How do you establish a "schedule" with LO#2?

djandkellen

How do you get a healthy nap/sleep "schedule" going (around 3 mos or so) when you have a 21 month old running around and needing to "do" stuff with him/her?

Just curious.  TIA!  

HappyTXChick

A schedule just emerges, you really can't force it.  By 3 mos DD was in a pretty good night time sleep pattern (waking 1x to eat) and then still napping off and on all day.  By 6 mos DD was sleeping 12 hours at night, and then taking two distinct naps.  The nap schedule really emerged close to 6 months.  But even at 3 months, even though it was not a set number of distinct naps, I still knew I had 1.5 hours (or whatever) after she woke until she would need need to fall asleep again.  And she slept great in her carrier those first few months so it made getting out easy.  Now its actually harder b/c she needs to nap in her crib those 2x per day.  BUt I did manage to line up DD's second nap with DS's nap so they are both down at the same time.  That just sortof happened too.  And if one of them is "off" a little I try to hold the other off so that they line up. 

Hope some of this rambling helps

eaglesfan700

I just let her settle into her own routine.  Based on that I figured out the best times to go out and do errands or go places.

For us, it is between 11 and 1.  She wakes up from her morning nap around 10:30 - I nurse her and change her and she's good for a couple hours.  Around 1 is when she takes her longer afternoon nap and DS naps around 2

emas

I actually had the 2nd on a schedule at about 3 weeks  -WAY earlier than w/my daughter.  It really was easier b/c I could plan her outings around when he eats (I don't care to bf in public, and besides, I can't keep an eye on her while she's running around if I am sitting feeding him!).  Then he just has to nap on the go, at times.