Nap schedule

[Vishenka69]

I need help to come up with a nap schedule for DD. In my zeal to get out of the house and interact with other moms, I've completely screwed up her nap schedule by carting her around all day long. Right now there are 4 possible activities that I could be doing with her that take place at 4 different times and I think I need to pick two if I want to establish any kind of daily nap routine. Which times do you think are more conducive? Or can I do more than 2? For now she tends to nap a bit on the way to and from the activity (10-15 min drive) but wakes up shortly after arrival.

Mon 11ish-12ish
Tue 11:45-12:45
Wed 10:30-11:30 (or there's an option for 9:30-10:30)
Fri 9-10

Where would it be best to fit in a morning nap? Also once I (hopefully) get her to go down at roughly same time every day, can I potentially move the location from the crib to the stroller or car? Or will I be tied to being home during that time for eternity?

Take some deep breaths, Julie.

Don't plan too much around a "nap schedule". Even if you get her on one, chances are she'll change her pattern within a few months anyway. If you want to try a nap "plan", you could look at "Happiest Baby on the Block". They have some specific suggestions for the length of time a baby should be up (in the morning) before going down for a nap. I'd probably pick the earliest activity I was interested in so there was the least likelihood that nap would be "blown" on a car ride. My kids are famous for the power nap - there is a finite window of time where that car nap WON'T count in their little bodies as the real nap, but once that threshold is crossed, I just end up with a cranky kid who won't nap.

While the baby will nap in the car or stroller, I've always found that for a good nap, they must be in the bed, undisturbed. Yes, she'll sleep in the car, but you won't be in the car for 2 hours -- right? If she transfers well, then you can have nap start in the car or stroller and transfer to her crib. My boys always transferred great, but Mattie has been trickier.

[v-girl]

Schedules? About the only thing I could schedule was an after-lunch nap. My husband & I are the anti-schedulers when it comes to raising babies & toddlers. It has its ups and downs. It is more flexible. But we're also nuts.

[DCJenn]

There is no great way to do it. I was out of the house all morning, every morning and he just napped in the stroller. There wasn't really any choice because I had things to do (like teach Stroller Strides and walk the dog). We stuck to the same schedule every week and it all worked out. I tried to be home for the afternoon nap because he slept for a longer period of time and it was time for me to do my stuff like check emails and get things done around the house. (or nap myself)

The saddest day ever is when they stop napping.

Nikolai never transferred (without waking) from car to bed or bed to car or anything handy like that so that also contributed to the napping in the stroller thing. I wasn't about to move him once he finally fell asleep. When he dropped the morning nap, we still got out every day but it's an ugly adjustment. When we moved here and I put him in day care, they all got an afternoon nap (about an hour and a half) so we stuck with their routine on the weekends. Even now I don't mess with bedtime except for special occasions.

Jenn

[Michele]

Re: Nap schedule

I think it depends on when she wakes in the morning and when she goes to bed. FWIW mine usually took 2 naps/day until about a year old (18mo for Daegan). They'd take a morning one for about an hour and an afternoon one for about 2 hours. Sometimes I really would drive around for 2 hours so they would get their full nap if they fell asleep in the car. It depends on how much I need them to nap.

For my boys and their schedule at less than 1yo, the 11-12 ish classes wouldve been best. They were usually up around 6 or 7.....then morning nap was usually around 9-10am. Play and lunch and then afternoon nap anywhere from 1-4. Dinner and then bed anywhere from 7-9.

My routine was pretty flexible then and if there was something I wanted to do I'd have them nap in the car or babycarrier. Now I'm way more structured when at home. D needs the consistency.

Do you have a sling or Bjorn? Does she nap in it? Both of mine would get good naps when worn and so I would often go to the mall and walk around for an hour or two. Or the park when the weather wasn't too hot. That way I got out of the house but they still napped. I still do that now though they get their nap in the stroller. I've been to the mall at least twice a week since I've been here in Florida. I walk around and window shop for 2-4 hours. They usually sleep at least 1-2 of them.


