Is she too young to have scheduled naps?

s-a-r-a-h

H catnaps between 2-4 hours each day, usually for no more than an hour or hour-and-a-half at a time and usually in random places (on the couch or bed, in the swing, etc.). However, she's always super cranky on the days she only gets a couple of hours of sleep during the day. So, I'm wondering...

-Is she too young to start having regular naps?

-If not, how should we ease her into scheduled naps? She wakes up around 5:30 and typically goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 at night.

-How many solid naps should she have each day and what times should we shoot for?

-How long should her naps be? She typically gets 9-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night (usually more on weekends).

-We swaddle her at night so I'm wondering if FIL should swaddle her during the day, too? I'm also assuming he should try and put her down in the same place (probably the PNP) each time so she'll start to associate that place with nap time?

Sorry for all the questions but I would appreciate any guidance y'all can offer on the subject. Thanks!

rssnlvr

Definitely not too young. We loosely followed the BabyWise philosophy and Ali has been on a really predictable schedule/routine since she was about a month old. As long as you are flexible enough to go with the flow on the days that the schedule goes to crap, you should be fine.

I would start by sketching out what you think her schedule should be like. At that age, I think "they" say that babies are typically awake for roughly 1.5-2 hours between naps. So figure out when her waking time is, when she eats, when her nap times are, etc. Then, to get her on the schedule, just start doing it. When it is approaching naptime, we always start with what we call "cool down" time...we stop playing loud, energetic, fun stuff and we start reading books or walking around the house talking about what we see in low voices. Basically anything to get baby calmed down. It will also help to establish a firm sleep routine that you can use for both naps and nighttime--it will signal to her that it's time to sleep. So after cool down for about 15 minutes, we start the sleep routine and then put her down for the nap.

We swaddled for naps until we ditched the swaddle at about 4.5 months.

As for nap length, it's a crap shoot and totally dependent on your child. Sometimes it'll be 30 minutes. Sometimes it'll be 2 hours. The books say 1-1.5 hours at that age, but Ali didn't nap that long until recently (and she still only naps about 30 minutes at a time at daycare). 

good luck!! It made a WORLD of difference for me when she was on a predictable schedule--made our days easier to plan, made it easier to get her down for naps, etc.

libbyann

We didn't get on scheduled naps until ~9 months. He probably could have been forced into it before then, but at 9 months he started needing a nap at 9 and another nap at 2. Until then, I followed his cues and put him down at the first sign of him being sleepy.

userdeleted

I would say she's definitely not too young for you to start trying to set up a routine. In fact, it's probably good to start introducing it now, and may make things much easier for you both in the long run! Just make sure that you are flexible, and know that it can sometimes be quite awhile before they really are totally predictable. Just depends on the kid.

With Leo, we went with the awake for x amount of time and then down for a nap, or down at the first signs of sleepiness (usually eye rubbing) - whichever came first. Things would usually be easiest for the first two naps, then the afternoons were more of a crapshoot . I would say when he  dropped his third nap, which was kind of late - around 10 months - things started settling into a very consistent schedule.

Charlie has been much more flexible in his need for daytime sleep (thank goodness or we'd never get out of the house). I try to go by the clock with his naps, so that I can time the afternoon nap to coincide with Leo's. I usually put him down at 9, around 12, and then I try to get a third nap in but that one varies. He goes to bed between 7 and 8p and wakes up at about 7a (with at least two wakings in between). 

So, basically, I would follow her cues to come up with a good flexible routine that you can attempt to implement. As time goes on it will get easier, so just don't get frustrated or discouraged if it doesn't all work out perfectly right away

eta: Oh, and I have found that it really really helps to have a consistent nap routine, and to always put them down in the same place for any given nap. So for Leo that meant that every nap was in his crib, and he would get to watch his little light/music toy as he fell asleep. For Charlie, I swaddle him and give him a paci, his morning nap is in his crib but his afternoon naps are in the swing.

The point is just that you are really dedicating that time to a nap, and not just having her randomly fall asleep wherever she happens to be, ykwim? I know that it's easier for me that way, and both of my kids have responded really well to it

ebat

My LO is a little younger and we definitely have a routine.  She doesn't really fall asleep in random places though.  She's either swaddled in her crib,  being held a certain way or in the car for naps.  Our day goes like this

Wake up whenever(usually around 8),  eat immediately and cat nap a little on the boob, stay awake for 1 hour after finished feeding.  Nap around 30-45 minutes.  Wake for another hour 15 to hour 30 then take another nap for either 1 hour or 2 1/2.  If it's 1 hour then the 3rd nap will be the long one.  In the evenings she'll either have a short nap  ending about an hour and a half before bed or some quiet time in her swing with the paci around then.  

 

Like rssn we gear her up for her nap with a little quiet time(or soft music)