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Babies: 6 - 9 Months
bluejetta
member
Trying a 3 nap schedule today...here goes
bluejetta
member
Basing naps purely on wake times has proved difficult as DDs naps are all over the place and she seems to nap better at certain times more so then awake time. I'm going to attempt to have an 8:30 / 12:00 / 3:30 schedule and see if that helps her. We're also moving bedtime up, for now, to asleep by 6:30 since she's waking at 6:30 and needs to have the chance for 11-12hrs instead of 10.
I really am hopeful this helps us. She is still having trouble with the 45 min intruder but given that both at home and daycare she can successfully nap at least 1hour and a half I have confidence that she is outgrowing it and that it may not totally be about awake time at this point.
Do others do this, the by the clock, rather than by awake time and have it work?
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Re: Trying a 3 nap schedule today...here goes
GL! That pretty well sounds like our day.
On what I consider a normal day, DS is up at 6-6:30. Down at 8-8:30, down again at 11:45-12:15 and again at 3:30-4.
The times all depend on his wake up time and length of naps. When we're having a crappy day (up super early, naps incredibly short), then I try to go by our schedule and wake time. I'll usually make him tough it out a bit more to get him to nap closer to his normal nap times, but that often backfires with a 30min nap. So sometimes, I'll go out when I know he would probably fall asleep and let him kind of work his way back into the schedule.
I normally avoid going out when he's going to sleep to avoid napping on the go, but sometimes those days just need it. Also, when DS wakes up at the 45 minute mark, I do what I can to prolong the nap. Even if I have to rock him back to sleep, just to get the nap past the 60 minute mark.
Sounds great... honestly, my son was able to go to 3 naps at 5 months and he is a sleepy guy, so your DD will probably be fine at 6 months, she may surprise you by lengthening/ consolidating her naps. GL!
ETA: just read the last part of your post... I go roughly by the clock, but if he has a short nap, like if he wakes at 10 instead of 10:30 (9:00 start), I try to split the difference and put him down at 12:15 instead of 12:30. We usually haven't had an issue. Anytime he wakes at 40 mins, I rebink and he falls back to sleep, or if he really won't (rare) I rock him back to sleep... I do not accept naps shorter than 1 hour anymore even if have to rock him back to sleep, because the 40 mins just isn't long enough anymore and he is a bear within half hour.
Thanks ladies. The first nap was OK at 45 min and I let her babble / whine till the hour was up. This is better than the 30 min naps we were getting the last couple days. I'm going to go with it for at least a week to see if it works (though with daycare days in the mix I'm not sure).
I don't currently do anything to extend her naps (rocking, etc) other than give her the time in her crib to sort it out -- sometimes she surprises me and goes back to sleep but more often if I'm going to get a longer nap then she doesn't wake at all at 45 min.
But since the first one was short I'll aim for there 12:00 (not 12:30) start for the next nap and see how that goes.
EETA: I put her down for second nap at 11:50 and it is 2:00 and she is still asleep. A small victory but an important one to help encourage me to keep this plan for a few days to see if we can continue to make progress.
Our nap schedule is 9A, 12p, and 3p. Since implementing that, my baby has gone from napping for 30 minutes at a time to and hour or longer.
Good luck!!
Thanks all. We aren't making a radical bedtime change, just moving it earlier by 30 minutes and trying that for a week or so.
The good news is that our second nap (11:50pm) is still going at 2hours later. This is encouraging and I know it is still a work in progress where there will always be better/worse days but this is already great. I think she needs the routine and that perhaps she is more in tune to time then "awake" time. But I plan to give the schedule (with some flexibility) a go for a week or so and then see where we are.
8:30-9:15 (in crib till 10)
11:50 - 2:00 (and still going)
So an update if anyone reads it. We've had some progress.
Day 1: 1st nap 45 min. 2nd nap 2.5 hours. Skipped third nap = we were out for a walk and I thought DD would sleep in stroller but no.
Day 2: 1st nap 1.5 hours. 2nd nap 1 hour. She is taking third nap now and so far 30 mins (I only expect a cat nap).
Two days of pretty good success. We also are doing a 6:30/6:45 bedtime instead of 7pm because DD is apt to wake at 5:30. I have been attempting to put her back to sleep at that time in the morning, some days it works and some days it doesn't.