Naps: watch the clock or watch the baby?

mbtortor

For your baby's naps do you just go by the clock?  Like nap time is at 9, so lets go.  Or nap time is 2 hrs after you woke up so lets go.  OR do you go by how your baby is acting?  So regardless of the timing, you put her down when she is showing signs of being tired. 

I feel like I should be cool with this already, but naps have always been my obsession as well as my downfall.  ~TIA!

Erika6504

I watch the baby.  DD has a cold and so she's been more tired than usual.  Generally she'll go 3 to 3 1/2 hours between her morning and afternoon naps.  Yesterday it was a struggle for her to go 2 hours between naps.

soontobecapek

I put him down whenever he seems tired.... We don't really have a set schedule even though he almost ALWAYS takes a nap at 9:30 am

StageDva

I know I should watch the baby, but I usually watch the clock (unless she gets crazy tired and freaks out.) 

In the morning she wakes up at 6:30 and could totally go back to bed at 8am, but I try to keep her up until 9.

Afternoon is a little different though.  I watch her a little better.  She usually goes down anywhere form 1:30 to 2pm depending on how tired she is.

babydubs5

I watch the clock because I want him to be down before he gets too tired.  Otherwise, it's not a good nap.  He goes straight to sleep when I put him down. 

If he's acting tired before nap time, I follow his cues and put him down for a nap.  

 

mrsmikey

I watch the baby.  But at daycare they have a scheduled naptime where they lay them down and turn the lights off regardless.  They will let him nap at other times too if they need it.  So he has started taking his nap at naptime now.  I don't do that at home, but he pretty much wants his nap at that time anyway. 

greta&tess

I do both.  I try to do 9am and 1pm for naps with my 10 month old but I adjust a little depending on how she is acting.  I may put her down earlier if she woke up early in the morning or from her morning nap.  And if she takes a short afternoon nap, I may try a 3rd nap if she is acting really tired.

For my 2.5 year old, I watch the clock.  1pm is naptime.

tripletmom

more watch the clock. I have 3 so it is sort of like day care, i need them to be on close to the same schedule

marriedchick06

Baby. For the most part she is usually ready for a nap right after lunch, but like yesterday she was a cranky around 11ish so she went down early.

tiffanysbride

Both. DS's nap is at 11, it is usually 2 hours. If he is really tired or woke up early (like today) he goes down before 11, I don't want him to get over tired just to meet the clock time. Same principle if I put him down after 11, its a short nap and he gets really cranky at 4 and wants to go to bed too early. If he isn't ready he'll take to himself for 15-20 mins and then go to bed.

melsie

i try to watch her, but the clock at the same time to pick up on the first hint of sleepy cues. she's very subtle about her cues and if you miss them you'll end up with a tantrum and an over-tired baby...

but usually we shoot for breakfast at around 9 then down for a nap at 9:30 or 10. If she's fussy or clingy before 9 we'll go up earlier, and if she's just not tired after breakfast we'll go read books in her room till she gets a little tired then put her down. 

so like i said, we use the clock to guide us (somewhere around 9 she'll want breakfast, and somewhere after that she'll want a nap) and her cues to help determine the best time. 

IAM4UK

I watch her cues. She will start to rub her eyes and yawn. It typically happens within an hour of her typical nap time. Sometimes, she will go down at 9:30am and other times she will go down at 10:30am.

momofolivia

we watch the baby.  the moment she rubs her eyes, we bring her into her room.  Naps are hard right now - she doesn't like sleeping, so it can take like an hour to get her to sleep.