Time for a nap schedule?

missgooseyface

Right now, I pretty much just let LO sleep when she wants.  When and how did you start an actual napping schedule?  I ask because we are going to start transitioning to her crib because she is sleeping 4-5 hours at night and I want to start letting her nap in the crib during the day.

nicole0066

My LO's naps have gotten more consistent in the past couple months, but she is battling a cold/ear infection so any schedule has got thrown out the window!  I will say we never forced any schedule.  We just followed her cues and eventually she starting consolidating her naps more.  

thishappyhouse

we weren't in a consistent nap in the crib schedule until  9m/5m.  My daughter was on a pretty consistent sleep schedule early on so we let her nap in the rock n play until consistent naps were replaced with little 30 minute cat naps all day.  We couldnt take it anymore so we did a little sleep training and transitioned her to the crib for naps.  

thishappyhouse

also, to answer your question on how to transition:

Since we got on a schedule a little later we were able to go right to a 2x day nap schedule.  At the beginning I would wait until she was drowsy and had a full belly and then put her in the crib (window blinds drawn).  She would fuss but typically fall asleep within 5 minutes or so.  The key to success for us was not running to get her the minute she woke up.  Often she would wake after 30-45 minutes and fuss or move around for a bit and then fall back asleep.