Nap Nanny Weaning

Before William was born we were gifted with a Nap Nanny and it quickly became one of our favorite infant items.  Matt remembered to pull it out of the closet when he was 4 days old and we never ever forgot about it again.  It has spent time on the floor in every room of our house.  We traveled by car with it in the trunk and packed it in a suitcase for the airplane.  Daytime naps and nighttime sleep, we used it every time. Until today.  I have been so nervous and hesitant to wean him from this foam baby recliner, but as he is wanting to sit up and getting closer to rolling over, it's time.  I searched the web for encouragement and an easy answer to my desperate question, "how do I do it??" But no one provided it.  All I found was dozens of mom's saying, "how do I do it??"  I guess once they figured it out those mom's moved on to other things to worry about.  Like I will tomorrow.  So today I'm taking a moment to share the magic answer that may come up in future frantic mothers' web searches... just do it!  Our process went like this:

This morning after his nap I took the chair out of the crib.  That's pretty much it :)

When we returned to the nursery for his afternoon nap I had forgotten about my plan until I saw the empty crib.  This simple move was key for me.  The recliner was already gone so I figured I may as well let William give this sleeping flat thing a try.  I didn't elevate the mattress, but did roll a blanket up in a U-shape to cocoon his body a little.  And I laid him down close to the edge to foster a more cozy atmosphere.  That's it.  I could tell he was a little thrown off, but he didn't put up a fight.  It took him a little while to fall asleep (typical) and he has woken off and on, sometimes putting himself back to sleep.  It'll take a couple days to adjust I'm sure. We have a video monitor that I watched like a hawk.  I was/am especially nervous about this transition regarding his reflux/spitup issues.  Seeing him choke on spitup and sometimes having it come out his nose over the past 4.5 months has stuck with me.  But he's older and all that is much better.

I figured it wouldn't be a huge traumatic deal or anything, but now that we have a baby who sleeps well I didn't want to alter anything that would risk changing that.  But it had to be done sooner than later.  Sooo... if you're working up the nerve to wean your baby from their cozy Nap Nanny... just do it!!  It will not hurt to try.   Just lay your baby down flat in the crib and go from there.  Maybe he/she will still need an incline in the mattress, maybe not.  You won't know until you try.  I hope this helps encourage someone out there.  Please let me know how your transition went and if I can offer you any more encouragement.  Lord knows we all need it.

Now the question is to go cold turkey, or let him sleep in it tonight...

First day home, three days old.

UPDATE 9-2-12: I went cold turkey that night.  And every nap and night since.  It's been five days.  No more Nap Nanny!  His sleep was disrupted a wee bit, but not bad.  Not bad at all.  I've noticed he smells like spitup more often when I get him out of bed now (with NN, that became rare during sleep) but there have been no setbacks.  (Well, his "lovey" ends up on his face more often now. Perhaps because there is no incline to help it fall elsewhere.)  Tonight he's sleeping without the "blanket roll."  Baby Boy really has adapted well.  I'm glad we're past this minor change.  I definitely dramatized it in my head.

PS: Despite my weaning anxieties I would still recommend this product in a heartbeat!

First nap without the Nap Nanny, almost five months old.