This is why I love Facebook …

This was my Facebook status yesterday afternoon:

Kristin Hill Taylor wonders why Ben doesn’t nap well in his crib, a place he sleeps well for seven to nine hours nightly.

Then the discussion began …

Courtney Kindle French: Both of my kids did the same thing. So they started taking naps on my bed where the slept much better, and at night slept in their crib. Weird.

Leanne Clark Trumper: Anna is the same. She naps in the nursing pillow on the bed.

Kristin Hill Taylor: Courtney, did you have a hard time getting them to transition back to their beds for naps when they got older?

Courtney Kindle French: No, I guess because they switched to a “big” bed so early, that it really wasn’t a big deal. Actually a few times they would lay on a pallet (sp?) in the floor at nap time. Weird, I know! 🙂

Kristin Hill Taylor: Well, you girls inspired me to try. He’s currently laying on the guest bed. And because of the guys working, Cate’s in my bed. I feel like it’s musical beds today. 🙂

I just remember with Cate, there was a brief phase of when she needed to be in a crib because she’d play around and roll around and not be able to really sleep on a bed that wasn’t enclosed.

When did your kids switch to a big bed, Courtney?

Angela Taylor: All of my kids have done the same thing. For some reason they napped better on my bed (surrounded by pillows) and then they happily slept throughout the night in their own beds. As we speak (or type) Evelyn is napping in my bed. Come bedtime, she’ll be in her crib. Weird, but whatever works! Oh, the contractor dude came out today and he might be able to start on closing in our garage on MONDAY!!!! WooHoo!

Courtney Kindle French: Noah was a little over a year…maybe 14-15 mos? Emma was about 18 mos. Pretty early, but they slept SO much better in a big bed than in the crib.

Yes, it was tricky when they started crawling, but I put a monitor in my bedroom and the big pillows (king size pillows) around them when they were those ages.

Courtney Kindle French: And, I know, sometimes it seemed like musical beds…sometimes Noah would be asleep on my bed and Emma on his bed…but whatever…I was just happy it worked for them to get a good nap!!!

Kristin Hill Taylor: Part of me agrees with “do what works,” but I also think that’s how hard-to-break habits are formed. I’m torn with how to handle it, but we’re seeing how this guest bed thing works for him this afternoon. I’m thankful he sleeps through the night in his crib. Those of you who know me, know I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂

And has he gets older, he’s more likely to take longer naps anyway, but he sleeps so much longer in his swing than his crib. And he doesn’t even take that many naps in his swing. Cate switched to a big bed when she was a couple months shy of 2. And really that was just a toddler bed that had been her crib. She didn’t move to an actual big bed until we moved in here Oct. 31. So she was 2 1/2.

Angela – That’s exciting about your garage. I’m glad you all are able to move forward with that project.

Angela Taylor: Hey, a good thing to remember with kiddos is that “whatever works” usually doesn’t work for long and “habits” change quickly too. That’s why I was willing to change things as needed or try different stuff. As soon as we got into a routine, they would hit a growth spurt, start teething, we moved, or whatever. So, I just tried to do the best I could. I know that you are too. You know your family best and what’s best for them. It’ll be OK. As Mrs. Reinhardt says (and I’m paraphrasing), our kids will turn out fine despite our parenting skills.

Courtney Kindle French: Yeah, well I know our sleeping habit ideas are a little different, so you just have to do what you’re comfortable with. I personally didn’t like for the kids to sleep in their swing for some reason, so we started trying my bed and it worked okay. And amazingly enough, they slept okay in their crib until they got around a year old or somewhere close to that. Anyway, I hope you get it figured out! I’m sure you will. 🙂

Kristin Hill Taylor: Oh, I agree, Angela. I think I’m just a little obsessive about sleep and training kids to sleep. 🙂 So, needless to say, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to best foster good sleep habits. Ben has definitely been the child that has kept me on my toes … rashes, teething early, prompting me to take the pacifier away after three weeks of using it, spitting up …

Kristin Hill Taylor: I usually don’t let Ben take more than one nap a day in his swing. And usually that’s his early morning nap while I’m showering and getting Cate ready for the day.

Angela Taylor: How’s his puking? Has he been improving? I know we talked about his formula stuff and that the meds they gave you didn’t help. But, has anything helped? I know it’s had to have been such a frustrating thing to deal with.

Angela Taylor: Evelyn would only nap in her swing when she was first born. I guess it felt more like floating in my womb or something (or maybe she just liked it). I don’t remember how we got her in a bed instead. Somedays, the swing was the only way I got a shower!

Kristin Hill Taylor: The formula has helped compared to the regular formula. The spitting up had eased up some, and now lately it seems to be increasing again. The medicine (Zantac) seemed to make him irritable and didn’t really stop him from spitting up. So, some days are better than others. More than anything, I just have learned to carry extra outfits and do his wash more than once a week. 🙂

Kristin Hill Taylor: The swing is a must-have baby accessory in my world. 🙂 Both Cate and Ben have LOVED it.

