2 naps a day - schedule?

pb_bride · July 2013

DS transitioned from 3 naps to 2 naps last week. I really like this new 2-nap schedule, but I'm curious to know what your schedules are like? Meaning, what time is wake up in the AM, what time does your LO go down for 1st nap, what time for 2nd nap, and how long the naps are? When is bedtime?

The reason I'm asking is that DS wakes up around 6:30-7a, goes down for his 1st nap around 10am and naps for 2 hours until noon. I'm SAHM and I used to take him to library story times and other play times, but ALL of them are held around 10-11am in the morning. We were able to go to those when he was on a 3-nap schedule (he'd be done with his first nap by 10am). Now with this new schedule, it seems like we're going to miss all these activities. Makes me wonder if DS's 2-nap schedule is not the norm??? Otherwise, why would ALL the infant activities are held when DS is taking his first nap?

hilsy85 · July 2013

We're somewhere between 2 and 3 naps as well...on days when he has 2 naps, we try to follow a 2-3-4 schedule--so 1st nap 2 hours after he wakes up, and 2nd nap 3 hours after he wakes up from his 1st nap, and bedtime no later than 4 hours after waking from 2nd nap. so it looks something like this:

wakeup: 6/630

1st nap: 8/8:30-10

2nd nap: 1:00-2:30/3:00

bedtime: 7:00

If his naps are shorter than 1hour 45 min-2 hours, then we usually end up trying to do 3 naps, and capping awake time between them at 2hours-2 hours 45 min, other wise he ends up going to bed too early and waking up too early.

I think kids' activities/classes do often tend to be at crappy times though--I often find myself forcing a nap or waking him up a bit early to make it on time!

pb_bride · July 2013

hilsy85:
We're somewhere between 2 and 3 naps as well...on days when he has 2 naps, we try to follow a 2-3-4 schedule--so 1st nap 2 hours after he wakes up, and 2nd nap 3 hours after he wakes up from his 1st nap, and bedtime no later than 4 hours after waking from 2nd nap. so it looks something like this:
wakeup: 6/630
1st nap: 8/8:30-10
2nd nap: 1:00-2:30/3:00
bedtime: 7:00
If his naps are shorter than 1hour 45 min-2 hours, then we usually end up trying to do 3 naps, and capping awake time between them at 2hours-2 hours 45 min, other wise he ends up going to bed too early and waking up too early.
I think kids' activities/classes do often tend to be at crappy times though--I often find myself forcing a nap or waking him up a bit early to make it on time!

Hi hilsy, thanks for your reply. How do you and your LO like the 2-3-4 schedule? How often does he end up with 3 naps a day? Do you find him fighting his 1st nap when you put him down after 2 hours; and does he get very fussy in the eve after being up for 4 hours?

When DS switched to 2 naps last week, he hasn't looked back at all (today is Day 8 of 2 naps). WE're doing 3-3-3 I guess, and it's been working well for both of us. OUr schedule is like:

wake up 6:30-7a

1st nap down at 10-10:30 (naps for 2 hours)

2nd nap down at 3-3:30 (naps for 1.5 hours)

bedtime 8-8:15p

I'm just worried that if he takes his first nap earlier (say, 9a) he will end up taking his 2nd nap more like 2pm, and then he'll wake up by 3:30pm. It'll be a LONG afternoon/eve stretch for him to make it until bedtime. We can't move bedtime up by much; maybe to 7:45pm the earliest (DH doesn't get home until 6:30pm)

hilsy85 · July 2013

pb_bride:
hilsy85:
We're somewhere between 2 and 3 naps as well...on days when he has 2 naps, we try to follow a 2-3-4 schedule--so 1st nap 2 hours after he wakes up, and 2nd nap 3 hours after he wakes up from his 1st nap, and bedtime no later than 4 hours after waking from 2nd nap. so it looks something like this:
wakeup: 6/630
1st nap: 8/8:30-10
2nd nap: 1:00-2:30/3:00
bedtime: 7:00
If his naps are shorter than 1hour 45 min-2 hours, then we usually end up trying to do 3 naps, and capping awake time between them at 2hours-2 hours 45 min, other wise he ends up going to bed too early and waking up too early.
I think kids' activities/classes do often tend to be at crappy times though--I often find myself forcing a nap or waking him up a bit early to make it on time!

Hi hilsy, thanks for your reply. How do you and your LO like the 2-3-4 schedule? How often does he end up with 3 naps a day? Do you find him fighting his 1st nap when you put him down after 2 hours; and does he get very fussy in the eve after being up for 4 hours?
When DS switched to 2 naps last week, he hasn't looked back at all (today is Day 8 of 2 naps). WE're doing 3-3-3 I guess, and it's been working well for both of us. OUr schedule is like:
wake up 6:30-7a
1st nap down at 10-10:30 (naps for 2 hours)
2nd nap down at 3-3:30 (naps for 1.5 hours)
bedtime 8-8:15p
I'm just worried that if he takes his first nap earlier (say, 9a) he will end up taking his 2nd nap more like 2pm, and then he'll wake up by 3:30pm. It'll be a LONG afternoon/eve stretch for him to make it until bedtime. We can't move bedtime up by much; maybe to 7:45pm the earliest (DH doesn't get home until 6:30pm)

We tend to do 3 naps a day on days when his first nap is short for some reason (like he poops and wakes himself up!) or when we have our afternoon gym class, which is at 2:15pm, so I put him down for a 2nd nap earlier than I normally would. He never fights his first nap--he's always tired about two hours after waking up for the day. He definitely gets fussy in the evening after being up for 4 hours, sometimes he's even fussy by 5pm, so I might try to do a quick 20 minute cat nap at those times. It's kind of a work in progress...every day is different! I think he also might have higher sleep needs than an average baby--he tends to take 2 2 hour naps on a good day, plus maybe 11 hours of overnight sleep (with 1 quick wakeup to nurse). But that also changes--like last night he STTN (!!!) but only slept 10.5 hours total, so I'm guessing that he'll take longer naps today/maybe will take a 3rd nap?

Your LO is sleeping really well at night right? If so, and he's taking 2 good naps, I would just leave it--it sucks not being able to attend classes due to naps, but it's worth it to have that good nap time and good night time sleep! Do you have any drop in classes in your area that you could do if LO happens to be awake during them?

AnotherPreggo · July 2013

wake up: 6:30

first nap: 8:30-10

2nd nap: 1-2:30

bed time: 6:30

ETA: I know what you mean about missing stuff because of naps/sleep. I really want to push DD's bedtime back so we can get together with people in the evening still, but it just isn't happening. She has been pretty set with this schedule for a couple months now. She still wakes up every 3 hours at night to nurse... so it is a work in progress of course.

pb_bride · July 2013

Thanks for your replies. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side... someone's else's nap schedule seems to look better, but anyway, since ours is working out pretty well (apart from missing stuff), I guess we'll just stick with it.

WE have class today (starts at 10a), so I ended up putting him down for his first nap an hour early (at 9a), and woke him up at 10a. We made it to class, and he's already at his 2nd nap. So it'll be a 3 nap day today. I hope it doesn't confuse DS if we occasionally flips back to 3 naps a day.

Mrs_Lady · July 2013

i swear my kid hated to nap he has been on 2 nap thing for a bit usually between 10a and 11a for 30 mins then somewhere from 2p until 4p but he is teething so subject to change

2 naps a day - schedule?

Re: 2 naps a day - schedule?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards