The No Cry Nap Solution (31 page)

194 Solving Napping Problems

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and material of the swaddling blanket and the amount and

type of clothing your baby wears under the swaddling blan-

ket, or adjust the temperature of the room. On warm days,

a diaper and T-shirt under a cotton blanket may be just

perfect.

• Use a baby-sized receiving blanket or a specially designed

swaddling blanket, such as one with Velcro ends or tabs

that hold the blanket together.

• The blanket should fi t snugly but not so tightly that it could

impede circulation or breathing, prevent leg movement, or

cause discomfort.

• Premature babies or those with developmental issues may

need to have their arms up or free of the swaddling. Check

with your health care provider about this.

How to Use Swaddling for Naptime
195

• Protect your baby’s hip and knee development by allowing

ample space for his legs, or use a stretchy fabric that permits

leg movement. Allow your baby to have a natural position

for his legs when you wrap him; don’t force them to be per-

fectly straight. Allow room within the blanket for your baby

to stretch out his legs during sleep. If you aren’t sure if your

baby has enough leg freedom, try loosely double- diapering

your baby before swaddling; this creates some extra space

within the wrap and creates a natural fl ex to the hips.

Some swaddling blankets are created with an opening at

the bottom for complete freedom of leg movement.

• If your baby fi nds comfort in sucking his thumb or fi ngers,

then swaddle him with one hand free, alternating hands

each time you swaddle him. Some babies enjoy being swad-

dled with both hands untucked.

• Make certain that your swaddled baby is always positioned

on his back for sleep.

• Don’t allow the blanket to rise up to cover your baby’s face

or cheeks.

• Do not attach your swaddled baby to a cradle board for car-

rying, as this has been found to impede hip and leg move-

ment necessary for proper development.

• If you swaddle your baby for sleep, be sure you unswaddle

him when he is awake. Include plenty of supervised tummy

time each day.

Father-Speak

“I’m amazed at how well swaddling her works for naps. It’s

ingenious. This has got to be one of the best ideas ever in

the history of humankind. It’s up there with the wheel and

lightbulbs, if you ask me!”

—Khalid, father of two-month-old Aaliyah

196 Solving Napping Problems

When to Stop Swaddling Your Baby

Swaddling works well for babies from newborn until three to four

months of age. However, babies who are used to being swaddled

for naps may enjoy it for several months longer. It’s time to wean

from naptime swaddling when your baby

• is able to wriggle free of the swaddling blanket

• can roll over onto her side or stomach

• fi ghts against you when you swaddle her

• no longer settles easily to sleep when swaddled

How to Wean from Swaddling

Many babies naturally outgrow their need to be swaddled. Every

few weeks, test to see if your baby will accept napping without

being swaddled.

Those babies who are reluctant to give up their sleeping swad-

dle can be weaned gently, a little at a time. The following ideas

can help you set a plan for weaning from swaddling:

• Leave one arm unwrapped, then two arms, then both legs.

You can experiment with this approach; take a few days or

a week or more at each stage. Some babies respond better

if you begin the weaning by leaving their legs undone fi rst

then progress to arms.

• Another weaning approach is to gradually loosen the blan-

ket by increments over a period of days or weeks, allowing

your baby a bit more movement. This way she remains

swaddled but slowly gets used to having more freedom dur-

ing sleep.

• When you fi nally stop swaddling, you might then dress your

baby in a sleeping-bag-style sleeper or a wearable blanket.

These create a feeling that is similar to being swaddled, but

looser. After a while you can switch your baby to sleeper

How to Use Swaddling for Naptime
197

pajamas with feet. Finally, over time, your baby can be

covered with a blanket instead of being swaddled in it, if

he prefers, though many toddlers still enjoy the freedom of

wearing “footie pajamas” to bed.

• It can help to warm the crib sheets before naptime with a

towel from the dryer, a microwaved heat bag, or a heating

pad set on low. (Test the temperature of the surface before

you lay your baby down.)

• Weaning from swaddling can be easier if you maintain all

other parts of your baby’s usual nap routine and when you

keep other parts of the nap environment stable, such as

darkening the room and playing lullabies or white noise.

• A newly unswadddled napper can sometimes be settled into

bed if you place both hands on her (across her chest, stom-

ach, or thighs) when you place her in the crib. When she is

settled in place, then slowly reduce the amount of pressure

of your hands until you remove them completely.

• If your baby has been sleeping well while swaddled but has

outgrown the swaddle but not the need for assistance to

nap, you might consider letting her nap in a cradle-swing,

rocking cradle, or baby hammock. These can provide your

baby with just enough physical stimulation to take over

where swaddling leaves off.

