Nap Training at 14.5 Months

I am either a glutton for punishment or I really just wanted to cherish Penny's baby nap stage.  She has literally been taking naps on me everyday for her whole life.  There were some brief periods when she was little where I could get her to sleep in the rock n play or pack n play, or even on my bed occasionally (before she could stand up and run off the edge).  Now, she is just too old to be held for every nap.  Not only that, but now that she's a pretty demanding toddler, I find that I really need the break to get a few things done!

So, since we had already sleep trained at night, I knew that she could sleep in her crib successfully.  Plus, I have been applying for jobs for the fall, and I don't want her to be going off to daycare for the first time not knowing how to nap.  So, starting as soon as our house guests were gone and we were back in our normal routine, I gave it a try.

It has been a week now and I consider it a success.  She now takes two short naps a day (about 45 minutes or 1 sleep cycle) and does have to cry a little to get herself to sleep.  We do the same thing that we do at night.  I take her into her room, turn on her ocean wonder projector, nurse, and sometimes read a book if she asks for it.  Then, I kiss her and tell her it's time to lay down and take a nap now.  She doesn't like this, and does cry, but only for about 5 or so minutes and then she is asleep all on her own.  She has been teething pretty hard, so we did have a day or two where she just would not go to sleep, so I went and got her and we played and tried again the next day.

I am relieved that she is sleeping in her crib now.  I am also feeling some sadness as her napping on me was really one of the last of the baby type things that she still does.  Once she weans, I know that she will really be my big girl and much less my little baby.