Swing Sleep and Motion Sleep

Swing Sleep & Motion Sleep

Clarification: A baby rocking asleep in a swing at home in a dark and quiet room probably has more restorative daytime sleep than a baby sleeping in your arms or stroller in a light and noisy mall. Both are sleep in motion but I suspect that those babies who are able to sleep in a light and noisy environment are more likely to be babies who are somewhat sleep deprived in general due to late bedtimes, fragmented night sleep, or naps that are sometimes not synchronized with biological periods of daytime drowsiness. It is also possible that the naps in light and noisy environments are themselves less restorative because of lighter sleep or shorter duration. So when I encourage stationary sleep in the crib or bed over sleep in motion, I am thinking more about discouraging sleeping outside than swings at home. I believe that thinking about naps at home helps organize parents' plans about sleep in general: teaching self-soothing, early bedtimes, consolidated night sleep, and naps is synch with biological rhythms.

Question: How long do I use a swing to get good naps?

Answers: Why was the swing used in the first place?

A. Habit. "My child is well rested without sleep problems and he can be put in the swing and crib at night drowsy but awake but I just got in the habit of using a swing for naps." He is well rested and has self-soothing skills.

If he is under 4 months of age." Experiment with first turning off the swing after he is in a deep sleep for his nap and if he continues to sleep, after a week or two, transition him to a crib for naps. If this involves some low level crying for several minutes in the crib for the naps, consider sticking with the plan for 4-5 days to see if the crying decreases and naps increase before going back to the swing. During this transition from swing to crib, an earlier bedtime might be needed. Also, if your child is younger than 3-4 months, shorter intervals of wakefulness might be needed during this transition.

At any age, when you stop the swing, if he cries or awakens immediately, he probably was not in a deep sleep so allow him to sleep a little longer while swinging before you turn off the swing. If this still occurs after a longer duration of swinging, consider the possibility that he needs an earlier bedtime or a shorter interval of wakefulness between naps.

If your child is 4 months or older, similarly, experiment with turning off the swing after he is in a deep sleep for his nap and if he continues to sleep, after a week or two, transition him to a crib for nap attempt. If this involves some crying for up to one hour for the naps in the crib stick with the plan for 1-2 weeks and time the naps in the crib at his best mid-morning and mid-day nap time independent of intervals of wakefulness because biological nap rhythms are developing. If you are not successful, go back to using the swing to restore any accumulated sleep debt and try again with an earlier bedtime in place and shorter intervals of wakefulness before the nap attempts. Naps lengthen between 4-6 months of age so it is possible that when you make the transition from swing to crib, you may wind up with shorter total nap duration and the bedtime now has to be earlier. This earlier bedtime might be temporary as the naps lengthen between 4-6 months of age.

If your child is 6 months of age or older, first experiment with turning off the swing after he is in a deep sleep for his nap and if he continues to sleep, after a week or two, transition him to a crib for nap attempt. If this involves some crying for up to one hour in the crib for the naps stick with the plan and do not look back. Initially, you may wind up with shorter total nap duration and the bedtime now has to be earlier. This earlier bedtime might be temporary or permanent.

B. Only way to get a nap. "I use the swing because my child has difficulty falling asleep unassisted. I soothe him to a drowsy but awake state but when I attempt to put him down in his crib, he either cries or fusses loudly then or shortly thereafter. I discovered that the only way to get naps was to use the swing. Usually he has to be in a deep sleep before I can put him down in the swing." He might not be well rested and does not have self-soothing skills.

If your child is under 6 weeks of age, practice putting your baby down in the crib drowsy but awake after only one hour of wakefulness in the morning and maybe accept some low level crying for several minutes in the crib, focus on brief intervals of wakefulness, a dark and quiet room, get Dad on board, and use the swing for sleep at all other times. You are allowing your baby to begin to learn some self-soothing for the morning "nap."

If your child is 6 weeks of age or older, continue to do the above but now include a focus on an early enough bedtime to avoid a fussy period near the end of the day. Consider allowing your baby to learn some self soothing at bedtime by putting him down drowsy but awake and allow several minutes of low level crying.

If your baby is 4 months of age or older, continue to do the above but now include a focus on best times for a mid-morning and a mid-day nap.

Whenever you think your baby has acquired more self-soothing skills, then experiment with first turning off the swing after he is in a deep sleep for his nap and if he continues to sleep, after a week or two, transition him to a crib for naps.

At any age, when you stop the swing, if he cries or awakens immediately, he probably was not in a deep sleep so allow him to sleep a little longer while swinging before you turn off the swing. If this still occurs after a longer duration of swinging, consider the possibility that he needs an earlier bedtime or a shorter interval of wakefulness between naps.

Acquiring self-soothing skills is a prerequisite for success in transitioning from swing to crib. But this acquisition of self-soothing skills might not be an all or none event and there might be a messy month during which he gets better at self-soothing and accepts the crib without protest. The failure to develop self-soothing skills usually occurs when the bedtime is too late, there is fragmented sleep, or naps are not in synch with biological nap rhythms.

Tip: At any age, it might be a good idea to use the swing for a longer period of time, for example, a month or so to help repay a major sleep debt or help a colic or post-colic child first learn self-soothing at night onset, or in the middle of the night, or for the first morning nap (either after one hour of wakefulness in children under 3-4 months or at the best mid-morning nap time for older children) before attempting to transitioning to a crib. Accept that this entire process will involve some trial and error and there will be a trend towards success punctuated with frustrating setbacks. But if you stick to the age appropriate plan and consider all sleep elements (bedtime, consolidated night sleep, and timing of naps) you will succeed.

C. Other Children or Twins: "With other children, I had to use the swing because I was unable to do as much soothing as my baby needed." Make a judgment call whether your child is well rested and proceed with A. above or maybe not well rested and proceed with B. above.

Marc

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