Courtney Kindle French: I’m not criticizing YOU about the swing, I just personally didn’t like them sleeping in it 🙂 Sometimes they slept in the bouncy seat in the morning…I would put it right by the bathroom so they would be close to me…especially Emma when I couldn’t guarantee that Noah would not touch her while I was showering. 🙂

Kristin Hill Taylor: Oh, I didn’t think you were criticizing me. I was just saying, I’m obsessive about sleep, but I can’t just throw him in the swing either. 🙂 I am thankful Cate and I have built up trust with the showering routine. I was thinking this morning, I have showered EVERY MORNING since Ben has been born. [Yes, I wondered if that would happen …]

Angela Taylor: I’m ashamed to say that I have not showered everyday since Evelyn was born. Yes, I am a gross person! LOL!

Kristin Hill Taylor: I don’t think it’s gross. Like I said, I had my doubts it would happen here. 🙂

Courtney Kindle Frenchh: Angela: No, you’re not gross!! You’re just BUSY!!

Yes, it’s good to build up the trust with the showering thing! I’m glad Cate is so good about that. I also think it’s different when the oldest is a boy, too. Noah wanted to touch, squeeze, whatever CONSTANTLY to Emma. I felt like she was attached to me for the first several months! So the bouncy seat was out, unless it was near me…the swing was out, because he kept wanting to push it if I wasn’t around, the crib was even out, because he would climb in it with her if I wasn’t around. Needless to say it was a little crazy around here for awhile!

Kristin Hill Taylor: I have thanked God many, many times for Cate and the way she treats Ben. It helps that she thrives on routine, so we pretty much do the same things every morning.

Courtney Kindle French: Noah had such a hard time adjusting…even with routine, or whatever we tried. It was really hard for awhile. I didn’t even go to Wal-mart with both of them until Emma was around 4-5 months old! I’m thankful that we finally got past that…some days I didn’t know if we would make it or not!

Kristin Hill Taylor: Proof that every kid is indeed, different. I’m surprised in some ways how well Cate has done. She notices when I move something in the kitchen to a different place or anything like that. And she usually wants it back to where it “belongs.” Now, it might be a whole ‘nother story when Ben is crawling around wanting to play with her toys. 🙂

Audrey Grey Denney: Neither of my kids napped well in the crib as babies, and the both slept 7-8 hrs a night at 5 and 6 wks old. About drove me insane with Annika but with Asher I have relaxed and am just happy for him to nap wherever that may be. We actually don’t have a swing either. Babies just seem so much more wakeful during the day but once Annika went down to one nap a day she started napping like a champ, even in her crib.

Kristin Hill Taylor: Good to hear, Audrey! Having a second baby has taught me how spoiled I was with Cate being such an easy, by-the-book baby. But, hey, life would be boring if it was all scripted like we expected.

Alyssa Brown: Phew! Well upon reading all that, I wanted to tell Kristin that Emaline mostly stopped spitting up around 4 months! So hopefully Ben only has a couple weeks to go. AND Emaline is the opposite, she’s good about napping in her crib during the day but has never slept in it at night. She’s always seemed sensitive to it being nightime…

Angela Collins: After all that, I thank God my kids are grown. I will tell you this, Kristin, all three of my kids were toilet-trained, slept all night and had given up their pacifiers by the time they went off to college. . . so stop worrying!

Kristin Hill Taylor: Well, Angela, it isn’t a worry as much as trying to figure out how I can get some down time in the afternoon while not messing up his sleeping through the night! 🙂 And, thanks for the encouragement, Alyssa. I would love for him to stop spitting up, but I can live with it, especially if he is sleeping …

JacknMisty Lindsey: hey girl. wow lots of info. i didn’t read it all but wanted to mention something. we have also moved our kids around..whatever to get them to sleep better. …especially since they’ve all had reflux & trouble sleeping. glad he is sleeping through the night already. THAT’S AMAZING!! & such a blessing. Praise GOD!! we have let our kiddos nap … See Morein different places…but one time at a friends house…when sophia was about 3 mths, we put her on our friends bed…surrounded by pillows. Somehow she pushed herself UNDER the pillow. When we found her she was SCREAMING & so hot. She was fine…but we were really scared. …definitely don’t want to scare you…but just wanted to pass that on. we didn’t think she could scoot herself…but she probably could have scooted off the bed. maybe put him in a positioner in the bed or something. love ya!! 🙂 Misty

Kristin Hill Taylor: You know, I love this. I love talking about this and hearing people’s experiences. I wasn’t really expecting all this dialogue, but I will take it. And to think I was just airing my wish for a longer afternoon nap. 🙂

Feel free to continue with the comments here. As moms, we definitely have ideas of how we want to do things. And we think what we are doing is right (or at least working …) or we wouldn’t be doing it. But, you never know, someone might just say something that fits with your philosophy or seems to be a good idea.