• Your baby might welcome a small, soft lovey stuffed animal

in the crib as a tactile replacement for swaddling. Look for a

toy made especially for infants. Place this beside your baby’s

hips or legs.

• Continue to use white noise or soft music for naptime and

maintain all the other parts of your baby’s presleep routine.

Changing Car Naps to

Bed Naps

See also: The Nap Resister: When Your Child

Needs a Nap but Won’t Take One

My son is a fi nicky sleeper and refuses to

nap in his crib. I have resorted to driving around

every day until he falls asleep, then I park in

the garage and have to run in and out of the

house to check on him until he wakes up.

This is not only ridiculously expensive, but

I’m really embarrassed and beginning to

resent being held hostage like this

every day. Help!

Oh, my! The things parents do to induce children to nap!

I must tell you that you aren’t the only one who has suc-

cumbed to driving a baby around town at naptime; it is surpris-

ingly common. As effective as they are, the problems with driving

naps are many. First, as you say, it’s expensive and a misuse of

resources and time. When you park your car and leave your sleep-

ing baby unattended, it becomes a dangerous game of chance. You

could be distracted and misjudge the amount of time between

check-ins, and the possibilities of something bad happening while

you are gone are endless: the temperature could become too hot

and your baby could overheat; your baby could become twisted in

his seat belt; or at the very least, he could wake up and panic at

being alone.

198

Changing Car Naps to Bed Naps
199

When your baby becomes used to these driving naps, you’ll fi nd

that they become a strong sleep cue—he’ll fall asleep in the car

even between naptimes, which can wreak havoc with your nap

and bedtime schedule. The longer this pattern of driving naps

goes on, the more ingrained becomes the habit, and your baby

will come to connect naps and car rides and expect a chauffeured

nap every single day.

The biggest problems with car-seat naps have recently been

uncovered by several studies that show that spending too much

time in this semi-upright position can put a strain on a baby’s

developing spine. In addition, spending awake time
and
naptime

in the car seat, together with time in other baby carriers, increases

a baby’s chance of developing a fl at area on the back of his head.

Other studies show that some babies (especially those who are

newborn, premature, or sick) who take long, unsupervised naps in

car seats appear to be at risk for breathing blockage or SIDS. Mod-

ifying car safety seats so that a baby’s head does not fl op forward

could help avoid the risk, so keeping the seat in the back-tilted

position (rather than sitting straight up) may be helpful. Install-

ing the seat correctly, using the seat’s belting system properly, and

using specially made head-hugger inserts can also offset this risk

by holding your baby in an upright position. (Read your manufac-

turer’s instructions.)

Marjorie Marciano, director of the safety education offi ce at the

New York City Department of Transportation, offers this advice:

“We do know that using a car seat that is installed correctly can

reduce the risk of injury signifi cantly, for example by 70 percent

for children under one year old. ‘Installed correctly’ means that

the seat should be at an angle of 45 degrees. When working with

parents, we always say that it is important that the seat be at the

correct angle to keep the airway open.” This is a new discovery,

and I suspect that car-seat designs will change in the future to off-

set this risk; there is more research needed here. In the meantime,

it is prudent to avoid using your baby’s car seat beyond the main

200 Solving Napping Problems

purpose—car travel—for which the car seat remains the absolute

safest place for your baby to be.

With older babies and toddlers, many parents allow the child

to lie twisted, sideways, and even partially out of the car seat to

recline against the door or a pillow during naps. This is another

car-seat sleeping danger. In the case of an accident or a quick stop,

the child could be ejected from the vehicle or suffer serious inju-

ries because of the inappropriate location of the shoulder straps.

The bottom line is that driving your child to sleep in the car

and letting him take his nap in the car seat is an unsafe and frus-

trating way for you to spend hours every day. The good news is that

with some effort your baby can be taking long, pleasant naps—at

home and even in his bed.

Why Are Car Naps Popular with Babies?

There are four main reasons that babies sleep well in the car:

• W—Whooshing sounds:
The pleasant hum of the motor,

the wind rushing by, the music on the radio, and the click

of the windshield wipers and turn signal blinkers not only

soothe your baby to sleep, they also block outside noises

that interfere with a nap.

• O—Orderly, predictable events:
Diaper changed, coat

on, baby into the seat, buckle clicked, car started, driving

begins, sleep time! It’s exactly the same every single time—

a very predictable and a memorable routine.

• M—Movement:
Gentle sways, jiggles, and bumps create a

pleasant rocking that puts babies to sleep.

• B—Buckled:
Snapped snugly into her seat, your baby’s own

movements don’t startle her awake. In addition, she isn’t