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[Auspicious]

For my boys and their schedule at less than 1yo, the 11-12 ish classes wouldve been best. They were usually up around 6 or 7.....then morning nap was usually around 9-10am. Play and lunch and then afternoon nap anywhere from 1-4. Dinner and then bed anywhere from 7-9.

My routine was pretty flexible then and if there was something I wanted to do I'd have them nap in the car or babycarrier.

We're roughly the same, here.

[ladymoreta]

When do they start consolidating naps? DS is a pretty terrible napper - usually only 30 minutes at a time, about 3-4 times a day. He wakes up still tired and so cranky!

Anyway, sorry for the hijack. I wouldn't do anything earlier than 10:30, just because when DS has a bad night of sleep, I do everything I can to squeeze a little more sleep in, and in 30 minute increments, sometimes we're still snoozing until 9:00.

[Tenacious_D]

We're roughly the same, here.

Ditto for Julie and Michelle. Right now, we do morning activities and try to be home by 12noon/1pm for lunch and nap. The dreaded falling asleep in the car and waking before the transfer can really ruin MY day. For some reason their bodies take it as if it was a full fledged nap. I need that 2 hours in the afternoon to relax and get stuff done i.e. food prep, laundry, catching up on email etc. Once you decide what the best time for her nap will be, it's hard to plan stuff during that time but like Jenn said, once you get comfortable, they end up changing the time on you I guess this response doesn't help you at all....

[Pollyanna]

I guess it really depends on how important it is for you to get out versus having a well rested baby. When I was truly in need of adult interaction I would plan two days a week where baby and I would get out to Gymboree or playgroup. The other days we stayed at home so nap could be uninterrupted. I have never had a child that would transfer between car/crib, wherever they fell asleep they woke up which sometimes ment that total nap time for the day would be 30 minutes. The important thing to note about that is an overtired baby is a poor sleeper, so a baby that has only had a 30 minute nap will sleep much more fitfully than a baby that has had a full and restful nap. So in the end mom has no downtime during the day and is then also up at night, it can become a vicious cycle. Be flexible, find groups you enjoy and that give you an emotional boost. Keep going to those and drop the others. As hard as it can be, be willing to skip playgroup for naptime every once in awhile. Don't worry, you and baby will find a groove that works

The important thing to note about that is an overtired baby is a poor sleeper, so a baby that has only had a 30 minute nap will sleep much more fitfully than a baby that has had a full and restful nap. So in the end mom has no downtime during the day and is then also up at night, it can become a vicious cycle.

This is key. You'd think that a baby that sleeps a lot during the day will sleep less or worse at night, but it's not the case. If they're well rested they sleep better. Overtired just makes for wakeful, cranky baby (and parents).

[MrsK]

My baby is not much of a napper. He'll nap at day care but when he's at home, he just wants to be with us. (He really does miss us. Yesterday, DH was called into work all day. When he got home, the baby was hugging and kissing him. He makes a big deal about reuniting with us on weekdays too. Hugs and kisses for everyone including our dog.) Also, we have a lot of things to do on the weekends. I figure it won't kill him as many babies with older siblings grab naps on-the-go when families are juggling activities and when we've try to spend a Sunday at home, he gets really stircrazy. Sometimes he won't nap at day care either. I discussed it with the peditrician and he says it's fine. Some people just aren't wired for napping. The baby sleeps for 6-8 hour stretches most nights and will go back to sleep easily after waking.

His loosy-goosy nap schedule looks sort of like this:

30-40 minutes around 8AM -- that's two hours after waking from the evening. He'll do this at home too.

2-3 hours around 11 or 12 - 2ish -- this is when the "big kids" (i.e. one year olds and toddlers) nap at the day care. Most of the other infants settle down for a long nap in the morning and a long nap in the afternoon but our baby is too busy watching the big kids. He refuses to take this nap at home and sometimes refuses to do this at day care too if, for instance, there is a new kid in the room or anything else different that interests him.

