Crib Hour

When my oldest was 6 months and we made the mistake of going down the sleep training rabbit hole, the sleep trainer we worked with told us that the only way we would ever get “good naps” was to do something called crib hour, which went something like this:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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• Do nap routine, put baby in crib, walk away⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
• Set a timer for 60 minutes⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
• Retrieve baby from crib at the end of the timer⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
• If baby did not nap, wait 30 minutes, and begin again⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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  I probably don’t have to tell you, but this was actual TORTURE. I was literally chained to the house, unable to leave because my entire day revolved around attempting to get a screaming, anxious baby to separate from me, and regardless of how she reacted, I was to walk away and come back an hour later. If she woke after 40 minutes, I was to leave her until 60 minutes were up. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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  It was cruel. I regret every. freaking. second. of it. And the worst part? It was all for nothing. It didn’t work to get better naps, but it did create an incredible amount of stress and anxiety for both of us. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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  Moral of the story? Your baby is not a rotisserie chicken where you can just “set it and forget it”. They are human. They have needs. They are not a robot who will perform in the exact manner you prescribe, when you decide they should. And, forcing them to nap under certain conditions will NEVER result in “good naps” unless they are biologically ready for longer stretches of daytime sleep. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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  Let’s take the stress and the BS out of naps. Let’s follow our babies leads, and know that if they wake happy, that was the right amount of sleep for them. And if they wake tired or upset, and you’re not sure what to do next, I can help 💕