Stuck in early sleep schedule

Re: Stuck in early sleep schedule

• Twochickshavinachick member

  January 2016

  I'm sorry I don't have any helpful advice to offer but I thought it might be some comfort to know you're not alone.
  Little S turns 1 this week. She goes to bed sometime between 6 and 7, depending how busy her day has been and from 9, she's waking 3/4 times a night. She is usually fully awake by 5:30. Sometimes If I'm not ready to get up, I bring her into bed with me for some quiet snuggle time and she has been known to fall asleep again. Other days, it's down to breakfast, poop, play and a half hour nap either at 9/10 or  11/12. If she takes the first nap time, there's usually another around 2.
  
  My point is that as long as baby seems to be getting what they need, I personally wouldn't fret too much about when exactly nap time is. There's still so much information to process and a lot of new exhausting physical skills to practice that there will be times baby is sleeping more to catch up.
  
  Ooh, just thought of something that might help. I've found that S sleeps better after a shower. She perks up for 20-30 minutes after a shower (so try one just as he starts fretting) and then, whilst she's all awake again, I have her climb the stairs a few times (split level house over five floors) Idk if your LO is there yet but use the same principal to get him practicing something new and physical. You can see when he's had enough. That's where you resume your sleeptime routine (We bf on the bed, calm and quiet so that she knows that's bed time, with the lights off and then settle to sleep with a couple lullabies)
  
  Hope it gets easier.

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• WillyBean member

  January 2016

  If I remember right, my twins still had 3 naps then. They always took a later one around 4pm. My suggestion - When your lo starts getting sleepy late in the afternoon, try laying him down for a nap? Even if it's only 20 minutes it's ok! Just let him recharge the batteries a bit! Make sure he is up by 515ish (wake him if you have to) and then try to put to bed by 7pm. (I know there is a rule out there about never waking a sleeping baby - go to the multiples board. We wake our babies to keep them on the same schedule for sanity purposes. ) Anyway, I have done this same thing with my twins many times and it works. You may find he doesn't need that third nap all of the time if it starts adjusting his schedule. Whatever happens, hope you find a solution!

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• Bigboobsmcgee member

  January 2016

  WillyBean said:

  If I remember right, my twins still had 3 naps then. They always took a later one around 4pm. My suggestion - When your lo starts getting sleepy late in the afternoon, try laying him down for a nap? Even if it's only 20 minutes it's ok! Just let him recharge the batteries a bit! Make sure he is up by 515ish (wake him if you have to) and then try to put to bed by 7pm. (I know there is a rule out there about never waking a sleeping baby - go to the multiples board. We wake our babies to keep them on the same schedule for sanity purposes. ) Anyway, I have done this same thing with my twins many times and it works. You may find he doesn't need that third nap all of the time if it starts adjusting his schedule. Whatever happens, hope you find a solution!

  I think at this age (11 months), waking them from a nap isn't that bad. My daughter is now 15 months old but if she's cranky and it's not her normal nap time I put her down anyways and just wake her when I want her up. Sometimes you just do what you have to do, even if it's not "ideal".

  OP I think these are good suggestions. I would lose my mind if my LO got up at 4am
  

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• harmonicbabe26 member

  January 2016

  Totally let your LO sleep at 6am and then add another nap later in the day, and wake him when YOU want him up if he slees longer. For the longest time my DD2 would take a late in the day cat nap, I even used to put her ina swing for that catnap since she NEEDED it but sometimes still fought it. Typically she slept 30mins for that one.

  

  
  

  

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• mrsmoose5 member

  January 2016

  Thanks for all the great advice, ladies. About 2 days ago I put him down for a 3rd nap around 4 p.m. and he woke up from that by himself just before 5. It was a nightmare. He woke up cranky and flat out cried and acted so tired (eye rubbing, yawning, etc.) until I started his bedtime routine a little after 6. Then, he wasn't able to fall asleep until just before 8 and cried every time I tried to put him down in his crib. It was awful ... BUT ... he did sleep until 6 a.m. the next morning, so that was good. Since then, I've been able to get his naps to take place a little later in the day (8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.), which has helped me be able to push his bedtime back to 6:30. It's only about 30 minutes later than before, but still, he has been sleeping until close to 6 a.m. for the last 3 mornings, so it's a huge improvement. Anyway, just wanted to give an update and say thanks! Even though adding that third nap the other day was awful at the time, I think it ultimately helped us get our schedule back on track.

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