30-40 minutes around 4pm -- he frequently skips this nap at day care too but he'll do this on the weekends if we are out and about.

Generally, he's a happy baby and doesn't get cranky-tired until around 7:30 most evenings. He sleeps from about 8PM to 6AM most nights, sometimes waking once to nurse around 3 or 4 AM (wish I could break him of that!)

[alison]

I never mess with dd's morning nap (8:30-10:15ish). Usually her second one is while we are on the go (around 1pm). She usually gets in around an hour in the stroller. And then I'm usually home in time for her 3rd nap which is an hour and a half from 4-5:30pm. This gives me from about 10:30-4 to run errands, and attend a baby group with her. If class is around 11 or noon like people have already said, it's great for dd's nap schedule. We walk everywhere, so on the walk home is when she usually takes that stroller nap. You'll find a groove and then it'll change like Jenn mentioned.

I hate to mess with the first nap, because in dd's case it seems to set the tone for the rest of the day.

Are you familiar with Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby? I don't follow it to a T, but it did help me figure dd out a bit--especially that witching hour crap around 6-10 weeks.

[PrincessFiona]

Sometimes I really would drive around for 2 hours so they would get their full nap if they fell asleep in the car. It depends on how much I need them to nap.

I am still guilty of this!

Early on, when I just had Andrew, I was more of a slave to a schedule. I eventually found that he would sleep as well in the buggy and sometimes I would walk him and then bring the buggy into the house and let him continue sleeping. This was also great for night time. If he woke up crying at night and I couldn't console him any other way, I put him in the buggy and walked him around our apartment (and then let him continue sleeping in the buggy.

With 5, I can't be a slave to any particular child's nap schedule....and even though Zoe is 4 and technically could use a nap (and I could soooo use her taking a nap) she doesn't anymore. The only napping she did last year was while I was driving too and from activities for older kids. Optimal? Not really...but she doesn't seem to have permanent damage!

I think...you need to pick the activities that you want to do with her and pick what will work for you. What time is she waking up now? What time does she seem tired? For us, afternoon nap time often followed lunch time (around 1-2/3) so morning naps (which won't last long probably) were more like 9-10am or so. Your schedule and hers...might be very different!

Enjoy!

Kris

[Vishenka69]

I'll go to BN to get that book today. I have heard of it and since I'm having such a hard time figuring her out, I'll give anything a try at this point.

So far the only thing she's sticking to is her bedtime of 8pm. For the past week she's also been up 3 times throughout the night to eat, which I'm now wondering if it's related to her refusing to nap in the past 2 weeks or so. She's up for the day around 7-8am and then does nap a bit until 9-10. Other than that there's no pattern to her being tired or napping. I do try to put her down ever few hours but often she'll just play with her hands for an hour until next feeding/changing. She's not good about being transfered and will even wake up as soon as we pull into the garage. Sometimes if she falls asleep on the feeding pillow, I'll just sit with her for 20-30 minutes.

We've tried putting her in the swing, vibrating chair, crib, playard, stroller, etc. and if she's set against napping, none of those help. On Sat I walked in the park for 2 hrs out of which she only napped for 40 minutes. I wasn't too concerned while she slept at night but now nobody gets any rest at any point and I need a battleplan.

It sounds counter intuitive, but you could try putting her to be earlier.

FWIW, Mattie wasn't a great napper early on, either. Fortunately I've got *really* low standards for housekeeping, so I'd often nurse her to sleep and then read/watch a movie/play Mario Kart while she slept in my arms. It was the only way I'd get a rested baby, and while it wasn't productive, it was also a break for me. Plus I got *really* good at Mario Kart, but now I can only play with my arms resting on the boppy, otherwise my position is all messed up .