Neep help w/ Naps! And a swaddeling question...

lincoln64

Is it too early to start a nap time schedule for a 3 month old?  If not, any pointers out there?  My son only seems to sleep during the day if he's in a swing, stroller or in the car.

Also, any tips on weaning him off of swaddeling?  He sleeps great at night, but only if he is swaddeled.  He then breaks out of the swaddle around 4am and wakes himself up.  Then it's a game of me getting up every 1/2 hour to re-swaddle him.

TIA!

jl_nc

we are using a swaddle blanket, and DD cant break out of it and sleeps like a log...we are planning on swaddling her as long as she wants to be...her arms are her worst enemy at this point

amwest

We broke him of the swaddle by leaving one arm out, then both, then eventually no swaddle.  It was a rough phase and he woke up a lot at first when we took the swaddle off completely, but it eventually worked.

KatieRL1979

It's not really a schedule per se as more of a watching for when DD is tired.  Rule of thumb is that they shouldn't be awake more than 2 hours without a nap, so we start the nap routine after about 1.5 hours.  If she's due for a feeding she gets bottle, diaper change, blankie and rock in a nice dark room.  Once she's nearly there we put her down.

Consistancy is key!  Not keeping them awake too long is also really important.  If they're over-tired it's harder to fall asleep and stay that way.

We swaddled for everything up until recently - as in this weekend - and DD is just turning 4 months old.  Chances are if your LO is getting up at 4am he probably needs something anyway, not just b/c he's out of the swaddle.  We waited until DD was establishing a more regular napping schedule on her own and was doing it well before trying to go without a swaddle.

hrhmary

I just started reading Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child and am trying to let DS give me cues as to when he needs to nap during the day.  I'm going to keep a sleep log and see if there's a schedule we can use based on that.  He also refuses to nap anywhere but in his bouncy chair.  Every now and then I'll put him down in his crib, but he always wakes up within an hour.  I think the chair coccoons (sp?) him and helps him to sleep better.  It definitely keeps his arms from waving around.  I'd rather have him nap better and longer than fight to get him to nap in his crib.  I will just deal with moving him when he outgrows the chair, or let the daycare teachers figure it out when I go back to work at the end of August.  It's not like it's hurting him to let him sleep there.

We swaddle at night also - have used the Miracle Blanket since he was first born b/c he could get his arms out of everything else.  He just recently started getting out of this and it's killing us both, sleep wise!  I've started letting him keep one arm out when I wrap him up at bedtime.  It seems to cut down on him struggling to free himself during the night.  When he wants to get up in the morning, though, he always manages to get the other arm out.  The flailing around wakes us both up.  It sucks, but I'm not sure how to deal with this.  I'm not sure there is a fix - he probably just has to get used to having his arms out.  The flailing should stop as he gets older, right?

sunnyday016

We still swaddle for nite and nap times, and I really have no intention of stopping anytime soon. She sleeps so well in it and I only occasionally find her broken out of it in the mornings.