How important is a nap schedule for 3-4mo?

RomeRomance06 · July 2011

DD started daycare last week. I'm working just 3 days a week for now (FT next month) so she's not getting into a schedule/groove at daycare yet. Basically she sleeps when she wants to sleep (I'm pretty good at deciphering her tired cues) but I don't really have her on a schedule. She generally naps when we're out and about but recently she's not sleeping as well on the go and I've noticed she's a bit more tuckered out at night and I feel a bit bad. I know everyone says nap schedules are important but I've really been trying to get out as much as I can on my days off (afternoons mostly) by taking her to the park, running errands, etc., and I'm having a hard time pinning down nap times. I've been keeping track the last few weeks, and she's all over the place. Should I just wait it out and keep doing what I'm doing until she's in daycare full-time and then go with that schedule? I've sort of been following the E.A.S.Y method, but she very rarely naps for more than an hour so that throws me a bit.

Sofka · July 2011

eh, I say at this age, as long as she's napping, when she's napping is not that impt. I had horrible nappers so any nap was a win. Plus, babies don't really have the brain capacity to form habits until 6mo old, which is why it's not true that you can spoil a baby, anything goes the 1st 6mo IMO

pixieprincss · July 2011

This comes down to parenting philosophy rather than child development IMO.

We do everything based on LO's cues. Each day is different for him, and that works wonderfully for our family and what we have going on. He is happy and thriving, so I see no need to go by the clock when going by him works just fine. Sometimes he naps for 45 min, sometimes he naps for 3 hours. Sometimes we need to go somewhere not long after he's decided to nap, so I have to get him up and into the car seat. Sometimes he takes 3 naps, sometimes 5. I can see how that would drive some families batty or not work for some babies' temperaments, but for us it is the best possible scenario.

Oh, and don't be surprised if LO loses it a bit sleep-wise during the 4-month wakeful period. LO was very anti-nap and exhausted, but we still kept to respecting his cues rather than enforcing a schedule and now he's back to being a great napper.

WinesNot Whines · July 2011

I agree with Pixie that either method is ok, and it's really up to what works for your LO and your family. Some babies do really well on a set nap schedule, but others don't. I've always followed M's cues for naps. He has a set bedtime at night, but for naps, we just put him down when we notice he's tired. They do the same thing at daycare until the kids move to the toddler room at 18 months. Some days he naps for 30 minutes, and other days for 2 hours. We just go with the flow.

bh2720 · July 2011

I think it depends on what works for you. If you both seem to be comfortable with the way you are doing things, then keep doing it :-)

When my son was that age, he was on a loose schedule (really a routine) and I made sure that he didn't go more than about an hour to and hour and a half without napping. Also, I didn't let him take any mega-naps (like 3+ hours) because then he'd skip a feeding and it was important to me that he eat a lot during the day so he wouldn't wake up at night ;-)

vtkgirl77 · July 2011

I agree that it depends on what works for you. For us, we aim for a routine of feeding, wake time and sleep time. Right now, DD is doing it on 3 hour increments. So, I basically make sure she has a full feeding every 3 hours. After each feeding, I burp her and usually try make sure she has a bit of wake time and then she can take a nap. During the first morning cycle, sometimes she doesn't sleep but usually doing the rest of the cycles, she takes a nap. Like BH, I don't let her take mega-naps because then she doesn't get enough calories during the day and is up at night.

This has worked well for us because since about week 5, she only wakes up once during the night and now she's sleeping for 7-8 hours at night. I also like that it helps regulate my milk supply and I find that it's rare that she's crying because she's hungry. I usually feed her before she hits the hunger point and this routine has really helped my supply dramatically because the feedings happen at regular intervals. I also like that I kind of know when the naps will come during the day and when I can get things done.

I used the book Babywise as a framework for how I do things at this age. If you are interested in doing more of a routine, it's a good book to check out. Some people love it and some people hate it but it's something available that you can read and decide for yourself if you want to be on more of a schedule.

BirdGirl01 · July 2011

At 10 months, DD is still only on a loose schedule, and only now does it seem like it's time to get her on a regular one. It's worked for us.

kafunder · July 2011

bh2720:
I think it depends on what works for you. If you both seem to be comfortable with the way you are doing things, then keep doing it :-)
When my son was that age, he was on a loose schedule (really a routine) and I made sure that he didn't go more than about an hour to and hour and a half without napping. Also, I didn't let him take any mega-naps (like 3+ hours) because then he'd skip a feeding and it was important to me that he eat a lot during the day so he wouldn't wake up at night ;-)

This was what we did. We had a pretty good routine by 4 months, and the babies did really well on it. But, we had started it from day 1, so by 4 months, they had it mastered. We also didn't let them nap a really long time (still don't let them go more than 2.5 hours) and we keep awake times short--even at 10.5 months, we don't go past 3 hours or so. At 3-4 months, we wouldn't go past 1.5 hours. It was all part of our routine.

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