Tracking Ben's naps to figure out his "schedule"

kristin172429

Has anyone else done this?  I have been keeping track of his naps for about a week.  So far, I can tell he gets up and goes to bed around the same time each day.  Other than that, he's pretty all over the place.  Some days he takes a few long naps, other days a bunch of short naps.  The timing of his naps is all over.  I'm going to keep tracking for a few more weeks, but I have pretty much learned he is just like me & DH - we aren't really "schedule" people.

Here is a screen shot of my tracker.  Color = nap.

naps by kristin172429, on Flickr

megahof

I'm going to start doing that with Sophie tomorrow. She has not been napping well lately -- she lets herself get way too tired and fights sleep so badly that she ends up getting overtired and incredibly fussy. It's exhausting for all of us. So, in addition to tracking her actual sleep, I'm also going to track when she starts showing sleepy signs (usually rubbing her eyes). I'm pretty sure I catch her before she gets to that overtired point, but as I said, she fights it, so it takes forever to get her to actually sleep. Maybe tracking it will help us figure out if there is a pattern that we can take advantage of.

BoilerUp1

OMG.  Do you have a template for this?  I'd love it!

88eve88

Wow ... that is impressive!!  Is it a spreadsheet you made or did you get the template from somewhere?

I haven't even thought about tracking DS's sleeping since I put him down for naps following the 2 hr awake time rule. Unlike you, I thrive on schedules and need them to stay sane.

 

kristin172429

BoilerUp1:

OMG.  Do you have a template for this?  I'd love it!

It's just an excel file.  I can send it to you if you like.  I have it set to conditional formatting so anytime I mark an "x" in the field, it turns blue.  I just add an outer border when his nap is done.  Anyone who wants it can just send me their email.

SapphireDreamRock

kristin172429:

BoilerUp1:

OMG.  Do you have a template for this?  I'd love it!

It's just an excel file.  I can send it to you if you like.  I have it set to conditional formatting so anytime I mark an "x" in the field, it turns blue.  I just add an outer border when his nap is done.  Anyone who wants it can just send me their email.

There's an iPhone app called Baby Connect. It's free & u can track it on your phone easily (as well as bottles/nursing/diapers etc). It will graph it all too.

Meganequine

OMG you and I would get along great.  I did this a couple of weeks ago and made a file in excel that looks a lot like yours.

I didn't end up with a set routine either, but did discover that he falls asleep again with in 2 hrs of being awake.  It really helped me to be able to get him to sleep before he got crabby- before that I was pushing him beyond his threshhold.  Now I'm able to get him to sleep in his swing, as opposed to on me all the time. Next goal is more crib naps.  I base his first name on when he gets up (which varies anywhere from 5.30-7.30, but generally around 6ish) and bedtime on when he woke up from his last nap & my husbands and I night schedule (we normally start the routine between 7.30 and 8.30).  I also discovered his morning naps last 1-1.5 hrs and he takes atleast 1 2-2.5 hr nap in the afternoon.  (We take anywhere from 3-5 naps a day-- I never know).  He doesn't have to go to daycare until next school year, so I'll probably work on a more set routine in Aug.

 

Jen0204

SapphireDreamRock:

kristin172429:

BoilerUp1:

OMG.  Do you have a template for this?  I'd love it!

It's just an excel file.  I can send it to you if you like.  I have it set to conditional formatting so anytime I mark an "x" in the field, it turns blue.  I just add an outer border when his nap is done.  Anyone who wants it can just send me their email.

There's an iPhone app called Baby Connect. It's free & u can track it on your phone easily (as well as bottles/nursing/diapers etc). It will graph it all too.

I use this app, but it cost $5. Well worth it, though. The level of detail is amazing - you can track how long you nurse for (on each side), how many ounces they take (and classify it as BM or formula), what kind of diaper it was, their height/weight/immunizations, milestones, etc. Then you can create graphs on all of it, and go down to detailed levels (ie a graph for all diapers, then a graph for just poopy diapers). It also has growth charts and a chart like the OP posted (it's a timeline that color codes what was happening throughout the day). It makes it so easy when their doctor asks what's been going on.

And I've noticed the same thing about my girls - bed time is always between 7-8, but everything else is all over the place. 

bikitybinx

I haven't noticed a pattern yet.  She goes to bed usually between 8-9, but she is inconsistent with when she wakes at night and her naps are everywhere.  Just last week she started taking 2-3 hour naps.  She still has days, though, where naps are only 45-hour long.  I've been meaning to set up a tracker like this forever, but never got around to it. 

cbaglini

Similac has a free "baby journal" app that tracks feeding, sleeping, diaper changes, and growth with nice charts too. 

BoilerUp1

kristin172429:

BoilerUp1:

OMG.  Do you have a template for this?  I'd love it!

It's just an excel file.  I can send it to you if you like.  I have it set to conditional formatting so anytime I mark an "x" in the field, it turns blue.  I just add an outer border when his nap is done.  Anyone who wants it can just send me their email.

 

You've got PM!