Sleep schedule

srecupido

does anyone else follow a loose sleep schedule during the day? LO is pretty good at night but refuses to nap. I'm reading healthy sleep habits happy baby right now at the recommendation of our ped and know it's to early for anything rigid but I feel like I spend the majority of my time right now encouraging him to nap and trying to
avoid the seemingly daily overtired melt down. 

Eta- he will sleep instantly when he's being worn but im trying to work on his sleeping schedule in general and not have him/us solely rely on that for his sleep

ashton2190

I'm in literally the exact same boat. I try and get her to sleep 2 hours after she wakes up in the morning, but other than that it's a crapshoot 

bookishbaker

Same thing for me- LO is a really inconsistent napper. She'll fall asleep easily if she's in the car, stroller, or is being worn, but I'm hoping to get her better at settling in her crib before she starts daycare in a couple of weeks.

I do think that starting with a routine early in the day is key. I made the mistake early on of assuming she wouldn't need a nap until the afternoon and didn't necessarily push a morning nap, which resulted in an over-tired and fussy baby.

kinnonam

My LO nap schedule is somewhat fixed. He's up around 10:30 takes his first nap around 12 until 1-1:30 depending what I started doing around the house. Second nap is from 4-6ish, daddy comes home at 7:30 and likes baby to be up so they can play. We put him to bed around 9ish I wear him while we walk the dog at night and it typically gets him right to sleep and we just transfer him into the crib. I usually breastfeed him to sleep for naps and night time. If that doesn't work I turn some music on and rock him in a figure 8 motion that works!

willkc

My LO is an awful napper in that he will only nap for about 30 minutes most times, so we don't have a schedule per say, but I try to get him down for a catnap about 2 hours after he wakes up around 11:00, then again around 1:30 or 2, and then again around 5:30 or 6.  His catnaps aren't ideal, but I have read that he may grow out of it and that's what I'm hoping for. I'm trying to get him to nap by himself in his bed, but usually by 2:00 I am tired enough to just nap with him and can get a good 2 hour nap. I go back to work in a week though so that won't work for long

robinj716

My son doesn't have a normal nap schedule, he kind of just goes to sleep when he's tired. I put him to bed each night somewhere between 830-930 and he usually sleeps until 630, eats then goes back to sleep until maybe 8 or 830. Last night he was up at 5, ate and then slept until 945 this morning which was odd for him. He didn't really nap at all today except for a little bit in the car, but of course he's napping now at 6pm. I just kind of go with the flow, but I return to work Monday so hopefully it doesn't bite me in the butt! I need him to keep sleeping at night for sure! 

Ju111310

Maybe you're waiting too long to try to put LO down for a nap? DS2 is 12 weeks now and his maximum wake time is still 1.5 hours. 

We follow the Eat-Awake-Sleep routine. I say routine, not schedule because we don't go by the clock. The timing varies depending on what time we got up that morning and how long his naps last. We start the routine once we're out of bed for the day, between 7-8 am. He nurses, up for an hour - hour and half. Starts to fuss, I put him in crib for his morning nap. Turn on the baby shusher and he falls asleep. Morning varies from 45 mins to 2 hours. Wakes & repeat. Next nap is in the pack n play bc it interferes with DS1s nap and DS1 wakes easily so I don't like them to nap in the same room. Usually a total of 3 naps a day with one nap lasting 3-4 hours. Usually the afternoon nap is the long one. We start bedtime routine at 7/730 and in the cosleeper for night by 815. 

srecupido

@Ju111310 now that I'm paying attention I try to keep him under the 2hour wakefulness window and catch him early enough. Getting him to fall asleep seems to be an issue no matter what. I try to put him in the pack and play with the white nosie after a short nap routine but he won't have it. Did your LO always fall asleep on his on? 

BabySeaTurtles

I agree that 2 hours is too long. DD is almost 9 weeks and I keep her up for an hour. Around 12 weeks, it will most likely be about 1.5 hours as well. The tired to overtired window is way smaller than the extra 30 minutes. And the eat-wake-sleep cycle is very important. Also, babies at this age still are learning how to do everything, including transitioning to a deeper sleep while already sleeping. Their brains don't always know how to handle moving to a different sleep cycle so it "wakes" the baby up. DS would "wake up" after 45 minutes during every single nap for the first 3 months. I always waited at least 10 minutes before getting him because most of the time (when growth spurts weren't happening), it would just be him transitioning to a deeper sleep and not him actually waking up. Another possibility is overstimulation. DD always wakes up early if she has been overstimulated during the previous wake time. Maybe that will help you help him to take longer naps? Good luck!

