Getting Baby to Nap

I just put my baby down for his morning nap.  Every morning after breakfast, he has some play time.  Then right at 8:30am, I read him his nap time story, and after some kuddles and kisses, I put him into his crib.  With some initial protest he naps for 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Things were not always like this.  It took me a long time to figure out how to get him to nap in his crib.  When he was a newborn, of course he slept a great deal.  However, once he was around 3 months, he was more alert.  He only seemed to nap when he was in the car, the stroller, or being rocked to sleep.  I kept receiving advice from other parents, and books that I read also said the same thing: put baby to bed when you see sleep signs.  I tried this.  However, this was confusing as at times my son began rubbing his eyes and yawning only half an hour after he woke up.   At other times, I didn't see sleep signs at all, and my son just got cranky and miserable.

Here's what I found worked:

1. For a few days, observe your baby to see a pattern.  Usually around 2 ½ to 3 hours after waking in the morning, your baby should be taking his first nap.  It's the sleep signs that he shows around this time that indicate readiness to sleep.  Once you find a time that your baby tends to show his first sleep signs, stick to it as the baby's nap time.

2. Have a brief nap time routine such as: change diaper, read one book, kuddles, and kisses, turn on soothing music, and in the crib.

3. The location of the nap should be consistent: in the crib whenever possible.  Even now, whenever we have my son nap in the car or stroller, he tends to have a more difficult time napping in his crib the day(s) that follow.  Having him sleep in the crib consistently for 3-4 days in a row makes nap times much easier.

4.  The room should be conducive to sleep: black-out blinds/curtains, comfortable room temperature, a ceiling fan for air circulation (to reduce the chance of SIDS), and a white noise machine if possible. 

5.  If your baby uses pacifiers to soothe himself to sleep and is able to put it in his mouth, place 5 pacifiers around the crib so he can replace it himself if it falls out of his mouth.

6.  If he wakes up in less than an hour, do not go in for 15 minutes and see if he'll go back to sleep.  I've read that you can wait for an hour, but I find that if after 15 minutes he doesn't go back to sleep, there's no point in waiting any longer.

7.  The afternoon nap tends to be 2-3 hours after the baby wakes up from his morning nap.