While some children may become disheveled and cry when left in their crib to take a nap, other children may settle right down and doze off into a deep rejuvenating sleep. If you are a parent that finds yourself raising a child who most appropriately falls within the first category, then do not worry! There are a number of tips and tricks that can be utilized to assist your children in acquiring a nap time schedule that not only recharges their batteries, but that allows for mommy and daddy to have a necessary break from the tumultuous world of young children.
1. One of the most age old methods of putting a child down for a nap includes putting your baby into their crib, exiting the room, and shutting the door. Most times the child will begin to cry and become upset, only to cry themselves into an exhausted state that has them falling asleep for a nap without even realizing it. As a parent, the odds are that you know the difference between the child’s cries, including when they are hurt, angry, or hungry.
Listening to these cries is reassuring in a sense that you can reaffirm that the child is in fact doing just fine, they are simply upset that their playtime has been cut short. However, many parents now believe that “crying it out” breaks the bond that many parents have with their children, which leads me to the next suggestions.
2. Make sure that there is music playing in the background. Soft music, the falling rain, or some other soothing melody is often the best distracter for putting not only babies and children to sleep, but for adults as well. Some people have even been known to “Sh” their baby, in an effort to provide that soothing noise.
3. Laying comfortably on the ground next to a child in a crib provides the child with the reassurance that you are still in the room, but you are not forced to actually be holding them. This of often times a good stepping stone towards not having to have a great nap time fiasco to put the child to sleep. Once the child has dozed off, you simply stand up and exit the room, quietly. This has generally been considered to be one of the most successful methods of inducing nap time schedules onto young children, as they simply fear being left alone.
Nap time can be one of the most stressful times for a young child, especially if they are in the phase where they are being weaned from sleeping in your arms. Do not worry if this is the case for you and your child, as each child will cater to different methods of being put to sleep, it is simply a challenge to find the method that works best for you and your child.