Ju111310

@srecupido Yeah, my LO is just an easy to sleep baby. I don't think it's anything I've done really. Once he started having more distinct wake/sleep times I did make a point of putting him down while awake and trying not to hold him during naps....but really, I think I just got lucky. 

Like ^she said, sometimes my LO will also wake up 30-45 mins into a nap and grumble a bit then fall right back to sleep.

mrscammack

Laura88821 said:

Same thing for me- LO is a really inconsistent napper. She'll fall asleep easily if she's in the car, stroller, or is being worn, but I'm hoping to get her better at settling in her crib before she starts daycare in a couple of weeks.

I do think that starting with a routine early in the day is key. I made the mistake early on of assuming she wouldn't need a nap until the afternoon and didn't necessarily push a morning nap, which resulted in an over-tired and fussy baby.

This is the same with us - if we go out for the afternoon she sleeps the entire time in her stroller or car seat which is great because it usually means she goes 3-4 hours between feedings instead of 2 since she's out like a light. But trying to get her to nap at home is usually a nightmare. I know a lot of it is my fault and I need to start putting her down in her crib to nap instead of letting her sleep on me or in her swing during the day. I hope I can get her into some sort of routine so I can start to use nap time to get a few things done instead of cuddling her the whole time (which I love but it means getting nothing done and I'm sure I'm setting her up for sleep problems later on!)

Thank goodness she's a champ sleeping at night so that's something.

jordans_wife

I also follow the baby wise book. Eat/wake/sleep cycle is what I strive for. So baby eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs. I agree that that's too long for baby to be awake. After about an hr to hr and a half I put my son down. Drowsy but awake is the best thing ever once you get it down. I remember my friends always being amazed I could lay my kids down for a nap and just walk away instead of spending an hr in there trying to get them to sleep. The way it works is you lay them down, preferably in the same place every time once they are at a 7 or 8 on a sleepiness scale. I watch for yawning or fussiness. Then walk away. I swaddle with arms out for naps the same way I do for night. It might take some time and or crying for them to get used to it but once they do its a beautiful thing because they learn how to self soothe to sleep. This way they know where they are when they wake up because you layed them down still awake.

middy411

jordans_wife said:

I also follow the baby wise book. Eat/wake/sleep cycle is what I strive for. So baby eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs. I agree that that's too long for baby to be awake. After about an hr to hr and a half I put my son down. Drowsy but awake is the best thing ever once you get it down. I remember my friends always being amazed I could lay my kids down for a nap and just walk away instead of spending an hr in there trying to get them to sleep. The way it works is you lay them down, preferably in the same place every time once they are at a 7 or 8 on a sleepiness scale. I watch for yawning or fussiness. Then walk away. I swaddle with arms out for naps the same way I do for night. It might take some time and or crying for them to get used to it but once they do its a beautiful thing because they learn how to self soothe to sleep. This way they know where they are when they wake up because you layed them down still awake.

@jordans_wife I'm also following the BabyWise book sleep schedule. How long did it take your LO to learn to self soothe when you put her down drowsy? My DD does a lot of stirring and mild whining (sometimes crying) but it can take her so long to fall asleep that I feel like she's missing out on her full nap potential. If I feel like she really needs sleep I cheat and let her sleep on me or DH or in the swing. I want to be more strict but I'm not sure how long it will take her to learn how to soothe herself quickly so she gets good nap time. I know all babies are different but just curious how long before your LO would fall asleep easily. 

As I'm writing this, she fell asleep (about 8 minutes after I put her down) but I know she will start stirring again off and on for the next 20-30 minutes before falling into a deep, still sleep.

jordans_wife

@middy411 It took baby a while to learn. I started doing it very early on. I would swaddle then put a soft blanket over the top then rub his head and walk away. Sometimes I give him a binky if he's not happy. If he fusses again I go back in and put the binky in then walk away. I kinda dit that on repeat til eventually he just would go to sleep on his own. I didn't have him cio bc it really wasn't necessary. I just wouldn't pick him up which showed him it was bedtime and you're not leaving this crib til you sleep:) On occasion if he's just not having it I pick him up and rock him but 95% of the time it's not necessary anymore. I think the key is consistentcy. It was a gradual process but it eventually worked. I would do cio if I had too though but luckily it wasn't necessary.