Naps, time btwn them and bedtime???

sarbieb

On the weekends we put LO down after she's been awake for about 2.5 hours and it works perfect. At daycare she goes down from about 9-10am then 1:30-2:30pm. Then DH gets her at 3pm and she refuses to nap until she goes to bed at 6:30-7pm. Since I work till 5pm, I'd prefer she nap before I come home and stay up till 8 or so rather than be super fussy and fighting sleep during my time with her. But she won't nap, she just screams and fights it. I kinda feel like they're keeping her up too long in btwn naps at DC? If she wakes up at 10am she should go back down around 12:30-1:30pm, then she'd be ready for a nap around 4pm, therefore more happy at night and ready for bed by 8pm rather than 6:30pm. I just feel jipped of my time with her. Bedtime's been slowly creeping earlier and earlier and every minute is one less I have to enjoy her awake!

 What's your LO's time in btwn naps? How many do they take in a day? What time is bedtime?

sarbieb

Silly me!! Just saw the post about naps from yesterday! EXACTLY what I needed! Please feel free to add more comments if you have more to contribute!

LynsiBHM

P's schedule has been completely thrown off since he hit 6 mos. I think it was the 6m shots, but of course "that shouldn't happen." Whatever.

Anyway, I stopped caring about naps. It was causing so much stress for both of us trying to keep him to a schedule. Now I just wait for him to get tired (rub his eyes or get really fussy) and I put him down. Sometimes he sleeps for 20 mins, sometimes 2 hrs. Sometimes there's 2 hrs between naps, sometimes 5 hrs. He goes down much easier and wakes up happy 99% of the time. He is always ready for bed between 7-8 regardless of how he napped during the day, so we do keep the bedtime routine pretty consistant.

I actually just decided this week to write down his "schedule" so I can try to get back to some sort of normalcy. He wakes up at 7, and has been napping around 10am. If that's a long nap, he only takes one more afternoon nap (around 3ish) but if the morning nap is short, he may nap again at 1 or 2 and again at 4 or 5.  I am a SAHM, so I can work around his schedule. Not sure if your DC could do this or if they are more strict about the times? You could try asking them to make the 2nd nap a bit earlier and see how it goes...

sarbieb

Thanks! I just called DC and asked that they put her down earlier and we'll see that goes tonight!

LynsiBHM

GL!  I know how you feel about getting jipped at the end of the day. I went back to work after maternity and my mom had P. He didn't nap for her, so as soon as I picked him up he'd pass out for the night   If I kept him up, he was a monster so we had no quality time at all.

dsmithplus2

We don't really have a certain amount of time that we let him stay awake in between naps. He sometimes sleeps amazing and other times horribly. It affects his nap time tremendously. So with that said, I'll tell you when he usually naps (on a good day).

He wakes up at 5:30.

Naps (gets tired) at about 8 and usually goes down around 9 (unless he fights it - 10).

Wakes up around 11 or 12 (depending on down time).

Naps at about 2 or 3 and usually stays up until his bedtime around 8.

He is very big on fighting every nap! I sometimes let him go off schedule if it is a day where I don't have many things outside of the house to get done. ( I SAH)

skio

I don't feel like reading yesterday's post, so I'll just post my shiz here.

I follow the 2-3-4 sched. She wakes up at 9am and is awake for 2 hours before I put her down. She sleeps for anywhere from 45-90 minutes, then I keep her up for 3 hours. Once she wakes from her afternoon nap, usually between 4 and 5pm, she's up until her bedtime at 8/8:30 (we start the routine at 7:30 and she's good and tired by the end of it).

On occasion, usually when someone else is watching her for the day, she'll take three 30-min naps instead of two hour+ naps. For example, if she goes down at 11am and wakes at 11:30, we'll put her down again at 2 and then for another one at 4:30 or 5pm, because there's no way she can stay awake from 2:30 until 8pm. She kind of sets her own sched based on her morning nap.

Your situation is tough, because you have DC to deal with. I don't think it would be out of line to request that they put her down after 2.5 hours awake rather than 3.5. Then your H could put her down for a late afternoon nap and you could have some good evening time with her. OR, since adding a third nap might mess with her, you might request that they push her naps back by a half hour or so. So have her sleep from 9:30-10:30 then 2-3, so maybe she'll be a bit less tired in the evening. Either way, this may just be an adjustment period for her. Good luck!

LizLemonAid

I stay home with our little 7 month girl. I have never tried to make a routine for her, she just made her own. She is up at 6 just for a bottle then right back to sleep. then up-up at 8:30. Nap at 10, 1, and 430. Sometimes she naps again, and then is asleep by 9. then sleeps until 6. Almost on the dot every day just like clockwork. I know what time it is by how she is acting!!! It is great having her go to bed later, then Daddy actually has time with her when he gets home from work. If she does nap between her 430 nap and bed time, Daddy will rest with her. Just because she's not crawling around and playing, doesn't mean any less to him!

You should try laying down with your baby when you get home. She probably doesn't want to nap because she wants to be with you! Lay down with her for a while, then when she wakes up- I bet she will be more peaceful and less cranky. Sometimes I, or Daddy, hold her very close and sing quietly. This might help you to get her to nap when you get home. Or even her Daddy could try right when he picks her up. I really think she just doesn't want to nap because she wants to be with Mom and Dad.

I hope this helps.

ITGurl0626

LynsiBHM:

Anyway, I stopped caring about naps. It was causing so much stress for both of us trying to keep him to a schedule. Now I just wait for him to get tired (rub his eyes or get really fussy) and I put him down. Sometimes he sleeps for 20 mins, sometimes 2 hrs. Sometimes there's 2 hrs between naps, sometimes 5 hrs. He goes down much easier and wakes up happy 99% of the time. He is always ready for bed between 7-8 regardless of how he napped during the day, so we do keep the bedtime routine pretty consistant.

This sounds exactly like me.  I am lucky in the sense that my DC is an in-home care & the lady doesn't do a set nap schedule either.  She simply follows my LO's cues like I do at home.  It seems to work for all of us.

carinamarie77

Oh, boy, I know sort of how you feel bc my LO goes to bed at 6:30 which means on most nights, DH gets very little time with him. We call it his "15 minutes of fame." Anyway, at your LO's age, it's about right that she only naps twice a day; that third nap drops off around 5/6 months, I think...My LO is awake 2.5hrs bw naps so he goes down bw 9 and 10am, sleeps for 1.5/2 hrs and down again 2.5 hrs after he wakes up. So, today, his PM nap was at 2pm. Bedtime is consistently 6:30/7 (but 7 is pushing it no matter how he naps during the day).

I'm sorry you don't get to spend much time with her in the evenings but it sounds like what's best for her is to have bedtime at 6:30 when she wants/needs it. You can try to get some time in with her before you to work maybe? My LO gets up bw 6-7 every day. If I still had my job, I'd have to be there by 8:30 so, I'd get a good 1.5-2hrs with him before work. 

Good luck!