happily in cribs, they really just need a change of scene and some downtime. Maybe go to a different room and read books for a while or something like that.

Good luck! It is SUCH a hard transition to make! :hug:

 

omg we've been transitioning for months too lol and if i don't put them down in the morning for a "rest time", then they are SO CRANKY and hard to tolerate by noon. so i put them in at 9am and take them out around 10:15. they don't sleep (except they did today, VERY rare), but at least they're away from their toys and other stimulation for an hour. they do play with each other, tho, and poop during that time lol
no advice, just wanted to letyou know we're going thru the same thing right now. mine still need that "downtime"

 

I do the exact same thing with mine! They get what I call "rest time" in their cribs from 9-10 in the mornings. They usually sing,play,talk back and forth to one another.
Then nap time is at 12:30-2:30 and they usually sleep the full two hours.

 

QUOTE(ddancerd1 @ Feb 18 2009, 12:32 PM) [snapback]1195104[/snapback]
they do play with each other, tho, and poop during that time lol


Mine always poop at that time too! :laughing: Tomorrow I am going to try to do something stimulating with them around 9:30 am and we'll see how it goes! Thank you for the responses!

 

I used to do the same as Leighann. I would leave them in there for an hour just playing. Just pick a routine and stick with it. It will all fall into place after a while. It took my girls an awful long time to transition and it was tough but very worth it!!