Scheduled nap time?

hlz128

Has anyone began doing scheduled nap times? We have already established a good bedtime and nightly routine, but now I want to try and get LO set on a nap time. He likes to sleep most of the morning but come afternoon he's fighting sleep so much and so hard he's very fussy. What have you ladies done to get your LO to nap? Do you have a set time yet? What are your routines?

chein1

My LO is only ever awake an hour at a time before she shows signs she's tired. It all depends on what time she wakes up what time she'll want naps so we don't have a schedule, although her internal clock is pretty much the same everyday.

No matter what time naps, I get her wrapped in one of her fuzzy blankets, wubbanub, white noise, and rock in her room. Once she's almost asleep I lay her in the rock and play and she falls asleep to the sound of the white noise. I have done nothing special to get her to the drowsy but awake point, during the day she just has a preference to not be held that long before naps.

Eta: To add in routines

helsbels222

LO is only 6 weeks. She makes her own routine for now.

SJFTCA

I try to start naps at the same time every day, but he doesn't necessarily fall asleep and stay asleep for each "scheduled" nap. If he falls asleep on me, I usually try to put him in his Mamaroo to continue sleeping. Sometimes I put him in the Mamaroo when he's just drowsy and he will fall asleep. If I'm really trying to put him down for a nap, I wait for the yawning, and then swaddle, turn on white noise, and rock in his room. Then I put him in the crib. He's sleeping well in the crib at night, but he will usually only nap in the crib for a maximum of 45 mins. He actually typically doesn't nap much during the day, but the past two days, he has napped more (one two hour and three one hour naps). He's just over seven weeks.

gumby22c

helsbels222 said:

LO is only 6 weeks. She makes her own routine for now.

This, except mine LO is 9 weeks.

kmd91

My little dude is 2 months old today and I can't even fathom scheduled nap times yet. But more power to you if you're able to make it work. We have a solid 7-8 pm bedtime with a 6-8 hour stretch of sleep and I'll take that as my win for now. Naps just kinda happen whenever.

GoogleMD

I am at the mercy of my 2 month old. He basically sleeps whenever he wants, though I can usually count on a 2 to 3 hour nap at noon.

angelinthepit23

LO is 5 weeks and if I'm lucky I can get 15-20 min naps in the morning/afternoon here and there and then he takes a long nap around 3-4 pm then we start his bedtime routine around 6:30-7 pm with bedtime at 8 pm. Currently I am getting a 6-7 hr stretch at that time so I can't be too mad. If the Gods are smiling upon me he will take a long nap around noon and then again 5.

cdepperschmidt

Geez! Everyone on this post has a LO who naps for longer stretches than mine sleeps at night. You ladies are very lucky!

But I agree with earlier posts. I put my son down when I see his tired signals. Usually that's after about 90 minutes. If he has a two hour wake period he is a hot mess. My mom is all like he needs to get on a schedule, but for now a bed time routine that starts at 7:30 is all the schedule we need.

blesofsky

My LO is 6 weeks and EBF so we follow his schedule. It totally disrupts my day but he is so young and I can already see that he is getting into his own groove. My DH would like more of a schedule but we are doing baby steps. He sleeps pretty much all morning and I usually get one good 2 hour nap around 5 with lots of small 30-45 min naps in the afternoon and evening. Right now my goal is to get him sleeping more in the pack n play and less in my bed and peoples arms. I also will do a wrap if I really need to get something done and need him to sleep.

lindsayp916

However unpopular, I've been following babywise and my LO has been on a pretty consistent sleep schedule since 4-5 weeks (she is 9 weeks now). We wake at 8, she goes down 50-55 min later, sleeps until 11, down at noon, wakes at 2, down at 3:15, up at 5, down at 6pm- sleeps il 7:15, bath time at 7:30, bedtime routine and down at 8pm. She sleeps til around 330 and then is back up at 8am.

It took me a while watching my baby's sleep cues to figure out her optimal wake time. She doesn't need as much wake time in the morning and those naps are longer, and I find more important. If there's an interruption, afternoon is more flexible bc I've learned she can handle longer wake times before she gets fussy. We've been consistent tho so even if we are out she will nap on schedule.

Many will tell you schedules aren't ideal until 3 months but we've had great success- baby is happy, sleeps great, and I have a good idea of how my day will go so I'm free to schedule things during her naps. Im aware her sleep habits may change as she gets older but so far, I'm very happy with her schedule!